VW Group Motorsports Has a New Fearless Leader

Fritz Enzinger has been promoted to Head of Group Motorsport for Volkswagen Group.

Enzinger enters the role from his position as head of Porsche’s LMP1 program, which was shuttered at the end of the 2017 World Endurance Championship season. He succeeds Wolfgang Dürheimer, who has retired after 18 years at Volkswagen Group in varying roles, including CEO of both Bentley and Bugatti.

The role includes retaining the motorsport function within Porsche, where he has worked since November 2011. Porsche scored three overall victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans between 2015 to 2017 with its 919 LMP1 program on top of its three WEC driver and manufacturer championships.

Enzinger’s tasks will include assessing the current portfolio of customer racing programs globally, representing the interest of Volkswagen Group brands before international sports authorities, and organizing the use performance powertrains in competition such as efficient internal combustion engines, hybrid solutions, and pure electric powertrains.

In his new role, Enzinger will report directly to the Volkswagen AG CEO Matthias Müller.

“I look forward to further successes of our brands in motorsports and wish Fritz Enzinger every success in his new, additional role,” Müller said in a press release. “At the same time, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Wolfgang Dürheimer, who had held the position of Head of Group Motorsport since February 2011 and who pursued the implementation of our strategy in the motorsports programs of the brands consistently and very successfully.”

“Our activities in the World Endurance Championship were a good example of the way in which Group brands can spur each other on to peak performance and innovations when competing in the same series,” Enzinger said. “Despite this intentionally competitive situation, there must be a central authority within the Group who can review and assess the commitments of all brands, identify synergies and safeguard the know-how which has been developed for the Group.”

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