WEC: Kristensen takes on Audi fitness role

Sports car legend Tom Kristensen will combine his Audi ambassadorial duties with a role overseeing the fitness regimes of its drivers in the wake of his retirement from the cockpit.

The Dane, who hung up his helmet after last month's World Endurance Championship finale in Brazil, has become an "Audi Legend" alongside Allan McNish, Rinaldo Capello, Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro and Marco Werner. McNish and Capello both have sporting roles within the Audi Sport Team Joest WEC squad, while Kristensen will be involved in the preparations of Audi's drivers for their respective race programs.

"Tom will take responsibility to organize all the activities concerning the physical and mental fitness of our divers and what we do with our medical department," Audi Sport boss Wolfgang Ullrich explained. "He is going to put his knowledge and experience to good use to help make it all function in the best possible way."

Kristensen, 47, added: "A commitment to fitness has always been part of my lifestyle and I want to make sure that we have a team of drivers who are the fittest they can be, both physically and mentally. We already have a team of people who do that, but I want to use all my experience to see how can optimize that."

The new role for Kristensen was announced at the company's end-of-season prize-giving night on Wednesday. He was also granted a perpetual loan of the Audi R18 e-tron quattro in which he won the 2013 Le Mans 24 Hours together with McNish and Loic Duval.