Audi gives Ullrich contract extension

Audi Sport boss Wolfgang Ullrich will remain in his job for another two seasons. The Austrian has been given a contract extension that will allow him to remain in his post past his 67th birthday in 2017.

Company policy at the Volkswagen Group demands that all except the top echelon of senior management must retire at 65, a birthday Ullrich reached in August. An agreement reached last year allowed him to remain in the job until the end of this season, despite hitting retirement age at the end of the summer.

The new deal for Ullrich will be formally announced at next week's Audi Sport Finale awards ceremony at which its 2016 World Endurance Championship LMP1 challenger will be unveiled. The contract extension comes after an incident at the Red Bull Ring DTM race in which Ullrich was heard to say on the team radio "push him out" to Audi driver Timo Scheider while he was battling with Mercedes drivers Robert Wickens and Pascal Wehrlein. Scheider was subsequently banned from the following DTM race in Moscow for his part in the incident that followed the radio call and an investigation launched by the Austrian police.Ullrich took over as head of Audi Sport in November 1993 and has overseen its successes in Super Touring, 13 victories at the Le Mans 24 Hours and seven DTM titles.

Originally on Autosport.com