The Audi Nuvolari has already turned heads on the show stand. Now it gets to do something more meaningful: move. At the Goodwood Festival of Speed, running from 9 to 12 July in West Sussex, Audi is putting its near-production Nuvolari prototype up the famous 1.86-kilometre Hillclimb, and it has chosen the right driver to do it.
Kristensen Takes the Wheel
Tom Kristensen, the nine-time Le Mans winner, will pilot the Nuvolari up the Goodwood Hillclimb. It is the first time the car has been driven at speed in public. Kristensen described the way the car’s systems work together — covering the new quattro drivetrain, vehicle dynamics, aerodynamics, and braking — as particularly impressive.
He also noted that the high-performance hybrid powertrain, active aerodynamics, and energy management all draw on motorsport development before being refined for road use. That is not unusual marketing language from Audi; the Nuvolari’s specification gives it some credibility.
What the Nuvolari Is
The Nuvolari is Audi’s fastest and most powerful production vehicle to date. It is also the first model to carry the brand’s new design philosophy. Production is limited to 499 units, with deliveries scheduled to begin in the first half of 2027.
The car made its UK debut in London just days before Goodwood. Preliminary figures list combined weighted fuel consumption at 11.3 litres per 100 km and power consumption at 7.8 kWh per 100 km — figures that reflect its plug-in hybrid architecture. Audi describes the vehicle on show as a near-production prototype, so all specifications remain preliminary.
More Than One Car on Show
The Nuvolari is the headline act, but Audi’s Goodwood presence extends well beyond it. The new RS 5 (a high-performance plug-in hybrid) is available for test drives on Goodwood Circuit, displayed alongside its predecessors, the Avant RS2 and the RS 4 Avant.
Audi Tradition is also bringing a collection of historic race cars, including Le Mans and rally machinery, plus Auto Union Type C and Type D Grand Prix cars. The most historically significant addition is the Auto Union Lucca, a 1930s Rennlimousine (essentially a racing saloon) that Audi recreated from historical photographs and technical documents.
The Lucca is being driven in public for the first time at Goodwood. In 1935, the original set a flying-start mile record at a calculated average speed of 320.267 km/h. Audi unveiled the recreation in Lucca, Italy — where that record was set — in early May.
Why Goodwood Matters Here
Goodwood is one of the few events where a car’s dynamic character can be assessed, however briefly, outside a controlled manufacturer setting. Sending a near-production prototype up the Hillclimb with a driver of Kristensen’s standing is a deliberate signal that the Nuvolari is close to the real thing.
With deliveries still roughly two years away, Audi is using the festival to build momentum, and to remind the industry that its performance credentials stretch from the 1930s Silver Arrows era to a 1,001 PS hybrid supercar. That is quite a range to put on display in a single weekend.
