The Trans-Am series inaugurated in 1966 is the oldest motor racing championship in the United States, and in 1987 Audi decided to enter it.
The Audi 200 quattro served as the basis for a competition car with a 510 bhp turbocharged five-cylinder engine. The 'Group 44' team, which coordinated the Audi race entries in America, included the likes of Hurley Haywood, Walter Röhrl and Hans-Joachim Stuck.
It turned out to be a highly successful season: Audi took the chequered flag in eight out of a total of thirteen races and won the manufacturers' title, while Hurley Haywood secured the drivers' championship.