If you’re in the market for a car and you’re seeking an opinion of which model to buy, there’s no better person to ask than someone who’s been in one too many racing scraps and thus, probably knows what he’s talking about.

So if you’re talking of getting an Audi A->ke17291, today’s your lucky day because you’re going to get the opinion of one Markus Winkelhock, a veteran of the German Touring Car Championship, whom Audi->ke14 invited to take the A1 out for a spin around the Neustadt race track.

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What’s more, you can watch this video of Winkelhock on-board the A1 as he barrels through the straights and seams through the chicanes effortlessly. And as you can expect from someone who races for a living, Winkelhock has some pretty interesting comments about the A1, most of which – as expected – are glowing observations of the car.

"The car is very well sprung. It swallows up bumps of almost any size without any amplification of the motions," he said. "After driving the Audi A1 for the first time, my opinion is clear: It's the benchmark in the small compact class."

While a part of us would like to think that was being more gracious than he should’ve been, a bigger part of us thinks that Winkelhock really did enjoy driving the A1, of which his opinion should prove to be vital to anyone who’s interested in purchasing Audi’s premium hatchback.