Underbody panel

Hi everyone,
 
I'm sorry if this was addressed in a previous post, i tried searching but i'm not sure what the part is called, but i let a friend drive my 01 audi a4 1.8t and he ran over something and my front lip came loose. thinking nothing of it i just put it in the backseat and figured i worry about it later, when i got home i noticed that the under body panel below the engine bay looked like it cracked in half or something and apparently it was dragging for a few miles. Seemed like nothing mechanical was damaged and the car drives fine, but i was just wondering if i needed this panel as far as drivability is concerned, and if its cool if i just yank the whole thing of and just put the lip back on.
 
Thanks everyone!

are you talking about, the belly pan under the car? It's made of plastic and looks like it wouldn't protect much. Yeah, that thing isn't tat useful, I don't run one on my car and I know a good number of people who don't run them until they lower their car, then they look into a panzer plate which is made of metal and actually protects the underpart of your car.

Yeah I don't have one either. I actually never did have one on my car. It was gone when I bought it.

Josh