Oh my...yeah, that needs to be there...not exactly sure HOW it works, and no way to explain what it does without knowing the proper names for most of the parts....but THAT part, I would see about replacing with the A5 transmission variant.
That funky little piece is a bit heavier, and harder to break, in the A5 than they A3, and it is prone to breakage, indeed.
There's a dude somewhere around this Forum who knows what it's called, so lets hope he sees this one and comments.
-Ree