Silverstone is hosting the third round of the British GT Championship this weekend. A very special 3-hour endurance event and an impressive entry list. Three Audi R8 LMS and ultra cars will be there aiming to do well. United Autosports drivers Mark Patterson and Matt Bell, the drivers of the #25 Audi R8 LMS ultra, are now second overall in the points standings. The two drivers have 42.5 points, only half a point behind the series leaders David Ashburn and Nick Tandy, with the Trackspeed Porsche. Last time out at Rockingham Patterson and Bell ended in a strong third place after the two-hour race.
The second Audi R8 LMS ultra car is from M-Sport. The World Rally Championship specialists had a very strong Rockingham round. Rembert Berg and Warren Hughes finished the race in second with their #10 Audi. At Silverstone the Scottish based team will again fight for strong points. Rembert and Hughes are now fifth overall with 27 points, not bad as they were not classified for points in the first round at Oulton Park.
PE Group Blendini Motorsport will field the third Audi, an older specification R8 LMS. Dom Evans and Tom Roche will be the drivers of the #11 R8 LMS. At Rockingham they finished in seventeenth place.
The Silverstone 500 event will have live coverage on Motors TV. No less than 48 cars will enter the race, with a format similar to the one used in the Blancpain Endurance Series. As was the case in the first two rounds, the Audi squad will have to fight hard against a great quality field of GT3 cars. The Trackspeed Porsche 997 GT3 R cars will be the ones to beat.
AUSTIN, Texas (May 19, 2013)- In what has been an unbelievable 2013 Pirelli World Challenge Season, GMG’s James Sofronas took his third victory of the season during this weekend’s fourth and fifth rounds at Circuit of the Americas.
“Wow, what an incredible day,” stated Sofronas. “Yesterday’s race with Johnny showed we knew we had a good car, and once again luck was on our side today. The key to this entire season has been having a reliable and consistent car in the Audi R8 LMS, and a crew that has been relentless in looking over every detail. The support we’ve had from Audi on this program has obviously been instrumental, and the guys have been working non-stop to get us here. I’m glad we can celebrate with all of them.”
Following a successful test at the brand-new Austin, Texas facility, the entire Global Motorsports Group (GMG) came in to this weekend’s rounds of the championship knowing that they had a team capable of victory. With a series-record seven cars entered by the team, five of them being the Audi R8 LMS, Sofronas never lost a step in pursuit of his first series championship.
Starting Saturday’s fourth round from the second position, James’ No. 14 Mobil 1 / Children’s Tumor Foundation Audi R8 LMS had a fairly quiet race. Falling back during the standing start, a spirited battle between Sofronas and the No. 8 Cadillac of Andy Pilgrim as well as GMG teammate Duncan Ende led to race-leader Johnny O’Connell building a healthy lead over the field. While Sofronas would comfortably place himself in second during the later stages of the race, the pace of O’Connell’s No. 3 Cadillac was simply too much, with James finishing second; his fourth straight podium.
During today’s fifth round, however, the race would take a significantly different turn. Starting on the front row, the Audi R8 LMS would fall back to third behind the leading Cadillacs. By lap three, the Cadillac of O’Connell would pull to the side with mechanical gremlins. With Sofronas now in second, the balance over the course of the race for the Audi allowed the No. 14 to gain ground on the now-leading Cadillac of Pilgrim. Over time, the consistency of the No. 14 was simply too much for Pilgrim, with Sofronas taking the lead on lap eight and never looking back.
It would be the third victory in five races for James’ 2013 effort, and the Villa Park, California resident has never been off the podium this season.
For Duncan Ende’s No. 24 STANDD / Merchant Services, Ltd. Audi R8 LMS, a seventh and fifth-place finish were not indicative of the Californian’s overall showing.
After qualifying seventh for Saturday’s round, Ende made immediate work of the field in front of him, eventually finding himself glued to Sofronas’ rear-end during the middle stages of the race. Fighting his teammate hard for a podium position, a late re-start would allow Alex Figge’s No. 9 Volvo to put Ende behind, eventually fading back to seventh in the mix, and literally finishing 0.1 seconds behind Mike Skeen’s No. 2 Corvette in a last lap drag race.
For today’s round, Ende was determined to translate his third starting position into his first career Pirelli World Challenge podium. For much of the race it looked like that would finally materialize. Never losing site of his teammate, Ende pursued Sofronas during the entirety of the race. Finding himself in third after O’Connell’s retirement, Ende would spend a good deal of the middle portion of the race battling with the Cadillac of Andy Pilgrim, eventually making the pass with less than 10 laps to go. Sitting in second, a late-race caution would put Duncan right behind race leader James Sofronas for a three-lap shootout to the end. Unfortunately, a punctured left rear tire prior to the caution would create a handful for Ende, eventually leading to Pilgrim passing him on the re-start. Ende would nurse the car home for the final laps, eventually settling for fifth.
“Another crazy weekend, what do I say?” stated Ende. “I was disappointed with Friday’s qualifying, so it was great to come back on Saturday and immediately catch up to James. We didn’t have any mechanical issues and we were finally able to show our ability, but I just caught some bad breaks in traffic and fell back. Today was another great race, we just slipped at the end with the tire. I was really hoping to race James at the end and finally come home with some hardware, but I went wide to avoid crashing into Andy, and from there I was just trying to nurse the car home. It’s disappointing to miss the podium again, but at least we were in contention all weekend and free of mechanical issues.”
For Alex Welch’s No. 08 Spyder / Lasso Audi R8 LMS, a quiet weekend would net two top-10 finishes for the Colorado resident. On Saturday, Welch would run consistent and trouble free to an eventual ninth-place finish. Running one of the fastest laps in the field, Alex was part of a massive mid-field battle, never putting a scratch on the car in the process.
Looking for another top-10 on Sunday, Welch set his fastest lap of the weekend during the race’s third lap, once again fighting hard with the Corvette of Mike Skeen and the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 of Tim Pappas, eventually taking sixth.
“I’m pretty happy with the weekend,” stated Welch. “The strength of James’ and Duncan’s runs showed just how good the program is, and with a little less traffic I think we could have the No. 08 right there. It was great to run clean with Tim and Mike, and I think we found a few things that will help us this season. I definitely have my eyes set on a podium at my next race.”
For Bret Curtis, a mixed weekend was on hand for the Westlake Village, California resident. After showing strong during practice, Curtis showed the potential of the No. 32 Spectra Resources Audi R8 LMS by qualifying the car in fifth on Friday.
Unfortunately, the highlights stopped there as Curtis had a difficult race on Saturday. On lap five, an errant Porsche crashed hard in to the No. 32, causing unrepairable damage to Curtis’ vehicle and retiring in 16th place.
Hoping for better results on Sunday, a hard weekend of car repairs by the GMG crew would give Curtis another great car, however unfortunate luck would rear its head again. On the first turn of the race, another incident would cause damage yet again, this time allowing Curtis to continue on, though wounded, to a quiet ninth.
“We definitely could have used a little better luck out here,” stated Curtis. “I was really pumped after Friday. To qualify in fifth we showed our potential, the guys really gave me a good car. Saturday’s incident was really unfortunate. The other driver’s move was nothing I would have expected, and pretty frustrating. The guys did a great job getting the car turned around. Unfortunately, contact again today before I was out of the first turn kind of ruined any hope of doing well, but at least we were able to get a top-10 out of it. The potential is definitely there for some great results, hopefully it will show soon.”
Running a forgettable weekend was team newcomer Mike Hedlund. Driving the No. 40 Audi R8 LMS, the Woodside, California native showed considerable ability in a car he’d never driven prior to this weekend. Qualifying at a similar time to his teammates, Mike went in to the weekend with high expectations. However, a series of mechanical problems would prove otherwise. During Saturday’s race, an overheating issue while in sixth place would cause Hedlund to retire, eventually credited with 15th. Twenty-four hours later, the driver would retire again with gearbox issues.
“It definitely wasn’t the weekend we had wanted,” stated Hedlund. “It’s part of racing to have mechanical gremlins like this, hopefully it’s all out of the way now for next time. I really appreciate all the effort that the GMG guys put into the car, and it would have been nice to have had some results. Regardless, I appreciate the opportunity, and wish the team the best for the year!”
Finally, Bill Ziegler’s No. 95 Swisher Racing Pontiac would also have a very mixed weekend in the GTS category. Continuing to develop their machine, a promising series of runs in practice and qualifying were unfortunately marred by mechanical retirements on Saturday and Sunday.
“It definitely wasn’t the weekend we’d hoped for,” stated Ziegler. “Development is a big part of this program, and unfortunately it means you can have weekends like this one. I appreciate all the work that the GMG guys did to get us here, and we’ll get them at Detroit.”
With the team putting a very strong stamp on the Pirelli World Challenge GT Championship, there is little time to relax as the team prepares for the next round in just two weeks. The Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix will hold the sixth and seventh rounds of the championship on Saturday, June 1 and Sunday, June 2.
NBC Sports Network will feature television coverage of this weekend’s race at Circuit of the Americas on Sunday, June 16, at 5PM ET.
About GMG
Founded in 2001 by James Sofronas and Fabryce Kutyba, GMG has quickly established itself as North America’s premier performance tuning and racing facility. What began as a small 1200 sq. ft. shop, maintaining two race cars, has grown into a 30,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art performance tuning, racing and service facility located in (Orange County) Santa Ana, California. The staff's experience, attention to detail, and passion are what make GMG the choice of professionals and enthusiasts world wide. Whether you want to maximize the performance of your street car, or race wheel-to-wheel on both amateur and professional racing series across North America, GMG’s reputation for service and quality is unmatched. Learn more at www.gmgracing.com
About Mobil 1
Conventional oil is simply refined crude oil. Mobil 1 synthetic oil, however, is not only refined, but it is also distilled, purified, and broken down into its basic molecules. It is then rebuilt and added to, so that it can better protect against wear, high heat, cold weather and sludge buildup. Ultimately, this process helps your car’s engine run better for longer. You can explore more about these benefits below. Learn more at www.mobiloil.com
About Lasso
Lasso is a request-based, sharing network predicated on a very simple idea: You have something that I want—and you may not even know it until I ask for it. With so much content cluttering our phones, tablets, PCs and social networks, it can be difficult to seek out and find the specific items of interest to you. Friends or colleagues may not share this content with you directly because they’re drowning in data overload themselves. Often, these friends aren’t sure exactly what you want. Lasso makes it easy for you to round up the digital content you want from friends—simply by asking for it. By putting the onus on the requester, instead of the person holding the content, you’ll be in a much better position to actually receive the digital content you’re interested in.
Learn more at www.lasso.me
About Merchant Services Ltd.
In 2001 Merchant Services Ltd. was founded with three basic principles in mind: quality, service, and commitment. Inspired by our racing heritage we pride ourself in providing the highest level of customer service and support 24 hours a day 365 days a year. Merchant Services Ltd. develops long term relationships with both our merchants and banking partners allowing us to have the highest customer retention rate in the industry. Founded by a professional race car driver, innovation and efficiency have always been our core competencies, ensuring that our merchants receive the cutting edge solutions their businesses need.
Learn more at www.merchantservicesltd.com
About Spyder
Spyder was founded by avid skier and outdoor athlete David Jacobs. He rose to world-class rankings as a competitive skier, and stayed connected to the sport he loves by coaching, designing related products, and building one of the most powerful brands in the industry. His dedication to the sport of skiing and the Spyder brand is as inspiring as it is intriguing. Spyder's growth exploded over the turn of the century, and the company is now the largest ski-specialty brand in the world. David has recently discovered the adrenaline rush in racing classic Formula One cars, finding success - not surprisingly - in this new pastime. For a man who's thrived on sports, technology, and professional advancement, the world is sure to see David go a few more times around the track.
Learn more at www.spyder.com
About Spectra Resources
Spectra Resources is a specialized trading company designed for buyers and sellers to purchase and sell steel in any part of the world efficiently and economically.
Learn more at www.spectraresources.com
About STANDD
Stop Texting And Distracted Driving (STANDD) was founded by Diveeta Thompson, whose son Rodney lost his life while driving. There were numerous factors that played a factor - speed, music, and texting. In an effort to raise awareness about the dangers of texting and driving, Diveeta founded STANDD and has been working diligently throughout her home state of Indiana and nationally through Duncan Ende's motorsports program to spread the message of the dangers of distracted driving. STANDD also promotes the Rodney O. Thompson II Scholarship, which was established to help young people fulfill their goal of attending college after high school.
Learn more at www.standd.org
Learn more at www.racersroast.com
About Swisher
The company began in 1861 when David Swisher received a small cigar business in settlement of a debt. Back then, cigars were only a sideline for Swisher and his four sons, just one of many products that they hawked across the Midwest for the “rolling stores” or wagons. Today, Swisher International, Inc. is a leader in the tobacco business, accounting for one-third of the United States' cigar sales and is America’s largest cigar exporter.
Learn more at www.swisher.com
About United Steel Supply
United Steel Supply is a leading distributor and processor of steel products dedicated to the metal building industry in the United States. Learn more at www.unitedsteelsupply.com
The customer teams of last year's winner Audi experienced one of the toughest events of the Nürburgring 24 Hours this year. Heavy rain forced race control during the night to interrupt the race for more than nine hours. Numerous accidents caused a treacherous mix of oil, mud and rain water on the track. Three Audi R8 LMS ultra cars had accidents in these critical conditions and retired. In the end, Marcel Fässler/Mike Rockenfeller/Frank Stippler/Markus Winkelhock (CH/D/D/D) in fifth place were the best Audi drivers.
For the first time since the 24-hour Nürburgring debut of the racing version of the R8 in May 2009, there was no trophy for the GT sports car. Four times in succession, the R8 LMS won the GT3 class. In addition, Audi celebrated overall victory a year ago. Following this factory-backed commitment, customer teams exclusively relied on the most recent evolution of the R8 LMS ultra. Five teams put eight race cars on the grid. Frank Stippler (D) started the race weekend for Phoenix Racing by setting the best time in qualifying. From grid position one, last year's winner in car number 4 took the lead at the beginning of the race. Subsequently, the local hero from Bad Münstereifel, who was nominated for two cars, concentrated on his stints in car number 1, the R8 LMS ultra of G-Drive Racing by Phoenix.
Stippler with his team-mates Marcel Fässler, Markus Winkelhock and Mike Rockenfeller, who had directly arrived from Brands Hatch where he won a DTM round, was initially running among the top three teams. Due to an exchange of the oxygen sensor, car number 1 dropped to tenth place on Sunday night. Up to the interruption of the race the team had recovered to fourth place. On Monday, the quartet defended its position in the fiercely competitive field of the front runners as rain was repeatedly setting in again. In the end, they finished in fifth place.
Several Audi customers got to experience the trickiness of the conditions that prevailed after the race was interrupted. Michael Ammermüller (D) was fortunate when after an excursion only the tie rod on his number 4 Audi had to be exchanged. Consequently, together with Ferdinand and Johannes Stuck (A), he managed the leap onto position eight. One position behind them, Frank Biela/Christer Jöns/Luca Ludwig/Roman Rusinov (D/D/D/RUS) in the second car of G-Drive Racing by Phoenix reached the finish.
Almost simultaneously with Ammermüller, Laurens Vanthoor (B) had slipped into the guard rails on an oil leak. The suspension of his number 29 Audi of the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT was too heavily damaged for a repair. Around 80 minutes later, Christian Mamerow (D) was struck by misfortune. At the ‘Schwedenkreuz' he got off track on a slippery spot. He destroyed the suspension of his number 2 R8 LMS ultra so that Prosperia C. Abt Team Mamerow retired.
Car number 14 of the Audi race experience experienced a smaller accident as well on lapping a rival but Pierre Ehret (D) was able to continue to drive. Piloted by other enthusiastic customers and several professional drivers, the two R8 LMS ultra cars of the Audi race experience otherwise completed their laps in a commanding manner and in the end took positions 18 and 28.
"I've never experienced such a tough event of the 24-hour race since the R8 started running here," said Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. "Still, our customers demonstrated a great fighting spirit. Our congratulations today go to those who finished the race and of course to the overall winners of Mercedes-Benz. I'm sure that our customers will attack again at Spa in July at the next 24-hour race."
Romolo Liebchen, Head of Customer Sport at quattro GmbH, commented, "Every string comes to an end. Since May 2012, the R8 has won four 24-hour races - at the Nürburgring, at Spa, at Zolder plus the class victory at Daytona in January. That the R8 LMS ultra is a reliable and fast endurance race car we saw nonetheless at the Nürburgring in the fierce competition of more than 30 GT3 race cars. Together with our customers, we're already looking forward to the next challenges."
It wasn't to be. The Belgian Audi Club Team WRT's race at the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring, probably the toughest GT race in the world, ended on Monday morning when the Audi R8 LMS ultra of the Belgian squad suffered an accident after hitting a spot of oil on the track, sustaining heavy damage. Until then, Team WRT had been a win contender and was in fifth position at the moment of the accident. There was frustration among team members and the four drivers (Laurens Vanthoor, Christopher Haase, Christopher Mies and Edward Sandström) but also satisfaction for the competitiveness shown throughout the weekend, in what was only the second participation of the Belgian squad in the landmark race on the Eifel track. This year's edition has matched in excess the epics of the Nordschleife, as the race had to be neutralized during the entire night because of heavy rain and fog. Eventually, Audi could not retain the crown, with the best-placed R8 only in fifth, in an edition dominated by the Mercedes SLS.
Following its positive debut in 2012, the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT was keen to show its potential in this second outing at the 24 Hours and that happened since the first practice sessions. The car proved well-balanced and fast, and was qualified in an excellent 10th position (out of 175 entrants!) by Edward Sandström.
The race started at 5 pm on Sunday and during the first hours, the Belgian R8 stabilized in the top ten, with very short gaps within the front-runners. Options for a big result remained open even a first alert, when the Battlefield4-livered R8 slightly touched the barriers after going into aquaplaning in the rain. The car could be perfectly repaired and re-prepared as the race was red-flagged around 11 pm. The rain had become heavier and heavier, with visibility made poorer by darkness and spots of fog. The situation went on for the entire night, with the race resuming shortly after 8 am on Monday morning.
The pace of the Belgian squad's car was again excellent and the car charged back to 5th, when, shortly before 10 am, it fell victim of an accident in the fast section of Bergwerk. Laurens Vanthoor was at the wheel at that moment and the young Belgian rookie was surprised by a sudden spot of oil, not flagged by the marshals. The car hit the barriers several times and was too heavily-damaged to continue, but luckily, Laurens escaped unscathed.
Team Principal Vincent Vosse was philosophical in wrapping up the experience: "That's the kind of thing that can happen anytime in a race such as the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring, and you have to accept it. This year, things were made even more difficult by the apocalyptic weather conditions. It's a pity, because we proved competitive, we were in the top positions and very often the best-placed Audi, but that's racing. Now we are all trying to lift up Laurens' spirits. He feels a little bit miserable at the moment, and any driver would do so in his position, but there is nothing he should be blaming himself for, what happened would have occurred to anyone at the wheel at that moment. I am happy with what we showed, with the great work done by the team and the drivers, and we are going to turn the page and focus on what comes next".
This will be the second round of the Blancpain Endurance Series scheduled on 1st - 2nd June at Silverstone.
The second round of the European Le Mans Series was held last weekend on the Italian circuit of Imola. During the previous race held over 3 hours on the British Silverstone circuit the Dylan Derdaele (B), Raffi Bader (CH), Kuba Giermaziak (PL) trio had claimed a first podium place in the GTC class. Despite the good prospects of clinching a second podium place in a row the Audi R8 LMS of the MOMO-Megatron-DF1 Team experienced a technical problem with its brakes. Everything was running smoothly up until the 60th lap! The front brake lining literally went up in smoke and the American Audi-Team was then confronted with a leaking oil line.
With a starting grid of 28 cars the GTC class was strongly represented with seven top cars. In varying weather conditions the MOMO-Megatron-DF1 Team concentrated on the set-up of the Audi R8 LMS for this difficult circuit. Their efforts were finally rewarded with an excellent third best time in GTC during the qualifying. It was once more to be a challenge for the young Derdaele, Giermaziak and Bader trio.
Raffi Bader: "After Silverstone we experienced a fair amount of bad luck during the race here in Imola. The brake cooling was set at "shortrun". This resulted in the brakes not being ideally cooled".
Kuba Giermaziak: "Unfortunately up against the new Ferrari and Lamborghini our Audi R8 LMS was no match regarding lap times".
Also Dylan Derdaele was not really satisfied with the performance of the Audi R8 LMS as compared to the competition: "There is work to be done. Through some heavy test sessions we need to improve the performance of the Audi R8 LMS before the next round of the ELMS on the Austrian Red Bull Ring in order to take on our rivals ", the fast young Belgian concluded.
By Johan Laubscher A new Audi Motorsport book is scheduled to be launched in October. The book focuses on Audi race and rally cars from 1968 up until 2013. It will be a must-have book for any Audi and motorsport enthusiast.
The new book is entitled "Audi Typenkunde" and will be published by Delius Klasing. The authors include Fabian Wiedl, Werner Wiedl and Frank Großhans. Three long-time Audi experts who each have years of knowledge surrounding Audi and the world of motorsport. It will be released 10.10.2013. The book listing and pre-order can be seen HERE.
The book description, as given by the Delius Klasing website:
Renn- und Rallyewagen von 1968 bis 2013
ultra erfolgreich – die Vier Ringe auf der Piste
Le Mans, Nürburgring, Pikes Peak – auf den Rennstrecken der Welt gewinnen die Fahrzeuge der AUDI AG seit Jahrzehnten zahllose Wettbewerbe. Besonders hervorzuheben sind dabei die jüngsten Seriensiege bei Langstreckenrennen und die vielen Erfolge in internationalen Tourenwagen-Meisterschaften. Ebenso unvergessen bleibt die Dominanz der Ingolstädter im Rallyesport der frühen 1980er-Jahre.
Immer maßgebend war und ist dabei die Innovationsfreude der Audi-Techniker. Ob durch den quattro-Antrieb, die Diesel- und Benzin-Direkteinspritzer-Technologie oder den Hybridantrieb mit Elektromotoren – die Messlatte wird bei Audi gern mal ein Stückchen höher gelegt. Das wirkt sich aber nicht nur im Rennsport, sondern auch auf Serienfahrzeuge aus, und die Kunden des Hauses profitieren langfristig von den bei Audi Sport gewonnenen Erfahrungen: Der Motorsport ist und bleibt ein nicht zu ersetzendes Testfeld.
Wie eng die Verwandtschaft von Wettbewerbs- und Serienfahrzeugen bei Audi ist, erfahren Sie in dieser Typenkunde. Alle Rennwagen des traditionsreichen Herstellers werden in Bild und Text vorgestellt. Und so manches bekannte Gesicht ist darunter! Ob Audi Super 90, Sport quattro, V8 quattro DTM oder R18 e-tron quattro: Von den motorsportlichen Anfängen in den 1960er-Jahren bis in die Gegenwart stehen alle Darsteller auf der Bühne – inklusive detaillierter Tabellen mit Technischen Daten, Stückzahlen und Renneinsätzen. Ein unverzichtbares Nachschlagewerk für Fans der Vier Ringe in schnellerer Gangart!
By Johan Laubscher The Audi Centre Melbourne Audi TT RS was tipped as one of the front runners at the Targa Tasmania this year. The car, driven by Matt and Casey Close, had performed very well this year. With a string of good results they were very confident ahead of the premiere event in the Australian Targa Championship calendar.
They performed very well at the Targa Tasmania, despite technical problems which lost them time. They were up to a comfortable third overall when turbo related problems unfortunately ended their event.
Other Side Productions have been producing great video coverage of the Targa Championship. They have just released another new video featuring the TT RS at the 2013 Targa Tasmania. It is a great video, and the TT RS sounds brilliant with its five cylinder turbo engine
By Johan Laubscher Racing Team Jagu is a French Rallycross team who have been competing with Audis for many years. The team has developed an Audi A1 rallycross car for the 2013 French Rallycross Championship.
The new car looks great and they debuted at the first round of the championship this past weekend. More about this Audi A1 can be read HERE. Les films Z has produced a short video introducing the new Team Jagu Audi A1, we have embedded that YouTube video below:
The Nürburgring 24 Hours was held over the long weekend (Whitsun) in Germany. A total of seventeen Audi cars took part, eight of which were Audi R8 LMS ultra entries. A large field of SP9 (GT3) cars took part and the Audis showed good pace. Frank Stippler was able to put in a tremendous qualifying lap to take pole in the #4 Phoenix R8 LMS ultra. The race got underway with a dry track and a very fast pace. The Audis lead initially and remained within the lead battle. As the race approached midnight the weather worsened and the race was red flagged for safety. The cars were brought back to the pits to wait for the restart, whilst the 24 Hours carried on counting down. The race was restarted at 08:00 and a nine hour race to the flag begun in continuing wet conditions which did dry out eventually. The #1 Audi R8 LMS ultra remained near the front and ultimately it was the top placed Audi finishing in fifth overall. The Audi TT RS cars won the SP4T and SP3T classes. Three Audis finished within the top ten overall, all three from Phoenix Racing.
The second round of the DTM took place in Britain this weekend, hosted at Brands Hatch (Indy configuration). The Audi teams arrived wanting to put the Hockenheim round behind them. They showed good pace in practice. Mike Rockenfeller was on point all weekend and set the fastest Audi time in qualifying, taking second overall. Martin Tomczyk's BMW, the original pole sitter, was found to be underweight and Rocky was promoted to pole. He took full advantage of the pole position and dominated the race with a flag to flag victory performance, also taking the lead in the championship points standings. Three Audis finished within the top ten.
Italian Superstars headed to the Czech Republic this weekend, for round two at Brno. Audi Sport Italia arrived with their two Audi RS 5 quattro cars. The Audis suffered at Monza, round one, but the team was confident that Brno would better suit the four wheel drive cars. Gianni Morbidelli topped the first wet free practice session and qualified fifth, but unfortunately he retired from race one. His teammate Ferdinando Geri finished within the top ten. Race two saw Morbidelli perform very well, taking second place.
The SCCA Pirelli World Challenge headed to a new venue, the Circuit of the Americas. GMG Racing arrived with five Audi R8 LMS cars and JCR Motorsports entered their Audi R8 GRAND-AM. The Six Audis performed well this weekend. James Sofronas, in the #14 Audi R8 LMS, arrived as the championship leader and maintained that lead. He qualified second and achieved third in race one, followed by another sensational race victory in race two, taking three wins in the first five races of the season. Four Audis finished within the top ten during race one and five during the second race.
The European Le Mans Series held round two at Imola in Italy. The MOMO Megatron DF1 Audi R8 LMS took part in the event. They qualified third in class, but unfortunately they retired from the race.
The Superstars GT Sprint also took place at Brno this weekend, alongside the Superstars Series. MTM entered their Audi R8 LMS for Johan Kristoffersson and Thomas Schöffler. The car was seen with a new red and black livery. The team showed good pace and qualified well within the top ten, highlighted with a fourth for race one. Their highest finish was seventh in race two.
The French GT-Tour held its second round at Imola, a support event for the ELMS. Four Audi R8 LMS ultra cars took part in what turned out to be a very difficult weekend for the Audi teams. The highest Audi finisher this weekend was the Sainteloc entry who finished ninth during race one, this was the only Audi top ten finish this weekend.
Melbourne Performance Centre entered two cars in the Victorian State Circuit Racing Championships. It was round two of the series held at Sandown. Rod Salmon competed in the #66 R8 LMS ultra and Audi newcomer, Ockert Fourie, competed in his #79 R8 LMS. Salmon qualified on pole and finished well during the races. He did not win any races, but he was classified as the overall winner for the day on aggregate.
The SVRA hosted the Spring Vintage Fesitval at Road America this weekend. Two Audis were entered for the event: Audi R8 LMP (#606) driven by Travis Engen and an Audi S4 Competition driven by Mike Fisher.
The third round of the RCN was scheduled to take place on Friday, before the proceedings of the Nürburgring 24 Hours weekend got underway. However, very difficult weather conditions and fog resulted in the RCN event being cancelled and the entire day's proceedings being adjusted due to the weather. Rahel Frey was entered to take part in the RCN event, in one of the Audi race experience (TKL) Audi R8 LMS ultra cars.
The French Rallycross Championship got underway with the “Rallycross des Ducs”. Two Audi cars took part, the Jagu Audi A1 and the ex-Jagu Audi A3. Jimmy Terpereau performed very well in his Audi A3 and won the Division 4 Group A final.
Round four of the Midas Clubmans was held at Killarney, Cape Town, SA. Two Audi A4s (ex national class A) took part. Nieyaaz Modack won the first race in his ex-JFR Audi A4 and Andre Johnson finished third overall for the day in his ex-Sipuka A4. An Audi R8 spaceframe racer and a TT also competed in the Sports and GT classes on the day.
The Canadian Super Production Challenge held round two at St-Eustache. Three Audis were present at the event, an Audi TT, an Audi A5 and an ex-Stasis SCCA World Challenge TC Audi A4.
Continental Racing took part in a SCCA Regional at the Autobahn Country Club. Joel Weinberger won his class in an ex-Stasis SCCA World Challenge TC Audi A4. Continental Racing FB page Results
2.15. Sonoma Historics
The 2013 Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival was held this weekend. A very special Audi race car made an appearance at the event, as was the case last year. The Audi 200 Trans Am owned by Eurospec was entered in the event. The car is chassis #TA4 and was driven by Steve Zlotkin. Eurospec website Results
2.16. Other Audi News
A total of thirty Audi cars were used as official vehicles at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, all supplied by quattro GmbH. The fleet of Audi cars were highlighted by Audi R8, RS 4 Avant and RS 6 Avant cars. Audi Sport Communication / Media
The APR Motorsport Audi R8 GRAND-AM was on display at SOWO 2013.
Another new Audi R8 LMS entry has come to light in Australia. Melbourne Performance Centre is now fielding a white/bright green liveried Audi R8 LMS for Ockert Fourie, who has purchased the vehicle. He is a graduate of the Australian Audi race experience program. The car is a 2011-spec Audi R8 LMS.
The Racing Team Jagu Audi A1 has been completed. The team has built an Audi A1 rallycross car for the French Rallycross Championship. The car will be driven by Yvonnick Jagu. More can be read HERE.
The fifth GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS entered the third round of the SCCA World Challenge this weekend. The fifth car has a new driver for the GMG Audi R8 LMS squad, in the form of Mike Hedlund.
The official Audi Sport App has been updated and is a must-get app for any Audi motorsport fan. The App is available for Apple and Android smartphones / devices. The App can be downloaded for Apple HERE, and for Android HERE. Audi Sport Communication / Media
3. Next Weekend’s events (25-26/05/2013)
Australian GT
British GT
Italian GT
MSS
IMG Racing
Portuguese GT
Super Taikya
CMRC
All photos are hosted at their respective website which are listed within the Weekend Round Up
Commanding triumph by Mike Rockenfeller at Brands Hatch
Audi driver new overall leader after two races
Mattias Ekström and Timo Scheider in the points too
Ingolstadt/Brands Hatch, May 19, 2013 – Two races, two pole positions – and now the first victory of the season plus the lead of the standings: The Audi RS 5 DTM was unbeatable at the second race of the 2013 DTM at Brands Hatch (Great Britain). Audi thus put an end to a four-race string of victories by BMW.
From the pole position, Mike Rockenfeller in the Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM of Audi Sport Team Phoenix celebrated a commanding victory in perfect external conditions. For 98 laps, the 2010 Le Mans winner controlled the pace and in the end crossed the finish line with a 7.641-second advantage as the clear winner. On clinching his second success at a DTM race after Zandvoort in 2011 ‘Rocky,’ with a one-point lead over title defender Bruno Spengler, took the top spot in the overall standings as well.
“That was a race of the kind you wish for as a race driver,” said Mike Rockenfeller after his triumph. “I won the start and was subsequently able to determine the pace. The option tires degraded a bit faster than at Hockenheim, which came as a surprise. But the others had the same problem and we responded correctly. My car functioned superbly and Team Phoenix performed two brilliant stops. Thank you for that! After Hockenheim, we put our heads together in the team – the result was seen today.”
“Not only the victory is a great confirmation of the hard work over the winter, but so is the commanding way in which Mike (Rockenfeller) achieved this success,” commented Dieter Gass, who has been Head of DTM at Audi Sport since April. “He was able to control the race for 98 laps and didn’t make any mistakes. His team did all the right things strategically and delivered two perfect pit stops. Well done! We already saw at Hockenheim that the performance of the Audi RS 5 DTM is right. It’s nice that we were able to convert that into a win today and managed to end the BMW string of victories.”
The spectators at Brands Hatch experienced a similarly thrilling DTM race as the crowd at the Hockenheim season opener. DRS and option tires again made for fierce duels and spectacular overtaking maneuvers. With Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM) and Timo Scheider (AUTO TEST Audi RS 5 DTM) in seventh and ninth place, two other Audi drivers (both Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline) scored points.
Following a less than optimal qualifying session, Ekström started on standard tires and in the race switched to the softer option tires right on lap four. With the help of this strategy, the Swede battled to make up ground from position twelve on the grid to seventh place.
Miguel Molina missed a point-finish by only 0.563 seconds. The Spaniard lost tenth place to Pascal Wehrlein just shortly before the end. Jamie Green finished his home round in 15th place. Filipe Albuquerque, after two time penalties, had to settle for position 17 as the best driver of Audi Sport Team Rosberg. Adrien Tambay finished the race, following a drive-through penalty due to a collision with Andy Priaulx, in 18th place. Edoardo Mortara was running in seventh place almost up until the end of the race before the Italian received a drive-through penalty as well and was forced to retire nine laps before the race ended.
The third race of the 2013 DTM will be held only two weeks from now at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg (Austria). There, Edoardo Mortara (Audi Sport Team Rosberg) won last year.
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