Audi Press Release
Audi is contesting three 24-hour races as factory commitments within the space of ten weeks this year – at the Nürburgring and at Spa with the R8 LMS ultra GT3 sports car and at Le Mans with the R18 LMP sports car. The classic Eifel event on May 19/20 that will be held for the 40th time and at which seven Audi R8 LMS ultra cars meet with strong competition marks the beginning of this marathon.
Audi is starting into the Nürburgring 24 Hours with a carefully orchestrated new formation. For the first time, Audi Sport Team Phoenix as the exclusive factory team is representing the brand with the four rings with two Audi R8 LMS ultra cars. In addition, four other teams with support from Audi Sport customer racing will line up on the grid. They all are relying on the latest generation of Audi’s GT3 sports car, the R8 LMS ultra that has been clearly revised for the 2012 model year. This gives Mamerow Racing, Raeder Motorsport, Speedhunters Team WRT and the Audi race experience the chance of scoring top results as well.
The Audi R8 demonstrated its capabilities at the Nürburgring 24 Hours on as many as three previous occasions. On its debut in 2009 and in the two subsequent years the race car with the V10 mid-engine was always the car to be beaten in the GT3 class. Yet in those years only more complex and higher-powered GT2 models were in contention for overall victory. This year, the SP 9 class for GT3 vehicles with no less than 30 vehicles of eight renowned brands in the field is regarded as the top category.
The changes of the 2012 season include single timed laps of the 40 top contenders in qualifying on Friday. This guarantees clearly higher equality of opportunities than in the past. Another welcome new feature that also encompasses the Spa 24 Hours on July 28 and 29: For the first time, there is a joint trophy by the organizers of both events to be won by the teams that achieve the best aggregated results in the Eifel and in the Ardennes.
From May 18 to 20, Audi Sport is tackling a double race weekend. Whereas Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich coordinates the activities at the third DTM round at Brands Hatch Dieter Gass, Head of Racing Commitments at Audi Sport, is responsible in the Eifel.
The fans on location are not the only ones who can look forward to the major German endurance race. TV audiences will also have excellent opportunities to watch the action. The TV channel Sport1 will provide a total of 23:10 hours of on-air Nürburgring coverage from May 17 to 20. ARD on “Das Erste” is planning to air two live reports of 15 minutes each from the Eifel before and after the DTM race on Sunday afternoon and on Saturday will carry reports in two of its “Sportschau” programs. www.audi.tv will be broadcasting the race by live streaming as well and offering additional coverage of its own.
The Audi teams at the 2012 Nürburgring 24 Hours
Audi Sport Team Phoenix
#2 Marcel Fässler (CH)/Christopher Mies (D)/René Rast (D)/Frank Stippler (D)
#3 Marc Basseng/Christopher Haase/Frank Stippler/Markus Winkelhock (all D)
Speedhunters Team WRT
#4 Oliver Jarvis (GB)/Andrea Piccini (I)/Edward Sandström (S)/Allan Simonsen (DK)
Raeder Motorsport
#9 Frank Biela/Christian Hohenadel/Luca Ludwig/Thomas Mutsch (all D)
Audi race experience
#24 Luca Cappellari (I)/Florian Gruber (D)/Warren Luff (AUS)/Alex Yoong (MAL)
#25 Christian Bollrath (D)/Pierre Ehret (D)/Peter Venn (GB)/Marco Werner (D)
Mamerow Racing
#26 Christian Abt/Michael Ammermüller/Armin Hahne/Christian Mamerow (all D)
