By Johan Laubscher
This weekend was another busy weekend for the
Audi brand around the world in motorsport but it was also a very up and down
weekend. Some success and consistent results mixed with some disappointments.
1. The Weekend
Focussing this week on the weekend of 26-27 May
2012
2. The Events
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FIA GT1
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FIA GT3
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GT Asia
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SA Production Cars
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Brazil GT
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Australian GT
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STT
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Kerrick Sports
Sedans
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Malaysian Super
Series / Asian GT Series
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CMRC
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DTM show at Graz
2.1. FIA
GT1
Round three of the FIA GT1 World Endurance
championship was held at Navarra in Spain. It proved to be a very difficult
event for the Belgian Audi Club WRT team as the Audi R8 LMS ultras were off the
pace due to the Balance of Performance regulations. The #32 managed a top six spot in
qualifying but the race yielded different results. In both races the two Audis
circulated together and finished in the bottom end of the top ten. The weekend’s
results have dropped both the team and the #32 crew of Ortelli and Vanthoor to
third in the points standings. Hopefully the Audi R8 LMS ultra cars will be
better suited at the next round.
2.2. FIA GT3
Three Audi R8 LMS ultra cars were entered for
round three of the FIA European GT3 Championship. The three cars were entered
by Team Novadriver and Saintéloc. WRT entered one older Audi R8 LMS in the
field. As was the case in the FIA GT1 races the Audis struggled for pace but
the Novadriver team completed a brilliant second race and claimed third place
at the finish.
2.3. GT Asia
The opening round of the GT Asia series was
held at Sepang in Malaysia and saw the debut of the Audi R8 LMS ultra in this
series. A works Audi entry has been entered in the 2012 GT Asia series under
the banner of Audi R8 LMS Cup. The #7 of Marchy and Jeferry Lee qualified well
taking pole for race one. The team scored a double podium in the two races with
third in race one and second in race two. The two podium finishes were enough
to ensure that the team and the Audi R8 LMS ultra left the event as the overall
series points leaders.
2.4. South
African Bridgestone Production Cars
Zwartkops hosted the Wesbank Super Series of which
the Bridgestone Production Cars is part of for the second time in 2012 for
round four. The Engen Xtreme Terry Moss Racing Team was very strong with
Michael Stephen taking second overall for the day with three podiums and
teammate Sipuka also scoring two podium places and third overall. The VMP Motorsport Audi of
Melvil Priest continues to improve with consistent top five finishes in all
three races. The Audi of Johan Fourie suffered various problems which prevented
Fourie from repeating his success he experienced at round 2 in Cape Town.
2.5. Brazil
GT
The Brazilian GT series was at Curitiba for round two of the 2012 season.
The Ebrahim Motors Audi R8 LMS was very fast straight out of the box with a
double front row start. Second position on the gird for race one and pole for
race two. However despite good grid positions and fast pace during the race, punctures and other factors unfortunately relegated the Ebrahim brother driver pairing
down the standings to eventual midfield finishes.
2.6. Australian
GT
Two new Audi R8 LMS teams debuted during round two of the Australian GT
series at Phillip Island. The #14 of Peter Conroy and the #6 of Rod Salmon. The
weekend was dominated by rain and the Friday running was cancelled due to
flooding on the track. Saturday and Sunday would see consistent debut races for
the two Audis including both cars finishing in the top ten during race two. The
#1 Audi R8 LMS of Mark Eddy and Warren Luff was not entered in this Australian
GT event.
2.7. STT
Round two of the
German Spezial Tourenwagen Trophy (STT) was hosted at the Nürburgring. One Audi
was on the grid, the ex-ROC Audi 80 of Joachim Duscher which won its class in race
two.
2.8. Kerrick Sports Sedans
The Darren Hossack Audi A4 was ready for
round two of the Australian Kerrick Sports Sedan series at Phillip Island. The
weekend was highlighted with Hossack taking victory with the newly rebuilt A4 in
race three.
2.9 Malaysian Super Series / Asian GT
Series
The second rounds of the FRD Asian GT Series and the Malaysian Super Series was held at Sepang. As was the case during round one the two series would race together on track. Phillip Ma in the Team Hong Kong Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra (Absolute Racing supported) was at the event and did well.
2.10. CMRC
The Caribbean invasion was held at Dover in
Jamaica this weekend and featured round one of the 2012 Caribbean Motor Racing
Championship (CMRC). The ATL ABT-Audi TT-R driven by Jamaican Doug Gore was at
the event and for the first time he was allowed to compete in the CMRC. Doug
Maloney and his Audi A4 STW from Barbados were not present at the event. Doug
Gore qualified well. Gore placed second in the first MP4/3 category race and
won the second race. The first CMRC race of the day followed but with a bad
result for the ATL Audi. Doug Gore was involved in a big first corner crash
which damaged the front of the TT-R badly and destroyed the left rear corner of
the car taking the wheel assembly off as well. The shunt ended Gore’s
participation on the day, but the ATL team have vowed to be ready for the next
race meeting.
2.11. DTM at Graz
The DTM hosted an event on the streets of Graz
in Austria. 22000 spectators were present to see the event which included DTM
cars and drivers including Miguel Molina in an Audi A4 DTM thrilling the crowd.
The Graz event was held a week ahead of the DTM race in Austria.
2.12. Other Audi news
The first American based Audi R8 LMS ultra
has successfully conducted its first shakedown at Palim Beach International
Raceway. The car is run by Elton Julian’s DragonSpeed team. The team has
confirmed its entry for the 2013 Dubai 24 Hours and have mentioned the
possibility of the 2013 Bathurst 12 Hours and Nürburgring 24 Hours. The team is
also investigating the possibility of competing in the SCCA World Challenge and
the ALMS GTC class.
The weekend saw two Audi R8 LMS cars debut in
the Australian GT series taking the Audi count to three cars in the series.
Along with these three Audi R8 LMS cars there is another Audi R8 LMS that is
for sale in Australia at Melbourne Performance Centre. This thus confirms that
there are at least four Audi R8 LMS cars in Australia.
The successful Swedish skier Jon Olsson took
part in the 2012 Gumball 3000 in his heavily modified Audi R8 V10 (PPI Razor
& Stasis). The 2012 event route started on the East side of America from
New York and travelled to the west side of the country to finish at Los
Angeles. The Gumball events are not traditional road rallies. Olsson entered
his car in the Stormtroopers team which consisted of the Audi R8, a Lamborghini
and a Camaro. Various Audis had been entered into the event and Olsson’s R8 was
the one drawing the headlines as the Swedish star and his monstrous black car
won stages during the event.
Jon Olsson website
The Truth in 24 II film went live during the week. On Tuesday it was released onto iTunes featuring in the American, British, Irish, Australian and New Zealand iTunes stores. The film was released mid week on Audi.TV for streaming of the English and German versions of the film. And finally on Friday Audi USA uploaded the entire Truth in 24 II film onto YouTube which received over 14000 views during the weekend.
Truth in 24 II on iTunes
Truth in 24 II (English) on Audi.TV
Truth in 24 II (German) on Audi.TV
Truth in 24 II on YouTube
3. Next Weekend’s events (2-3/06/2012)
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Le Mans test day
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DTM
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Grand Am
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Blancpain Endurance Series
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Superstars
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Superstars GT Sprint
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Portuguese GT
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SCCA World Challenge
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Audi R8 LMS Cup
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Swedish GT
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Audi Endurance Experience (Audi
France A1)
The weekend was one of ups and downs but
success was present for the Audi brand on track around the world. Next weekend
will hopefully bring even more success and less disappointment as we await another
exciting race weekend. Next weekend will be highlighted by the Le Mans test day as the two new Audi R18 race cars debut on the Circuit de la Sartha in France.
All photos are hosted at their respective
website which are listed within the Weekend Round Up
