By Johan Laubscher
1. The Weekend
Focussing this week on the weekend of 21 - 22
July 2012
2. The Events
-
VLN
-
Brazil GT
-
STT
-
GT Cup
-
DTCC
-
Belgian Historic
Racing
-
SCCA Nationals
-
Omnitel 1000 km
- Silverstone Classic
- Cup & Tourenwagen Trophy
The sixth VLN round saw the Phoenix Racing
pairing of Marc Basseng and Frank Stippler do it again in their Audi R8 LMS
ultra. The pair who together won the fourth round of the series again stepped
onto the top of the podium after an amazing comeback drive. The SP4T class was
once again won by the Raeder Motorsport Audi TT RS. A total of nine Audi race
cars took part in the event.
2.2. Brazil GT
It was a case of putting their bad luck behind
them for Ebrahim Motors during the fourth Brazilian GT round at Rio de Janeiro. The team suffered a fire during practice at the previous
round which ended their race weekend. With that behind them the Ebrahim
brothers were very fast this weekend with second and third place qualifying
performances. The first race saw some bad luck for the team, but race two was
another podium finish as they came home in second place.
2.3. STT
Three Audi cars lined up for the four of the
German Spezial Tourenwagen Trophy (STT) at Spa. The cars did well in their
respective classes. The three Audis consisted of the usual three competitors, an
Audi 80, Audi S4 and a V8 STAR Audi A6 silhouette.
2.4. GT Cup
The sixth GT Cup
Championship, a series based in the UK, was hosted at Oulton Park. The series
has recently opened its classes to GT3 specification race cars and the sixth
round was the debut of an Audi R8 LMS car in the series. The latest Audi R8 LMS
team, Wessex Vehicles that debuted last weekend in Britcar were at the GT Cup
event. The driver and new owner of the ex-United Autosports machine, Nigel
Mustill was at the wheel of his car. The team achieved a third place finish in
race two after missing out in race one due to a penalty.
2.5. DTCC
Round four of the
Brazilian based Audi DTCC (Driver Touring Car Cup) was held at Sao Paulo.
Fourteen Audi A3 cars were on the gird for this one-make championship this
weekend.
2.6. Belgian Historic Racing
As was the case earlier this year at Zolder, the
two time Le Mans winner Andre Lotterer took part in Belgian historic racing.
The event was at Spa and the young German was again behind the wheel of the Nothelle-Kamei Audi Coupe which
his father had worked on thirty-one years ago during his time at Nothelle.
2.7. SCCA Nationals
Road America was host to a SCCA National event
this weekend in the run up to this year’s SCCA National Runoffs. Joel
Weinberger and his ex-Stasis Audi A4 claimed the overall victory for the
weekend. Another step closer for the Continental Racing team in reclaiming
their SCCA Nationals title.
2.8. Omnitel 1000 km
The annual Omnietel 1000 km race was held
this weekend. The event is one of Lithuania’s leading motorsport events. In the
past various Audi cars have taken part in the event and this year there was a
single Audi A4 B5 on the grid, according to the entry list.
2.9. Silverstone Classic
The 2012 Silverstone Classic took place this past weekend. Various Audi cars were entered in the Touring Car events which included an Audi A4 STW.
Drivebyshooters.co.uk website
2.10. Cup & Tourenwagen Trophy
This weekend Spa hosted the third round of the German Cup &
Tourenwagen Trophy. Three Audi cars were on the gird which included two Audi A3s
and a TT. The #1 Audi A3 did very well and achieved a podium finish.
2.11. Other Audi news
The Spa
24 Hours is less than a week away and on Friday Audi Sport revealed the factory
liveries for the event. Four factory supported Audi R8 LMS cars will be on the
grid from WRT and Phoenix Racing with two cars each. There will be ten Audi R8
LMS and ultra cars in total on the grid.
Some of
the South African Bridgestone Production Cars teams were testing at
Phakisa, two weeks ahead of round six of the series. Among these teams was VMP
Motorsport with their Audi S4. The team is working hard with their Audi S4 as
they continue to develop and improve their new for 2012 race car.
The Japanese Super GT series held official
testing at Suzuka this weekend. All the usual teams were at the event including
the four Audi cars from GAINER, äpr racing and Hitotsuyama Racing. The teams
will be back in action next weekend for round four of the series at Sugo.
Various Audi race cars were present at the Waterfest Audi & VW car show in America this weekend. Both the QuattroWorld and Fourtitude stands featured Audi race cars. QuattroWorld had the Limitless Racing Audi R8 GRAND-AM on show and Fourtitude had the 2005 Le Mans winning and 2006 ALMS Lime Rock winning Audi R8 LMP (#605) on show.
QuattroWorld.com website
3. Next Weekend’s events (28-29/07/2012)
-
Grand Am
-
Continental Tire
Sports Car Challenge
-
Spa 24 Hours
-
RCN
-
Japan Super GT
-
BRCC
-
Norway GT Racing
-
Legends of
Motorsport
All photos are hosted at their respective
website which are listed within the Weekend Round Up
