By Johan Laubscher
1. The Weekend
Focussing this week on the weekend of 4 - 5 August
2012
2. The Events
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VLN
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Italian GT
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SA Production Cars
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SCCA World Challenge
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Czech MMČR
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FIA European Hillclimb
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Italian Hillclimb
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Histo-Cup Austria
2.1. VLN
The six hour Pokal VLN event played host to
round seven of the series. Five Audi R8 LMS ultra cars lined up for the race
and they did not disappoint. The Raeder Motorsport team continued their good
showing by placing second overall ahead of the Audi Sport Team Phoenix cars in
third and sixth. There was also Audi success in the SP4T class, but not by one
of the usual TT RS cars. It was a debut win for the Brandl Motorsport team and
their privately built Audi TT RS which survived the six hours to take the class
victory.
2.2. Italian GT
Audi Sport Italia armed with their two Audi
R8 LMS ultra cars arrived in Austria for round four of the Italian GT series
held at the Red Bull Ring. The cars were very fast all weekend, placing very
well in qualifying with pole position. Race one saw a podium finish for #32
with both cars in the top five. Victory followed in race two on Sunday. The #31 Audi R8
LMS ultra of Capello and Sonvico took the lead on the last lap for a sensational
victory. Audi Sport Italia are firmly placed in the battle for the 2012 title.
2.3. Bridgestone
Production Cars
Round six of the South African Bridgestone
Production Car series was hosted Phakisa in Welkom. The weekend was a tough one
for the Audi teams who struggled against the better suited opposition. VMP
Motorsport who have been working very hard at Phakisa were the only Audis to
penetrate the top five during qualifying. The first race had all three Audi S4 cars finish in the
bottom half of the top six. Race two saw the two Terry Moss Racing Audi S4s
start on the front row of the reverse grid. The two cars placed first and
second with Stephen ahead of Sipuka during the race which brought a highlight
to the weekend for the Audi teams. Race three had one Audi on the podium with
Stephen in third.
2.4. SCCA Pirelli World Challenge
The penultimate
SCCA World Challenge round was at Mid Ohio. As per usual two Audi cars
lined up on the grid, but both had something new in store. GMG Racing were
debuting another new Audi R8 LMS at the event, driven by James Sofronas. He showed
great pace during the entire weekend by qualifying sixth and scoring the best
R8 LMS finish to date with fifth in race one. The Don Istook Audi TT RS also
did well and boasted a newly updated aerodynamic and exhaust set up.
2.5. Czech MMČR
The Czech MMČR series were at the Most circuit this weekend. The Bohemia Racing
Team (BRT) were at the event with two Audi A4 DTM cars. Tomas Kostka was
entered in the team’s 2007 Audi A4 DTM (R13) and Michalem Matějovský in the
2006 Audi A4 DTM (R12 plus). The team were the dominant force all weekend and
qualified 1-2. Race one on Friday saw the two Audis running well despite the
extra pitstop restrictions on the DTM specification cars. the race ended with
drama as Kostka in the leading Audi had an incident with the Zonda, damaging
both cars tremendously. The resulting red flag meant the results were taken back a
lap and Kostka was declared the winner with his teammate in third. BRT
were unable to repair the damaged R13 in time for race two on Sunday, thus the
team prepared one of their older 2005 Audi A4 DTM (R12) cars. Starting from the
back Kostka piloted the R12 to another victory followed by his teammate for a
BRT 1-2.
2.6. FIA European Hillclimb
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The FIA European Hillclimb series were in
France this weekend for the Mont Dore hillclimb. Various Audis were present at
the event including the ABT-Audi TT-R of Vláďa Vitver.
2.7. Italian Hillclimb
The Italian Alpe Del Nevegal Hillclimb was held this
weekend and a few Audi cars competed at the event which included a Audi Sport
quattro S1 replica.
2.8. Histo-Cup Austria
The Austian Histo-Cup series were at the
Slokavia Ring. A variety of cars took part including two Audi cars, an
interesting Audi A4 B5 and an Audi Coupe.
2.9. Other Audi news
GMG
Racing have debuted another Audi R8 LMS in the SCCA Pirelli World Championship
at Mid Ohio this weekend. Some very exciting news emerged as this was in fact
the team’s third Audi R8 LMS to arrive in America. Earlier in 2012 the team acquired
its first Audi R8 LMS which was shortly followed by a second. The second car
has debuted in the World Challenge series but the first car which has debuted
in another SCCA Endurance series still needs to enter the World Challenge. Along
with the debut of the third car it is now possible that all three Audi R8 LMS
cars will be racing at the World Challenge finale at Sears Point at the end of
August.
The American DragonSpeed team were the first
to receive an Audi R8 LMS ultra in North America. The team have been very busy
testing the car, preparing for the 2013 season. Last week the car was on show
at the prestigious Miami Audi Showroom.
Last week the South African Johan Fourie
Racing team closed its doors and it was announced that another team had acquired
the JFR Audi S4. The new team that will run the Audi S4 has not yet been disclosed to
the public. However, the series organisers have hinted that the Audi S4 will
most likely be back on track during 2012 in Class A of the Bridgestone
Production Car series. It was also said that the S4 may be seen at the next
round during August, hosted at Zwartkops Raceway.
The British GT twitter have mentioned a few
exciting things during last weekend. It was mentioned that United
Autosports may be back with their Audi R8 LMS ultra later this season in British GT. They also mentioned that there may be as many as two Audi R8
LMS cars on the grid for the 2013 season.
3. Next Weekend’s events (11-12/08/2012)
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Grand Am
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BTCC
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ADAC GT Masters
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Pikes Peak
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Aus Kerrick
Sports Sedans
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STCC
All photos are hosted at their respective
website which are listed within the Weekend Round Up
