By Johan Laubscher
1. The Weekend
Focussing this week on the weekend of 8 - 9 December 2012
2. The Events
- 25 Hours Thunderhill
- Zhuhai 500 Km
- Bologna Motor Show
- Killarney Festival of Speed
2.1. 25
Hours of Thunderhill
Thunderhill
has become famous for its annual 25 Hours of Thunderhill endurance race. This
weekend was the tenth running of this event. 034Motorsport entered an Audi TT
RS VLN car, which is normally seen in the SP4T class of the German VLN series.
The entry received a large amount of coverage and build up heading towards the
event. The car was fast from the word go and placed well during all the
practice sessions. A top five overall qualifying spot was achieved and many expected
the TT RS to fight for overall victory. The race started well with the car
running at the front. As the afternoon progressed the TT RS made its way into
the overall lead. Whilst in the lead the car suffered a mechanical failure
which was related to its gearbox. The TT RS retired from the race on lap 126
due to the failure whilst it was the overall leader.
2.2. Zhuhai
500 Km
Zhuhai
hosted its annual 500 Km race this weekend, officially named the Circuit Hero
500 Km Endurance Race. One Audi R8 LMS ultra was entered in the event from the R8
LMS Cup team. Three of the top drivers from the R8 LMS Cup were chosen to drive
the car this weekend: Marchy Lee, Adderly Fong and Jeffrey Lee. They qualified
well in third place overall. The team lead the majority of the race and held a five lap lead. In the last twenty minutes a drive shaft failure costs the team a lot of time. Ultimately they finished third in the Open Class.
2.3. Bologna
Motor Show
The
Italian Bologna Motorshow hosts a motorsport arena where various demonstration
laps and timed competitions are held. Unlike previous years, no Audis were
entered in the competition events (GT or Superstars). However during the Red
Bull Speed Day, an event at the Motorsport Arena featuring various Red Bull
sponsored machinery, the Phoenix Racing Race-Taxi was present. The car was an
Audi R8 LMS ultra wearing a Red Bull livery which entertained the fans along
with the other Red Bull cars.
The Midas Festival of Speed took place at Killarney this weekend. It
was a non-championship event and both of the regular Midas Clubmans Audi A4s
were at the event. Modack was back in his A4 with the new Green/Blue livery
after missing the final two rounds of the Midas Clubmans, as well as Johnson returning
in his turbocharged A4. An Audi TT racer was also present on the day.
2.5.
Other Audi News
United Autosports is continuing with its latest
competition. The team will be entering their Audi R8 LMS ultra in the 2013
British GT Championship. They have a livery design competition where fans can
submit their own livery designs for the R8 LMS ultra. The winning livery will
be used on the car during the 2013 season.
The Don Istook TT RS was spotted at the Car and Coffee
event in Texas this weekend. The car was on display alongside an original Audi
Sport quattro road car and the team's Golf V GTI.
Exciting news emerged from Australia this week. Melbourne
Performance Centre announced that another new team will be running an Audi R8
LMS in the Australian GT Championship next year. Minda Motorsport is the
new team which has acquired the ex-Rod Salmon R8 LMS. Salmon will be racing the
Audi R8 LMS which won the 2012 Bathurst 12 Hours, the car is currently being
upgraded to ultra specification. A second ultra will also be seen in the
series, Mark Eddy is receiving a new 2012 ultra which competed in Asia this
year. With this influx of new cars, MPC has hinted that there could be up to
seven Audi R8 LMS cars at the 2013 Bathurst 12 Hours.
3. Next Weekend’s events (15-16/12/2012)
- ROC
- Brazilian GT
- Gulf 12 Hours
All photos are hosted at their respective website which are listed within the Weekend Round Up
