By Johan Laubscher
1. The Weekend
Focussing this week on the weekend of 9 - 10 March
2013
2. The Events
- Zwartkops Festival
- Audi R8 LMS Cup Test
- Thayaland Rallye
Zwartkops Raceway hosts a number of festivals/racing days during the year. The first Extreme Festival took place this weekend. One Audi was present. The red and silver Audi A4 was driven by
2.2. Audi R8 LMS Cup Test
Absolute Racing held the first official test session for the Audi R8 LMS Cup this weekend. The test was held at Zhuhai with many of championship's Audi R8 LMS cars taking part. The Audi R8 LMS Cup is a one-make championship which takes place exclusively in China. The series was started in 2012 and will be back in 2013 after a successful initial season.
Absolute Racing website
2.3. Thayaland Rallye
The Thayaland Rallye took place in Austria this weekend. Amongst all the entries there were a few Audi cars as well. The rally route went from Pfaffenschlag to Waidhofen.
race-action.com FB page
Results
2.4. Other Audi News
The 2013 Audi R18 e-tron quattro was revealed on Friday. Two cars will be competing at the Sebring 12 Hours next weekend, one 2013 car (#2) and one 2012 car (#1). Both cars have been pictured in a livery similar to the 2012 e-tron quattro livery. More can be read about the visual differences between the two car versions HERE.
Audi Sport held a press conference at Geneva this week. The headline
ahead of the conference was that the 2013 Audi DTM program would be announced
in detail. The big news on the day was that the Audi A5 DTM has been renamed as
the new Audi RS 5 DTM. The driver and team combinations were also announced, as listed below.
The driver line-up for Audi’s DTM program was
announced earlier in the year but the driver and team divisions were revealed
this week. The eight drivers will again be split into four teams: Audi Sport
ABT Sportsline, Audi Sport Team ABT, Audi Sport Team Phoenix and Audi Sport
Team Rosberg. The driver start numbers were also revealed later in the week. (The driver/team and start number combinations are pictured above.)
The Alex Job Racing Audi R8 GRAND-AM which
won the 2013 Daytona 24 Hours GT class was on display at Geneva this weekend.
It was the first car on stage during the Audi Sport press conference at Geneva.
A new 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra was on show at
the Geneva Audi stand. The car was silver in colour and is the first new 2013
ultra which has been seen with the facelifted Audi R8 lights.
Belgian Audi Club Team WRT are now officially the 2012 Blancpain Endurance Series drivers champions. At the end of the 2012 Blancpain Endurance Championship the #1 WRT crew of Christopher Mies, Stéphane Ortelli and Christopher Haase were crowned as the drivers champions. However the result was contested and ended up in the FIA International Court of Appeal. It has been announced this week that the court concluded its verdict in favour of the WRT team, thus WRT are now officially the BES drivers champions for two years running.
Belgian Audi Club FB page
United Autosports were testing at Oulton Park
this week. It was their first test before the British GT Championship season
and all three of their cars took part. Both of their McLarens and their Audi R8
LMS ultra, seen for the first time on track with its new livery, took part in the testing.
Team Novadriver have received and fitted their
2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra upgrade kits. The team was out testing the cars at Braga this weekend as they prepare for the 2013 season.
Twin Busch Motorsport in Germany have also received and fitted their new 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra upgrade kit. They posted a photo of the delivery on their
Facebook page, which showed the magnitude of the upgrade kit.
The PK Carsport team was testing at Zolder
this week. They were testing their Audi R8 LMS which will be seen in
the BRCC this year.
Anthony Kumpen
The Phoenix Racing team also tested at Zolder this week. One 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra was tested by the team, but their R8 LMS race-taxi was also on site. It was revealed this week that Anthony Kumpen and Enzo Ide will be driving a Phoenix Racing R8 LMS ultra in the Blancpain Endurance Series and the FIA GT Series this year.
Anthony Kumpen
The Phoenix Racing team also tested at Zolder this week. One 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra was tested by the team, but their R8 LMS race-taxi was also on site. It was revealed this week that Anthony Kumpen and Enzo Ide will be driving a Phoenix Racing R8 LMS ultra in the Blancpain Endurance Series and the FIA GT Series this year.
Anthony Kumpen
M-Sport Racing have announced that they will be entering the British GT Championship with an Audi R8 LMS ultra. The team will be using this as a project to expand their operations to include circuit racing. The drivers have been listed as Warren Hughes and Rembert Berg.
Audi Sport Media
Ebrahim Motors held their first 2013 test session in Brazil this week. The test was held at Curitiba. They will again be entering their Audi R8 LMS ultra in the Brazilian GT Championship this year.
Ebrahim Motors FB page
3. Next Weekend’s events (16-17/03/2013)
- Sebring 12 Hours
- SA Production Cars
- VLN Test
- SCCA US Majors
- SVRA
- Super GT Test
- BES Test
All photos are hosted at their respective website which are listed within the Weekend Round Up
