By Tarek Ramchani
Audi Sport Italia achieved another podium finish at the Red Bull Ring, in a very action packed Italian GT race 2. Earlier today the team finished in a strong second in race 1, with Dindo Capello and Andrea Sonvico.
Johan Kristoffersson and Alex Frassineti had a great race 2 with their #5 Audi R8 LMS ultra. Frassineti, who started from fourth, drove very well before handing the car over to Kristoffersson after the mandatory pitstops. The 2012 Superstars Series champion had great pace fighting with the factory supported BMW Z4 GT3 from Team BMW Italia (Roal Motorsport), fighting for third place with an "inferior" car. In the last corner, the winning Porsche GT3 R from Ebimotors and the second placed Ferrari 458 GT3 from MP1 Sport almost crashed, touching each other. Kristoffersson was right there and finished in third place, right behind the two leading cars by just 0.593s. Bad luck though for the for the sister Audi car. Dindo Capello and Andrea Sonvico, with the #4 R8 LMS ultra, finished in sixth position after starting seventh.
Whilst overall it was a very positive Austrian round for Audi Sport Italia, the thing is that the Audi R8 LMS ultra is penalized in front of the Porsche GT3 R and Ferrari 458 GT3. In the four races that have already been run, the R16 never fought for the race wins, even with some of the best drivers in the field, and a very talented team. We hope the series organizers will make some adjustments and let the whole field fight fairly.
Photo credit: Italia GT Championship
