By Johan
Laubscher
1. The
Weekend
Focussing on the weekend of 8 - 9 June 2013
2. The
Events
- Le Mans Test Day
- Le Mans Test Day (Michelin Test)
- ADAC GT Masters
- French GT-Tour
- BRCC
- Superstars
- Superstars GT Sprint
- BTCC
- SVRA
- Norwegian GT Racing
- Midas Clubmans
- Austrian Hillclimb
- British Hillclimb
2.1. Le Mans Test Day
June has arrived and Le Mans fever is
beginning to build. The annual Le Mans test day took place this weekend. All
three race-ready Audi R18 e-tron quattro cars were present with the full
line-up of nine drivers. The test day took place on Sunday following two days
of scrutineering and other activities such as photography / PR work. The track
action saw very fast times from the front runners, where Audi vs Toyota is the
big story. The Audis topped the time sheets by the end of the first four hour session, with the #2 leading #1 and #3, in what was wet running. The most notable incident during the first session included an off for Duval in the #2, causing a lot of damage, but the car was repaired in time to take part in the second session. The afternoon session had a drying track and the lap times became very fast during the last two hours, entering the 3:25 minute bracket. By the end of the day the times saw that Audi had maintained its 1-2-3. Duval redeemed himself by setting a phenomenal lap time to close out the day, a 3:22.583 lap, 1.2 seconds clear of the 2012 pole position. The #2 lead home the #3 followed by the #1 inside the final top three.
2.2. Le Mans Test Day (Michelin Test)
A fourth Audi R18 e-tron quattro was entered
at the Le Mans Test day. The car was housed at an Audi Sport truck and tent
set-up on the far side of the pits, near the pit entry, away from the team's
three cars garaged at pit exit. The car was driven by Marco Bonanomi. The
purpose of the fourth car was to serve as a 2014 tire test with Audi’s tire
partners, Michelin. The characteristics and load carrying ability of the new
2014 tires were tested. The new tires differ from the current generation of LMP1
tires as they are narrower.
2.3. ADAC GT Masters
The ADAC GT Masters was at the Sachsenring
this weekend. A number of driver changes had occurred within the three Audi
teams, but it remained five Audi R8 LMS ultra entries: three from Prosperia
C.ABT Racing, two from MS Racing and one from YACO Racing. A BOP adjustment had
been made in favour of the Audis ahead of this event, and the renewed
performance paid dividends this weekend. Pole position went to Rene Rast and Christopher
Mies in the #27 R8 LMS ultra, followed by the other Audis also placing well. The
Rast / Mies duo made it a lights to flag victory as they took their second win
of the season, leading home four Audi R8 LMS ultra cars within the top ten. There were again four Audis within the top ten in race two, lead by Rast / Mies on the podium in third. These results have elevated Rast and Mies into the lead of the championship points standings.
2.4. French GT-Tour
The French GT-Tour was in Belgium, running round
three at Spa. It was a weekend to remember for the Team Speed Car squad, as they
claimed pole position and a dominant race one victory, with Vincent Abril and
Dino Lunardi behind the wheel of the #36 Audi R8 LMS ultra. Only two Audis placed within the top ten during race one. The Team Speed Car squad was in top form again during race two, as they recovered to another podium finish, this time in third place.
2.5. BRCC
The Belgian Racing Car Championship (BRCC)
also held its third round at Spa this weekend. The PK Carsport Audi R8 LMS
qualified on the front row and did very well during the race,
finishing in third place.
2.6. Superstars
The Superstars Series returned to Central
Europe for the second round in succession, as they headed to the Slovakia Ring
following Brno in the Czech Republic last time out. The Slovakia Ring hosted
the third round of the series. Audi Sport Italia arrived with their two RS 5
quattro cars and qualified seventh and thirteenth for race one. The first race
proved to be very difficult as both RS 5 cars retired. The second race saw Morbidelli improving up to third place, salvaging a good result from a difficult weekend.
2.7. Superstars GT Sprint
The Superstars GT Sprint also held its third
round alongside the Superstars at the Slovakia Ring. The MTM Audi R8 LMS was
present, fitted with 2012 spec R8 LMS ultra rear-wing mounts for the first
time. The driving was shared by Thomas Schöffler who was joined by Antti Buri this
weekend. They qualified third and fourth respectively for the two races. Race
one saw a great drive from the team as they won for the first time in the GT Sprint Series. After the success of the first race the MTM R8 LMS unfortunately retired during the second race.
2.8. BTCC
The fourth round of the British Touring Car
Championship was held at Oulton Park this weekend. It looked like another tough outing
for Rob Austin Racing and their two Audi A4 NGTC race cars. They qualified well
down the order with the highest placed RAR Audi in eighteenth. The first race saw both Audis recovering, but they finished outside of the top ten. Rob Austin put in a great drive to grab a top ten in race two, finishing in eighth. The third and final race of the day saw Austin starting third on the reverse grid. He rocketed into the lead and lead half of the race, before being punted out of the lead, he ultimately finished in fifth. His teammate, Will Bratt, came from much further behind and stormed into the top ten finishing in sixth place.
2.9. SVRA
The SVRA (Sportscar Vintage Racing Association)
held the “Fingers Lakes Wine Classic” at Watkins Glen this weekend. There was
one Audi entered in the event, the Audi R8 LMP (#606) owned and driven by
Travis Engen.
2.10. Norwegian GT Racing
The Norwegian NBF GT Championship held round
two at Rudskogen. A variety of Audi cars take part in this series, including: an
Audi A5 TDI, Audi A4 DTM R13 and an Audi 80 race car.
2.11. Midas Clubmans
Regional racing took place in Cape Town this
weekend, including Midas Clubmans at Killarney. Andre Johnson took pole
position for race one, in his ex-Terry Moss Racing Audi A4. In torrential
conditions Johnson made it pole and victory in race one followed by a fifth in
race two, enough for second overall on the day.
2.12. Austrian Hillclimb
The St. Anton Hillclimb was held in Austria
this weekend. The Audi A4 STW of Andreas Marko was amongst the competitors at
the event.
2.13. British Hillclimb
The Loton Park Hillcimb was held this weekend, also hosting the MSA British Hillclimb Championship. A number of Audi cars were present, including the Audi Sport quattro (S1 replica) from Keith Edwards Motors.
Keith Edwards Motors FB page
2.14. Other Audi News
The provisional Spa 24 Hours entry list was
released this week. Four Audi Sport customer racing teams have so far been
entered in the event: Belgian Audi Club Team WRT, Phoenix Racing, Sainteloc and
United Autosports.
Audi has released a new video this week
featuring World Rally champion, Hanno Mikkola. The video includes an extended
interview with Mikkola as he is reunited with one of the old Audi quattro rally
cars.
The Audi R8 LMS Cup is hard at work preparing
for round two of the championship at Ordos, in China. The field of twenty cars
will soon be transported to the venue, for the event which takes place at the
beginning of July. A number of new race liveries will also be seen on the cars
at Ordos.
VMP Motorsport has been working very hard
ahead of the next South African Bridgestone Production Cars event in Durban next weekend.
They have done a lot of dyno work as well, searching for improved performance. The team completed testing at Zwartkops towards the end of this week.
A special total of fourteen original Audi
race cars are on show at the Audi Museum in Ingolstadt, as of the beginning of this week. The line-up includes: Audi
200 Trans Am, Audi 80 Competition, Audi R8 LMS, Audi R8C, Audi A4 DTM R14 and
many more.
The Limitless Racing Audi R8 GRAND-AM follows
up its great results last weekend by being present at a great initiative this
week. Dr Jason Lee’s car was on display at the “An Evening of Smiles” event, an
Operation Smile fundraiser.
The Istook Motorsport team are continuing to
work hard on their Audi TT RS race cars, ahead of their first SCCA World
Challenge races later in the year.
Slobodan Cvetkovic, a co-owner of the
Prosperia C.Abt Racing team, will compete in the DMV TCC at Hockenheim next
weekend. He has previously competed with one of his team’s Audi R8 LMS cars, as
he raced in a few DMV TCC / AvD 100 Meilen races last year. He will be driving an Audi R8 LMS, sharing with Christer Jöns.
3. Next Weekend’s events (15-16/06/2013)
- DTM
- Grand Am
- SA Production Cars
- British GT
- Italian GT
- STT
- Spanish GT
- DMV TCC
- GT Open
- Audi race experience 11-12/06
- Czech MMCR
- French Rallycross
- AvD 100 Meilen
All photos
are hosted at their respective website which are listed within the Weekend
Round Up
