By Johan Laubscher
The 2013 VLN Endurance Championship came to a close at the Nürburgring
this weekend. Many Audi teams competed and performed very well with more victories.
A total of nine Audis were entered. The SP9 class (GT3) included three Audi R8 LMS ultra cars. The #44 Audi R8 LMS ultra from Twin Busch Motorsport was back after their victory at the previous round with Marc and Dennis Busch. They were joined by a two-car entry from Phoenix Racing. The #15 Audi R8 LMS ultra was driven by Frank Stippler, Ferdinand Stuck and Johannes Stuck, and their #37 entry by Marc Basseng, Laurens Vanthoor and Christian Mamerow.
Four Audi Sport customer racing / Raeder developed Audi TT RS cars were
entered. One of these cars was entered in the SP4T class, the #249 entry with
Robb Holland, Ng Charles and 2012 WTCC champion, Rob Huff. The remaining three
TT RS cars were all entered in the SP3T class: the #331 from Raeder Motorsport,
the #334 from Møller Bil Motorsport and the #290. Two more Audi TTS cars were
also entered in SP3T.
The race itself got underway with tricky wet conditions, but it soon began to dry. Phoenix Racing led
from the front with the #37 Audi. By the end of the four hours the
#37 Phoenix Racing crew brought their Audi across the line for victory at the
final 2013 VLN race. They were followed by the #44 Twin Busch Motorsport Audi R8 LMS ultra in fourth place. The #15 Phoenix Racing Audi finished twenty-fifth, after loosing time in the pits, whilst they had been battling up at the front of the race.
The #290 TT RS took the SP3T victory and Rotek Racing was the highest placed SP4T runner, despite retiring from the race.
This VLN round concluded the 2013 VLN Endurance Championship, a season which saw class and overall race victories for the Audi teams.
This VLN round concluded the 2013 VLN Endurance Championship, a season which saw class and overall race victories for the Audi teams.
Photo credit:
JS Photography [Julian Schmidt]
JS Photography [Julian Schmidt]
