By Johan Laubscher
1. The Weekend
Focussing on the weekend of 5 - 6 October
2013
2. The Events
- Pirelli World Challenge
- British GT
- Brazilian GT
- Super GT
- STT
- SA Production Cars
- Midas Clubmans
- RCN (3/10)
- Cup und Tourenwagen Trophy
- Curbstone Track Events (30/9)
- Austrian Hillclimb
2.1. Pirelli World Challenge
The
finale of the Pirelli World Challenge took place on the streets of Houston this
weekend. It was a title showdown between James Sofronas in his GMG Racing Audi
R8 LMS and Johnny O'Connell in his factory Cadillac CTS-V.R, which ended in
heartbreak for GMG Racing. James Sofronas arrived in Houston as the points
leader, with a mere 21 point lead over O'Connell. Three Audis were entered this
weekend: two Audi R8 LMS cars from GMG Racing in the GT class and one Audi TT
RS car from Istook Motorsports in the GTS class.The second GMG R8 LMS was
piloted by Rene Rast, the factory Audi Sport customer racing driver, who had
been added to the squad to support Sofronas’ bid for the title. Rast
immediately showed his pace by placing second in the first practice session and
first in the second session. Sofronas was sixth in both of the practice
sessions. Qualifying was cancelled due to track altercations in the long
break between practice sessions one and two, thus the grid was determined by
championship points. This resulted in James Sofronas gaining the crucial pole
position and Rene Rast starting sixth, last in the GT class, as he had no
points on the table.
2.2. British GT
Donington Park played host to the British GT finale. Two Audis were
entered this weekend: one Audi R8 LMS ultra from United Autosports and one R8
LMS from Blendini Motorsport. United Autosports arrived at the event with their
drivers, Matthew Bell and Mark Patterson, still in the hunt for the driver’s
title. It was a must win scenario, as they needed race victory and misfortune for
fellow competitors. They qualified seventh for the two hour event. The race got
underway with a terrific stint from Patterson, who was able to move up to the
top three. Bell took over after the pit stop and stormed into the lead. During
the closing stages the points stood at a mark which would have crowned the Audi
drivers as champions, but unfortunately the final positions dictated that the
Audi pairing would ultimately finish second in the points, missing out on the
title by a mere 1.5 points. United Autosports may have missed the title, but
they did win the final race of the year.
2.3. Brazilian
GT
Velopark
in Porto Alegre played host to the sixth Brazilian GT Championship round this weekend.
It was a bittersweet event for Ebrahim Motors and their Audi R8 LMS ultra. Ebrahim
Motors have been fielding one Audi R8 LMS ultra in the Brazilian GT
Championship this year, the #20 Audi driven by Ebrahim brothers: Wagner and
Fábio Ebrahim. They again showed good pace this weekend. The first qualifying
session yielded fourth on the grid, followed by pole position for race two. The
first race took place on Saturday, which saw the Ebrahim pairing starting and
finishing in fourth place. Race two got underway on Sunday with the Audi R8 LMS
ultra leading from the front, closely followed by the #16 Blau Lamborghini
Gallardo. A fierce battle for the lead ensued until the Ebrahim Motors Audi
began to slow on track. The Audi entered the pits for a retirement from the
second race.
2.4. Super GT
Autopolis hosted round seven of the Japanese Super GT. Hitotsuyama Racing
was entered with their 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra and their regular two drivers: Akihiro
Tsuzuki and Richard Lyons. They qualified very well by taking seventh place
within the GT300 class. The final race result was twenty-first position and
five laps down, after a race with many incidents.
2.5. STT
The Spezial Tourenwagen Trophy hosted round six at the Nürburgring. A
total of five Audis took part this weekend. The entered Audis included: one Audi
TT RS SP4T, one Audi A4 STW, one Audi A3, one new Audi R8 LMS ultra and one
Audi A4 DTM R11. The Audi R8 LMS ultra in the field was that of Berthold Gruhn,
who had previously driven an Audi TT RS SP4T. He debuted his new R8 LMS ultra
in the STT this weekend. He had previously successfully debuted/rolled out the
car in the Bördesprint Cup at Oschersleben during August (pictured in the photo
above). Race two of the weekend was won by Edy Kamm in his Audi A4 DTM.
2.6. SA
Production Cars
The South
African Bridgestone Production Car Championship headed to Killarney in Cape Town.
Four Audi S4s were entered for this eighth round of the 2013 season. Two Audi
S4s from Terry Moss Racing and two from VMP Motorsport. The highest Audi during
qualifying was that of Gennaro Bonafede, who lead all four Audis placing in
positions four through seven. Race one finished with Michael Stephen in third
ahead of Bonafede and Sipuka. Priest did not start in race one, due to an engine
issue. Race two with the reverse grid yielded an Audi S4 victory as Stephen won
ahead of Bonafede in third and Sipuka in fifth. Priest was able to go out and
complete one lap during race two, a fast flying lap which was enough to claim
pole for race three. The third and final race saw Melvill Priest starting on
pole and going flag to flag for a dominant victory. Behind Priest it was Stephen
in third and Bonafede in fourth, however Priest was disqualified for a boost
irregularity, which promoted Stephen to second and Bonafede to third. Michael
Stephen, the reigning two-time class A champion, remains the clear championship
points leader.
2.7. Midas
Clubmans
The Midas Clubmans, a Western Cape regional championship in Cape Town,
also held a round at the national race day at Killarney. Two ex-national Class
A Audi A4s were entered by Andre Johnson and Nieyaaz Modack. Race one concluded
with an Audi 1-2, as Johnson won ahead of Modack. Johnson made it a double by
winning race two as well, whilst Modack retired.
2.8. RCN
Round eight of the RCN was held at the Nürburgring on Thursday this
week. A variety of Audi race car took part, which totalled five Audis on the
grid.
2.9. Cup und
Tourenwagen Trophy
Round seven of the Cup und Tourenwagen Trophy was held at the
Nürburgring. A single Audi was entered this weekend, the Mk1 Audi TT of Franz-Josef
Fischer.
2.10. Curbstone
Track Events
The latest Curbstone Track Events track day was held at Spa on Monday,
30 September this week. A large number of cars took part, including the
blue/white Audi R8 LMS ultra that has been seen at recent Curbstone events. The
car is prepared and run by WRT for their customer/owner of the vehicle.
2.11. Austrian Hillclimb
The OSK-Bergrallye-Pokal was held in Austria this weekend. Andreas Marko was entered with his Marko Racing Audi A4 STW and won the event.
Marko Racing FB page
Results
2.12. Other Audi News
Two DTM superstars will be joining the 2013 Bathurst 1000 grid next
weekend. One of the two international drivers is non-other than Audi Sport
factory DTM driver, and two-time DTM champion, Mattias Ekström. Ekström
will be joined by BMW’s Andy Priaulx, the multiple WTCC champion and current
BMW factory DTM driver. The pair will be behind the wheel of the Xbox One
Holden Commodore wild card entry, entered and run by Triple Eight Race
Engineering. The pairing took part in a test session at Queensland
Raceway this week. For Priaulx it was the first time on track with the new
generation of Australian V8 Supercars, as he has competed at Bathurst in the
past. For Ekström it was a first taste of a V8 Supercar and he is looking
forward to his first laps at Mount Panorama next week.
Rene Rast joined GMG Racing in Houston this weekend. The factory Audi
Sport customer racing driver was added to the squad in order to support
Sofronas’ bid for the GT driver’s title. Rast was behind the wheel of
the #95 GMG / Swisher Racing Audi R8 LMS of Bill Ziegler.
The PK Carsport Audi R8 LMS was on display at the Audi Delorge Showroom
in Belgium this week. The team has been competing in the Belgian Racing Car
Championship this year (BRCC), where they are currently battling for the title,
which will be decided at the final round at Zolder next weekend.
The thirtieth anniversary of the Audi Sport quattro is being celebrated
this year. A special modern Audi Sport quattro concept was revealed at the 2013
IAA a few weeks ago and now it is also being celebrated with a display at the
Audi museum mobile. The display will include Audi Sport quattro road car
examples showing all of the production colours. Motorsport variants of the
Sport quattro will also be on display, including the 1987 Pikes Peak winning
Audi Sport quattro S1.
Two Audi Sport customer racing cars arrived at Audi Forum Neckarsulm this
weekend, to be part of the 30 Jahre quattro GmbH display. The two cars include
the 2012 Nürburgring 24 Hours race winning Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra and
a white Audi Sport customer racing Audi TT RS.
3. Next Weekend’s events (12-13/10/2013)
- BTCC
- Superstars
- Superstars GT Sprint
- BRCC
- GT Asia
- Spanish GT
- DMV TCC
- French Rallycross
- Canadian Super Production
- VLN
- Dutch Power Pack
- GT Tour
