By Johan
Laubscher
1. The
Weekend
Focussing on
the weekend of 23 - 24 November 2013
2. The
Events
- FIA GT Series
- Fuji Sprint Cup
- TUSC Daytona Test (Nov 19-20)
- Aldo Scribante Regionals
- CMRC
- Hamburg 24 Hours
2.1. FIA GT Series
The finale of the FIA GT Series took place in
Azerbaijan this weekend. The Baku World Challenge street circuit was the scene
for the finale, which saw the participation of six Audi R8 LMS ultra cars from
three different teams. Four cars were entered by Belgian Audi Club Team WRT and
one each from Phoenix Racing and Team Novadriver.
The drivers’ championship in the Pro Cup class
came down to this weekend and it was a straight duel between WRT’s two crews of
#11 Stéphane Ortelli / Laurens Vanthoor and #13 Edward Sandström / Frank
Stippler.
The Audi teams showed good pace at the front during the entire weekend. Good times in practice were backed up by a very strong showing in qualifying. The two qualifying sessions concluded with Rene Rast setting a massively impressive lap time, leading an Audi 1-2-3, with the #12 WRT Audi on pole, ahead of the #5 Phoenix and #11 WRT. Team Novadriver secured second position within the Pro-Am Cup. Phoenix Racing was later disqualified and dropped to last place for a technical infringement.
Sunday kicked off with the Qualifying race. A damp track had put a delay on the proceedings, but the race did eventually get going under safety car conditions. Rene Rast took control when the green flag was waved and continued to build a good gap in the #12 Audi ahead of Vanthoor in second position with the #11 Audi. The #13 Audi of Sandström was running further back after their grid drop penalty. By the end of the pitstop sequence the #12 Audi re-emerged as the race leader, now with Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof behind the wheel, ahead of Stéphane Ortelli in the #11 Audi.
A safety car period bunched up the field after the pitstops and Ortelli was on the tale of Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof. Stippler had recovered to tenth in the #13 Audi. Mayr-Melnhof held onto the lead until the race was red flagged due to an incident involving the #14 Novadriver Audi.
The race was restarted with an additional ten minutes added to the race time. Mayr-Melnhof continued to lead ahead of Ortelli. Mayr-Melnhof held onto the lead and opened up a small gap ahead of his teammate, which was enough to secure victory.
Rene Rast and Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof were victorious in the #12 Audi ahead of Audi #11 with Stéphane Ortelli and Laurens Vanthoor in second. Edward Sandström and Frank Stippler finished eighth in the #13 Audi. The #5 Phoenix Racing Audi finished tenth with Enzo Ide and Markus Winkelhock. The #18 WRT Audi finished seventeenth with Grégoire Demoustier and Filipe Albuquerque behind the wheel.
These results were enough to crown Belgian Audi Club Team WRT as the 2013 FIA GT Series Pro Cup teams' champions. The drivers' title would be decided in the Championship Race.
Sunday kicked off with the Qualifying race. A damp track had put a delay on the proceedings, but the race did eventually get going under safety car conditions. Rene Rast took control when the green flag was waved and continued to build a good gap in the #12 Audi ahead of Vanthoor in second position with the #11 Audi. The #13 Audi of Sandström was running further back after their grid drop penalty. By the end of the pitstop sequence the #12 Audi re-emerged as the race leader, now with Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof behind the wheel, ahead of Stéphane Ortelli in the #11 Audi.
A safety car period bunched up the field after the pitstops and Ortelli was on the tale of Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof. Stippler had recovered to tenth in the #13 Audi. Mayr-Melnhof held onto the lead until the race was red flagged due to an incident involving the #14 Novadriver Audi.
The race was restarted with an additional ten minutes added to the race time. Mayr-Melnhof continued to lead ahead of Ortelli. Mayr-Melnhof held onto the lead and opened up a small gap ahead of his teammate, which was enough to secure victory.
Rene Rast and Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof were victorious in the #12 Audi ahead of Audi #11 with Stéphane Ortelli and Laurens Vanthoor in second. Edward Sandström and Frank Stippler finished eighth in the #13 Audi. The #5 Phoenix Racing Audi finished tenth with Enzo Ide and Markus Winkelhock. The #18 WRT Audi finished seventeenth with Grégoire Demoustier and Filipe Albuquerque behind the wheel.
These results were enough to crown Belgian Audi Club Team WRT as the 2013 FIA GT Series Pro Cup teams' champions. The drivers' title would be decided in the Championship Race.
The Championship Race was held later on Sunday and it certainly had a chaotic start. Ortelli managed to take the lead during the run into the first corner and chaos broke out behind him with many cars making contact. Pole-sitter Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof was unfortunately involved in the incident and dropped back after heavy contact. The Phoenix Racing Audi managed to avoid the incident by running through the chicane and when things had settled down they re-emerged in third place, chasing the second placed McLaren and Ortelli in the lead. A few laps later the leading Audi of Ortelli dropped back to third behind the leading McLaren and Winkelhock in the Phoenix Audi.
Further back Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof made contact with the #10 McLaren and lost more time with repairs in the pits during the prolonged safety car period for track repairs. When the green flag came out the leading McLaren and the #11 and #13 WRT Audis came into the pits, promoting Winkelhock into the lead, until he was given a penalty for passing cars off-tack in the first lap incident. The #13 Audi lost time during the pitstop as the team had to work on the car, effectively removing Sandström and Stippler from the fight for the drivers' title.
When the frantic pitstop period came to an end it was the #11 WRT Audi of Vanthoor who was in second and chasing the leading Mercedes-Benz. Vanthoor continued to eat into the lead and eventually took the race lead with nine minutes to go, as the leading Mercedes-Benz began to slow on track.
The final FIA GT Series race of 2013 concluded with the #11 WRT Audi R8 LMS ultra of Stéphane Ortelli and Laurens Vanthoor taking victory, finishing ahead of Team Novadriver in eighth overall, who took second place in Pro Am. The #5 Phoenix Racing Audi finished in twelfth. The remaining two WRT Audis also finished outside of the top ten, as the #13 finished eleventh and the #12 in fifteenth.
Stéphane Ortelli and Laurens Vanthoor took victory in the Championship Race and they were also crowned as the 2013 FIA GT Series Pro Cup drivers' champions. This added to Belgian Audi Club Team WRT's success in the FIA GT Series, as they won both the Pro Cup drivers' and teams' titles this weekend.
Belgian Audi Club Team WRT also took the first three places within the Pro Cup drivers' standings with Stéphane Ortelli and Laurens Vanthoor in first, followed by Edward Sandström and Frank Stippler in second and Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof in third.
2.2. Fuji Sprint Cup
Hitotsuyama Racing concluded their 2013 season at the JAF Grand Prix
Fuji Sprint Cup this weekend, a special non-championship event for the Japanese
Super GT and Super Formula. It has been a long and difficult season, but the
team never gave up and that was the case again this weekend.
As was the case during the bulk of the 2013 Super GT season, the sole
Audi entry in the GT300 class this weekend was the #21 Audi R8 LMS ultra from
Hitotsuyama Racing. Their regular two-man driver line-up of Akihiro Tsuzuki and
Richard Lyons were behind the wheel. They had a season of ups and downs as they
worked against bad luck and a negative Balance of Performance, but they never
gave up and worked hard all season long, despite the setbacks.
The Fuji Sprint Cup was split into two sprint races per category. Each
car had two drivers and each driver took part in one of the two sprint races
individually. The two Super GT classes were also split for the races, running
GT500 and GT300 separately in the sprints.
Qualifying was held on Friday, with each driver qualifying for his own
respective race. In the Hitotsuyama Racing camp it was Richard Lyons in the R8
LMS ultra for the first race and Akihiro Tsuzuki took the wheel for race two.
It was a difficult qualifying session which saw the R8 LMS ultra
relegated to the rear of the field, as has been the case in Super GT all season
long. Richard Lyons qualified nineteenth for the first race and Akihiro Tsuzuki
qualified twenty-first for the second race.
The first GT300 race got underway on Saturday morning. Hitotsuyama
Racing pushed hard with Richard Lyons and the race concluded with the #21 Audi
R8 LMS ultra having recovered up to thirteenth place by the finish, up from the
nineteenth starting position.
The second and final GT300 race concluded the JAF Grand Prix Fuji
Sprint Cup weekend and the 2013 season for Hitotsuyama Racing. Akihiro Tsuzuki
piloted the #21 R8 LMS ultra to nineteenth position.
2013 was a long and difficult season for Hitotsuyama Racing, but they
never gave up and continued to give their all at every single event. It remains
to be seen what the team’s plans are for 2014, following a post on their
Facebook page on 4 November: “Thanks to our drivers Akihiro and Richard,
mechanics, and everyone who supported us this season. We will be back with a
new package next year. Please stay tuned.”
2.3. TUSC
Daytona Test (Nov 19-20)
The second set of official TUDOR United
SportsCar Championship test days were held at Daytona on Tuesday and Wednesday
this week. A total of five Audi R8 LMS cars were entered. Three teams took part
in the first TUSC test days held at Sebring last weekend. Flying Lizard
Motorsports entered two cars and Fall-Line Motorsports and Paul Miller Racing
both entered one car each. These Audi R8 LMS cars were entered in the GT
Daytona class (GTD). All three teams also headed to Daytona this week, where
they were joined by the fifth R8 LMS entered by Audi Sport customer racing.
The Flying Lizard Motorsports cars once again
included Seth Neiman, Spencer Pumpelly, Dion von Moltke, Nelson Canache, Oliver
Jarvis and Marco Bonanomi as the drivers. The team team’s two cars carried the
numbers #35 and #45.
The Fall-Line Motorsports #46 Audi R8 LMS was
driven by Christopher Mies, Charles Putman, Charles Espenlaub, Bryan Sellers
and Al Carter. The Paul Miller Racing #48 R8 LMS had Bryce Miller and Benoît
Treluyer behind the wheel. The #24 Audi Sport customer racing R8 LMS was listed
as having Christopher Haase as the driver, but the other Audi factory drivers
were also seen behind the wheel of the car during the Daytona tests, including
Oliver Jarvis and Benoît Treluyer.
All five cars showed good pace within the GTD
class during the test sessions at Daytona.
2.4. Aldo Scribante Regionals
Aldo Scribante in Port Elizabeth, South
Africa, hosted a regional event this weekend. Terry Moss Racing took part in
the saloon car races and they did not disappoint.
Michael Stephen was crowned as the 2013
Bridgestone Production Car Championship Class A champion at Kyalami a few weeks
ago. This was his third consecutive Class A title behind the wheel of his Terry
Moss Racing Audi S4, becoming the first driver ever to win three Class A
titles.
The Kyalami finale was however not the end of
Stephen’s season as he and Terry Moss Racing entered the #A1 Audi S4 for a
regional event at Aldo Scribante in Port Elizabeth this weekend, the team's
hometown.
It was the annual LUK Three Hour Challenge
and PE200 event. Many categories took part, including a category called
“Allcomers" for a mixture of saloon cars. Michael Stephen was entered in
this category which had two races on Saturday. Stephen’s entry had been
confirmed well ahead of the event, but a surprise late entry also came from the
Terry Moss Racing team, as Simon Moss, national competitor and son of Audi
legend Terry Moss, was entered in the team’s second Audi S4.
Qualifying was held early on Saturday morning
and as expected the Audis dominated proceedings at the front of the field.
Michael Stephen took pole position ahead of Simon Moss. Their fastest laps were
separated by a mere 0.334 seconds, with Stephen setting a 1:05.959 for pole.
The two Allcomers saloon races were held on
Saturday afternoon. Michael Stephen came home to win the first race ahead of
Simon Moss, taking a 1-2 victory for the team. Simon Moss set the fastest lap
in race one and finished 0.587 second behind Stephen. It was a similar story in
the second and final Allcomers race, which finished with another Audi S4 1-2,
with Michael Stephen finishing 0.818 seconds ahead of Simon Moss. The pair were
well ahead of the rest of the field, as they finished over ten seconds ahead by
the end of the two short sprint races.
2.5. CMRC
Guyana hosted the final round of the 2013 Caribbean
Motor Racing Championship at the South Dakota Racing Circuit this weekend. Two
high-powered Audi race cars took part.
The Audis included one car each from Jamaica
and Barbados. Team Jamaica included the ATL Automotive Racing ex-DTM ABT-Audi
TT-R of Doug “Hollywood” Gore. This event was the final event for the ATL team
as they had announced that they will be withdrawing from motorsport a few weeks
ago. It has been said that Gore will continue to field the car in 2014.
The second Audi was from Team Barbados, the Maloney
Racing Team ex-Super Touring Audi A4 STW. This Audi A4 STW is the extensively
modified and turbocharged Audi A4 which has been competing in the Caribbean for
a number of seasons, driven by Doug Maloney.
Qualifying saw Doug Gore taking pole position in his #24 ATL ABT-Audi TT-R. Doug Maloney took fourth position on the starting grid in his Audi A4.
Qualifying saw Doug Gore taking pole position in his #24 ATL ABT-Audi TT-R. Doug Maloney took fourth position on the starting grid in his Audi A4.
Rohindra Mahase Photography FB page / GTRidez.com FB page [Rohindra Mahase]
2.6 Hamburg 24 Hours
The Hamburg 24 Hours was held this weekend. It is an annual twenty-four hour slot car event held as part of the rallye racing Carrera Cup (RCCO).
A number of Audi and Joest personnel took part, including former Audi factory driver and five-time Le Mans winner, Frank Biela, who used an Audi R8 LMS ultra.
Biela was part of the race winning driver team this weekend, which included Frank Biela, Thomas Voigt and Helmut Schmid. This was Frank Biela's fifth consecutive victory in this annual slot car event, each time at the controls of an Audi slot car. They won the race after completing 5,362 laps, finishing ahead of the field with a 153 lap lead.
The Joest team, which included Ralf Jüttner, finished their first twenty-four hour slot car race in third place, behind the Volkswagen Polo WRC team and the race winning R8 LMS ultra team. The Joest team was using a Bentley Continental slot car.
The 2013 Hamburg 24 Hours was yet again a fun filled event for all of the participants and highlighted by another victory for the Audi R8 LMS ultra.
2.7. Other
Audi News
GMG Racing took part in testing with one of
their Audi R8 LMS cars at Thunderhill Raceway this week. GMG Racing has entered
two Audi R8 LMS cars for the 2013 25 Hours of Thunderhill, which will take
place from 7-8 December. The #08 Audi R8 LMS of Alex Welch was wheeled out at
Thunderhill Raceway for testing on Monday. GMG Racing will be entering their #8
and #14 Audi R8 LMS cars this year. The entry list currently lists the drivers
for the #8 as: Alex Welch, James Sofronas, Alexandra Sabados, Drew Regitz and
Michael McGrath. No drivers are currently listed for the #14 R8 LMS. It is
interesting to note that the #08 R8 LMS at the test was in the FIA GT3
specification aerodynamic package, which differs from the package required to
be used on the Audis in the Pirelli World Challenge during 2012 and 2013. This
FIA GT3 specification will be allowed in the Pirelli World Challenge from 2014
onward. Three Audi race cars will be lining up on the 25 Hours of Thunderhill
grid this year, based on the current entry list. GMG Racing’s pair of R8 LMS
cars will be joined by the SP4T VLN Audi TT RS from Rotek Racing, with Robb
Holland as the only listed driver so far.
Alex Welch
Audi held another annual DTM test for talented
young drivers in Spain this week. An Audi A4 DTM and two Audi Sport drivers
were on hand to assist the eight young drivers taking part in the three day
test. The Audi Sport drivers were Timo Scheider and Adrien Tambay. The eight
young drivers included: Jordan King, Harry Ticknell, Robin Frijns, Marvin
Kirchhöfer, Alessandro Latif, Thomas Schöffler, Ferdinand Stuck and Stefan
Wackerbauer.
Dindo Capello took part in the 2013 Monza
Rally Show this weekend. He was behind the wheel of the #5 Citroën DS3 WRC alongside
his co-driver Pirollo Luigi.
Fourtitude released a great video, photos and
story this week. Fourtitude visited Brad Kettler’s Kettler Motor Werks during
October and prepared a story and hour-long video featuring Audi Sport customer
racing in North America. The photos and video can be seen HERE.
The TUDOR liveried Audi R8 LMS made an
appearance at both of the TUSC Tests, at Sebring and at Daytona. The car was
first seen at the Tudor Watches US launch party in September, part of the New
York Fashion Week, when the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship was announced.
The car was on display at Sebring last weekend and it was also part of the IMSA
presentation at Daytona, where IMSA’s new headquarters was announced as the
International Motorsports Center at Daytona.
An Audi R18 e-tron quattro show car was featured
alongside the new Audi A3 Sportback e-tron at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show this
week.
The 2013 Race of Champions will be taking
place at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok from 14-15 December. Audi R8 LMS
cars will once again be part of the vehicle line-up. Absolute Racing was
responsible for the preparation and running of the cars at the 2012 Race of
Champions and they will once again be fielding the cars alongside quattro GmbH.
As was the case in 2012, the Race of Champions R8 LMS vehicles come from the
fleet of cars that take part in the Audi R8 LMS Cup. The finale of the 2013
Audi R8 LMS Cup season was held at Macau, taking place during the first weekend
of the Macau Grand Prix, 9-10 November. The second weekend of the Macau Grand
Prix was the big weekend for the Audi teams taking part in the prestigious
Macau GT Cup. During this time the three R8 LMS cars destined for the Race of
Champions, from the Audi R8 LMS Cup fleet, were prepared and had their liveries
applied. Three cars will be heading to the Race of Champions. Three different
coloured liveries have been chosen for the event: white, silver and red. It
will certainly be very exciting to see the R8 LMS cars taking part in the 2013
Race of Champions, which will also see the participation of Audi factory
drivers: Mattias Ekström and Tom Kristensen.
3. Next Weekend’s events (30/11 - 01/12/2013)
- FIA WEC
- Zwartkops Extreme Festival
All photos
are hosted at their respective websites, which are listed within the Weekend
Round Up
