By Johan Laubscher
The season review has been compiled from the 2013 Audi Motorsport Blog Weekend Round Up posts. Each round has been added as was seen in the individual Weekend Round Up posts during 2013, which can be accessed via the links throughout the review below:
Round 1: Cancelled
Team Novadriver were entered for the first Portuguese GT round, which
was scheduled for this weekend. The Portuguese team have entered a two-car team
this year, with both of their cars having been updated to 2013 Audi R8 LMS
ultra specification. The first round of the championship was however cancelled
due to technicalities within their GT Cup rules, thus the Portuguese GT
championship will only be getting underway in April. Team Novadriver have
completed a number of tests in the last three weeks.
Round 1: Aragon
The Portuguese GT Championship, now known as the Supercars Portugal Series,
took place alongside the Supercars International Series this weekend. The event
took place at Aragon in Spain. One Audi R8 LMS team has entered the series for
2013, Team Nova Driver, who are once again fielding a two car effort. Both of
the team’s cars are in the 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra specification. The team
qualified on the overall pole and finished the race second overall, and first
in the Portuguese GT standings. The second Nova car unfortunately retired from
the race.
Round 2: Estoril
Round two of the Portuguese GT Championship was held at Estoril this
weekend. Team Novadriver took part with both of their Audi R8 LMS ultra cars.
Both cars qualified within the top three, with the #1 Novadriver Audi taking
pole. It was a very good two-hour race for the team. The lead had changed by
the first pitstops with the #10 Novadriver Audi leading and their teammates in
fifth. An Audi 1-2 had been established after the second pitstops and this was
maintained to the flag. Victory went to the #1 of Cesar Campanico, Carlos
Vieira and Mikko Eskelinen, followed by their teammates João Figueiredo, João
Ramos and Manuel Gião in the #10.
Round 3: Boavista
The Supercars Portugal Series (Portuguese GT Championship) held its
third round at Boavista in Portugal. This event was held together with round
two of the Supercars International Series. Team Novadriver, who are contesting
the Portuguese series, was entered with their two-car Audi R8 LMS ultra team.
Both cars qualified within the top four and the race finished with another Team
Novadriver victory, as the #1 Audi R8 LMS ultra won with their teammates
finishing in third.
Round 4: Portimão
Portimão hosted GT Racing this weekend, in the form of the fourth
Portuguese GT round and the third Supercars International Series round. These
two series were once again combined this weekend. Team Novadriver were entered
with their pair of Audi R8 LMS ultra cars. They qualified second and third and
finished the event with yet another victory for the #1 car, followed by the #10
in third. This victory for the #1 Novadriver driver squad clinched the
Portuguese GT driver’s title for Cesar Campanico, Carlos Vieira and Mikko
Eskelinen.
Round 5: Braga
The Portuguese GT Championship, also known as the Supercars Portugal
Series, held its fifth and final round at Braga this weekend. Team Novadriver
had already been crowned as the Portuguese GT champions, as Cesar Campanico,
Carlos Vieira and Mikko Eskelinen were crowned champions at Portimão last time
out. They showed good form during practice, placing both of their cars within
the top three in all three of the sessions. However, following practice the
team noticed that their telemetry was reading abnormally high fluent
temperatures. The team then decided to withdraw their cars from the event in
order to investigate the abnormality and to prevent permanent damage to their
car's engines. The team's press release regarding the matter can be seen HERE.
Photo credit:
