By Johan
Laubscher
1. The
Weekend
Focussing on
the weekend of 26 - 27 April 2014
2. The
Events
- ADAC GT Masters
- VLN
- GT Tour
- Pirelli World Challenge
- BRCC
- DMV TCC
- HSR
- Belgian Youngtimer Cup
- Aus Sports Sedan Series
- FIA Hillclimb Championship
2.1. ADAC
GT Masters
The ADAC GT
Masters held its opening round at Oschersleben this weekend. Five Audi R8 LMS
ultra cars took part with much success for Prosperia C.ABT Racing.
YACO Racing
and kfzteile24 APR Motorsport each fielded one Audi R8 LMS ultra, alongside the
three-car team from Prosperia C.ABT Racing.
Qualifying
yielded two pole positions for the #10 Prosperia C.ABT Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra
of Rene Rast and young South African, Kelvin van der Linde.
The first of
two one-hour races was held on Saturday. Rast and van der Linde finished
second, followed by kfzteile24 APR Motorsport in fourth and YACO Racing in
ninth. Unfortunately both of the remaining two Prosperia C.ABT Racing retired
from race one.
Sunday saw
the second race and a chaotic start. The #11 Prosperia C.ABT Racing R8 LMS
ultra of Nicki Thiim was involved in a start-line crash, which resulted in a
rollover for Thiim. Fortunately he was unharmed in the incident.
Once the
race resumed it was a lights-to-flag victory for Kelvin van der Linde and Rene
Rast in the #10 R8 LMS ultra. YACO Racing finished ninth with the #16 R8 LMS
ultra of Philip Geipel and Rahel Frey. The #12 Prosperia C.ABT Racing and #100
kfzteile24 APR Motorsport both retired.
Zandvoort
will be hosting round two of the ADAC GT Masters, 9-11 May.
2.2 VLN
The German
VLN Endurance Series hosted its third round this weekend with a number of Audi
teams taking part.
A total of
sixteen Audi race cars took part, including five Audi R8 LMS ultra cars.
Phoenix Racing and Audi race experience, run by TKL Motorsport, each entered
two cars. Twin Busch Motorsport entered a single R8 LMS ultra.
The #22 Audi
race experience R8 LMS ultra of Felix Baumgartner and Pierre Kaffer qualified
fifth, the highest Audi on the grid.
By the end
of the four hour race the #5 Phoenix Racing entry of Marc Basseng, Marcel
Fässler and Frank Stippler finished on the podium in third place. Their
teammates in the #15 Phoenix car were running as high as second, but a pitlane
fire during a “splash and dash” near the end of the race unfortunately resulted
in their retirement.
The #22 Audi
race experience R8 LMS ultra finished fourteenth, followed by their teammates
in the 11 R8 LMS ultra in eighteenth. Twin Busch Motorsport unfortunately also
joined the list of retirements.
Audi TT RS
domination took place in the SP3T class. Møller Bil Motorsport again took the
class victory with their #334 TT RS of Hakon Schjaerin, Atle Gulbrandsen and
Kenneth Ostvold. They were followed by three more of the Audi Sport customer
racing developed TT RS cars, with the #302 LMS Engineering TT RS in second, the
#331 Raeder Motorsport TT RS in third and the #317 TT RS in fourth.
Round four
of the VLN will take place at the Nürburgring on 17 May.
2.3. GT Tour
The Bugatti
Circuit in Le Mans hosted the opening round of the French GT Tour. A total of
seven Audi R8 LMS ultra cars took part from three different teams.
Sainteloc Racing fielded three cars and Team Speed Car and Sébastien Loeb Racing each fielded two cars.
Sainteloc Racing fielded three cars and Team Speed Car and Sébastien Loeb Racing each fielded two cars.
It was a
double Audi Sport customer racing pole as each of Sébastien Loeb Racing’s two
Audi R8 LMS ultra cars respectively took pole position for both of the weekend’s
races.
The first race on Saturday concluded with an Audi 1-2, with victory for the #51 Sébastien Loeb Racing R8 LMS ultra, ahead of the #42 Sainteloc Racing R8 LMS ultra.
The first race on Saturday concluded with an Audi 1-2, with victory for the #51 Sébastien Loeb Racing R8 LMS ultra, ahead of the #42 Sainteloc Racing R8 LMS ultra.
The second
race saw another podium finish for an Audi Sport customer racing team, with the #36 Team Speed Car Audi R8 LMS ultra finishing third.
Round two of the French GT Tour will be heading to Lédenon, 31 May – 1 June.
Round two of the French GT Tour will be heading to Lédenon, 31 May – 1 June.
2.4. Pirelli
World Challenge
Barber
Motorsports Park hosted the Pirelli World Challenge this weekend. It was the
third meeting of the year and a total of seven Audis took part.
GMG Racing
fielded four Audi R8 LMS ultra cars and JCR Motorsports and CRP Racing each
fielded one Audi R8 LMS ultra. RS Werkes Racing entered one Audi TT RS in the
GTS class.
Mike Skeen
was the fastest Audi in qualifying and claimed third spot overall. Andrew
Palmer took fifth on the grid for the first race, followed by James Sofronas in
ninth, only three Audis within the overall top ten.
Race one saw
Sofronas moving forward to ultimately finish fourth, ahead of Skeen in sixth.
Race two was
the highlight of the weekend and finished with victory for Andrew Palmer in the
#21 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra. He took the lead on the last lap and recorded
the first Audi PWC victory of 2014, in his rookie season.
The next
round of the PWC with the GT/GT-A and GTS cars will be heading to Detroit, 30
May - 1 June.
2.5. BRCC
The Belgian
Racing Car Championship got its 2014 season underway at the Zolder New Race
Festival this weekend. PK Carsport returned to defend their 2013 BRCC title.
The #1 Audi
R8 LMS was fielded by PK Carsport and driven by reigning BRCC endurance
champions, Anthony Kumpen and Bert Longin, alongside their new teammate, Frank
Beliën.
The PK
Carsport trio qualified seventh overall behind six newer GTPE (GT Pro Evo)
cars, but they were the fastest GTP (GT Pro) class car on the grid.
A one-hour
race was held on Sunday and PK Carsport performed very well, with the #1 Audi
R8 LMS finishing in second place overall, first in the GTP class.
Round two of
the BRCC will be heading to Dijon in France, from 9-11 May.
2.6. DMV TCC
The DMV
Touring Car Challenge (DMV TCC) got underway at Brno in the Czech Republic this
weekend. Three Audi R8 LMS ultra cars took part, fielded by three different
teams.
“spirit-race”
entered two Audi R8 LMS ultra cars for Dietmar Haggenmüller (#8) and Suzanne
Weidt (#88), the same drivers and cars who were seen under the team name of RS
Tuning last year.
The third
Audi was that of DUPRÉ Motorsport, who debuted their new Audi R8 LMS ultra with
Christoph Dupré (#89) behind the wheel. All three Audi R8 LMS ultra cars were
entered in the TCC Kl.8 class.
Race one
concluded with an overall top five finish for Dupré, placing fourth in class.
The two “spirit-race” Audi R8 LMS ultra cars finished eighth and ninth in
class, Haggenmüller ahead of Weidt.
The second
race again saw Dupré finishing in fifth overall, taking fourth in class. Weidt
finished seventh in class and Haggenmüller unfortunately retired.
The German
DMV TCC will be hosting round two at Zandvoort, 30-31 May.
2.7. HSR
The Mitty
was held at Road Atlanta this weekend. This annual historic racing event was
hosted by HSR – Historic Sportscar Racing. Travis Engen took part in the event
with his GMT Racing run Audi R8 LMP (#606).
2.8. Belgian
Youngtimer Cup
The Belgian
Youngtimer Cup was held at the Zolder New Race Festival this weekend. André
Lotterer was back behind the wheel of the orange/red/yellow Nothelle / Kamei
Audi Coupe. He finished second in the first race.
2.9. Aus Sports Sedan Series
The Australian
Kerrick Sports Sedan Series held its first round at Mallala Motorsport Park. Darren
Hossack was behind the wheel of the #4 Auto Union Deutche Audi A4.
He qualified
second for race one and took pole position for race two. Races one and two saw Hossack
finishing second, followed by a third place in race three.
2.10. FIA Hillclimb Championship
race-action.com FB page
Results
2.11. Other
Audi News
Audi Sport revealed the Le Mans low downforce
specification bodywork on Friday. The third (#3) Audi R18 e-tron quattro at the
6 Hours of Spa will be featuring this low downforce configuration next weekend.
DUPRÉ Motorsport has become one of the latest
Audi Sport customer racing teams. The German team has acquired an Audi R8 LMS
ultra and debuted the car in the DMV TCC this weekend.
A new Audi R8 LMS ultra joined the DMV TCC
grid at Brno in the Czech Republic this weekend, where the German series hosted
its opening round for 2014.
Christoph Dupré was behind the wheel of the
#89 DUPRÉ Motorsport Audi R8 LMS ultra.
The Audi R8 LMS Cup’s original season opener
was scheduled to take place at Inje Speedium International Circuit in South
Korea from 3-4 May, but the event has been cancelled. The cancelation was due
to operational uncertainties at the circuit, according to the event promoter.
Plans are underway to reschedule the opening round at another circuit during
May.
PK Carsport was out testing at Zolder on
Thursday, ahead of the Belgian Racing Car Championship season opener at the
same circuit this weekend.
The team is hard at work preparing for their
title defence in the Belgian Racing Car Championship (BRCC).
Their #1 Audi R8 LMS will be piloted by
reigning BRCC endurance champions, Anthony Kumpen and Bert Longin. They will be
joined by Frank Beliën.
The PK Carsport R8 LMS was seen out on track
with its new livery for the first time on Thursday, a stunning new black design
by berzerkdesign.de.
The first round of the BRCC took place at the
Zolder New Race Festival this weekend.
Audi Sport Italia has already announced that
they will be returning to the Italian GT Championship with a two-car entry of
Audi R8 LMS ultra cars this year. On Wednesday the team's driver line-up was
revealed.
The headline for the team is the return of
Audi Sport Italia regular and ex-Audi factory driver, Dindo Capello. Dindo
first competed with Audi and Audi Sport Italia twenty years ago, when he drove
an Audi 80 Competition in the 1994 Italian Super Touring Car Championship.
Capello will be sharing one of the two Audi
Sport Italia R8 LMS ultra cars with Emanuele Zonzini.
The second car will be piloted by Thomas
Schöffler and Marco Mapelli.
Misano will be hosting the opening round of
the Italian GT Championship from 9-11 May.
News broke on Wednesday that Mattias
Ekström's new World Rallycross team will be fielding two Audi S1 Supercar class
rallycross cars this year.
EKSRX will be running the two cars that will
be driven by the Swedish driver, Pontus Tidemand, and a number of guest drivers
as wildcard entries. The EKSRX team will be taking part in selected rounds of
the new FIA World Rallycross Championship (World RX) this year with the goal of
developing their new Audi S1 cars.
The first glimpse of the car is a white Audi
S1 called the "Audi S1 EKS RX Concept".
kfzteile24 APR Motorsport was out testing at
Hockenheim on Wednesday.
The German team, run by MS Racing, was preparing
for the 2014 ADAC GT Masters season opener, which was held at Oschersleben this
weekend.
The newly liveried #100 Audi R8 LMS ultra is
driven by two of MS Racing’s regular drivers, Daniel Dobitsch and Florian
Stoll.
Blendini Motorsport was out testing their Audi R8 LMS at Silverstone on Friday.
The team fielded their Audi R8 LMS in the 2013 British GT Championship. They have mentioned on their Facebook page that they will be competing in selected events of the 2014 British GT Championship, as well as looking at some other championships.
Blendini Motorsport FB page
3. Next Weekend’s events (3-4/05/2014)
- FIA WEC
- DTM
- TUSC
- GT Open
- GT Asia
- BTCC
- British GT
- SA Production Cars
- SVRA
- Super GT
- EuroV8 Series
