By Johan Laubscher
The 25th season of the rallye racing Carrera Cup (RCCO) Slotcar Championship got underway with the SHELL 20 Minutes of Hamburg on Wednesday. It was a very exciting evening of slotcar racing which culminated in a frantic photo finish.
Audi Team tv racing arrived at the event ready to begin the season on a high. The team’s two drivers, Thomas Voigt and Jan Hennen, shared the controls of the #7 Schaeffler Audi R8 LMS ultra. They opted to begin the season with their proven 2014-spec Audi R8 LMS ultra and will be introducing a new car later in the year.
A very special guest also attended the SHELL 20 Minutes of Hamburg, non-other than Le Mans record-holder, Tom Kristensen. TK piloted one of the Audi R8 Cup entries during the evening’s proceedings, sharing the #104 car with Würgler.
There were also other Audi teams with the #63 Audi S1 EKS RX of Michael Niemas and Martin Kummerow also taking part, along with more Audi R8 Cup entries.
Qualifying netted a fourth place for Audi Team tv racing, a mere 0.308 seconds behind the pole winning Porsche 962C from the PROTOTYP-Shell team. Joest Racing’s Bentley qualified second and Volkswagen Motorsport-Das Kartell third.
The #63 Audi S1 EKS RX lined up eighth on the grid, followed by the #104 Audi R8 of Kristensen and Würgler in fifteenth overall.
A photo finish decided the results during a very close final race on Wednesday evening. It was Volkswagen Motorsport-Das Kartell that won the race by a narrow margin from Audi Team tv racing. Daniel Bäumler and Mario Scharré piloted the #1 Volkswagen Polo R WRC to victory, ahead of the #7 Audi R8 LMS ultra of Voigt and Hennen. An excellent final stint by Jan Hennen brought Audi Team tv racing to within touching distance of victory.
It was a solid start to the 2015 season for Audi Team tv racing, who repeated their second place finish from 2014. The team will be striving to continue with their success this season in their bid to recapture the championship title. Thomas Voigt and Jan Hennen will contest the rest of the season each with their own Audi R8 LMS ultra entries from Audi Team tv racing. It is the first year where, just like in F1, the drivers are allowed to choose their own race numbers. Voigt will continue to field his favourite #7 Audi R8 LMS ultra and Hennen will use the #3 Audi R8 LMS ultra, his number chosen for his third place finish in the championship during 2014.
The next round of the rallye racing Carrera Cup (RCCO) Slotcar Championship will be the
Grand Prix Schleswig-Holstein on 1 April, hosted at the Northland Racecenter in Neumünster.
This event will also be the debut of the new RCCO Audi Sport TT Cup, which will see six of these new race cars joining the series for invited VIP guests.
The results can be seen
HERE.
More photos from the event can be seen
HERE.
For more information about the rallye racing Carrera Cup (RCCO) Slotcar Championship please visit their official Facebook page
HERE.
Slotcar racing is a very popular sport amongst many of the Audi Sport personnel, many of whom take part in this series. It is always great to see Audis competing in motorsport, including the world of slotcar racing.
Photo credit: Speedpool
