Sepang 12 Hours: The Audi teams qualified well at Sepang - GTC pole position

By Tarek Ramchani

The Audi teams performed well in Sepang 12 Hours qualifying session at Sepang International Circuit. Four Audis made in into the Top 10 with a fine pole position in GTC class as well.

The best ranked Audi was the #99 R8 LMS ultra from Absolute Racing in fifth place overall. The car in the hands of Alexandre Imperatori, Henri Moser and Matt Solomon set an average time of 2:05.607.

The #28 Audi from Melbourne Performance Centre was right behind in sixth place. The Australian R8 LMS ultra was driven by Christopher Mies,  Mark Eddy and Marc Cini, the three drivers with an average time of 2:06.704.

Seventh place of the Another Aboslute Racing Audi. Jeffery Lee, Adderly Fong and Massimo Vignali sharing the #101 R8 LMS ultra.

The GTC class was an Audi affair with a fine 1-2 in qualifying. The #69 Audi R8 LMS Cup from Absolute Racing took pole position in class and was tenth overall. The car of Ashraff Dewal, Jacky Yeung and Marchy Lee with an average time of 2:11.790. The #26 Audi R8 LMS Cup from B-Quick Racing was eleventh overall and second in GTC class with drivers Henk J Kiks, Dainel Bilski and Dario Garcia.

Overall pole position went to the #1 Ferrari 458 GT3 from Cleawater Racing. The #7 Aston Martin V12 Vantage from Craft Bamboo was second. The #12 Ferrari 458 GT3 from Clearwater Racing was third.

Sepang 12 Hours qualifying results can be seen here.

Photo credit: Sepang Circuit

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Sepang 12 Hours: B-Quik Racing gets off to strong start in MMER qualifying

B-Quik Racing Press Release

It’s been a long, tough week so far for B-Quik Racing in preparation for Saturday’s grueling MMER Sepang 12 Hours – but everything slotted together very well this afternoon during the three official qualifying sessions and following three strong individual performances from all three of our drivers the #26 B-Quik Racing Audi R8 LMS Cup in will start the race from the front row of the highly competitive GTC grid.

It hadn’t quite looked quite as clear-cut just over 24 hours ago; then a technical issue halved our Thursday night official free practice session running time. However, the remaining time of the two and a half hour session saw the #26 Audi post the fastest time and that confirmed setup direction and positioned us well for today’s qualifying.

The MMER Sepang 12 Hours represents the ‘endurance’ debut for B-Quik Racing, one of Thailand’s leading motorsport teams. B-Quik’s new-for-2014 Audi R8 LMS Cup has been fully rebuilt with a new chassis since entering the previous round of Thailand Super Series, which was held at Bira Circuit last month.

The B-Quik crew has been bedding in the new machine at Sepang this week, ironing out niggles associated with a ground up rebuild and working towards developing an endurance setup that will aim to give the car pace for 12 hours. At the same time the Bangkok-based team, now entering its fifth season in motorsport, has been practicing for its first pitstops for driver changes as well as fuel, tyres and brakes.

For our endurance racing debut regular driver Henk J. Kiks has been joined by Australian Daniel Bilski and Swiss Dario Garcia; the trio will be driving together for the first time. Daniel brings with him experience of the Audi R8 LMS Cup have had two previous outing in this model of car, that’s been a useful to benchmark against, while Dario is making his racing return after five years out of the cockpit – while it gets even harder for him as it is also his first time racing a GT type racecar.

This afternoon’s qualifying sessions went to schedule after days of hard work on car preparation direction came right and all three drivers took a step forward in their laptimes. It started to drizzle during the Q1 session but Daniel still went fastest with a 2:11.730, Henk backed that up by delivering P1 in Q2 with a 2:13.734, while Dario was the fastest of our trio, posting a 2:11.218, which gave him P2 in Q3. That gave the #26 car a 2:12.227 average time and will see us line up second on the grid for tomorrow’s 12-hour race. It was much more than the team had expected and sets us up for a long tough race.

The MMER Sepang 12 Hours gets underway at 1200 noon local time tomorrow (30 Aug), that’s 1100 Thai time, and runs until midnight (2300 Thai time). The #26 B-Quik Racing Audi is entered in the hotly contested GTC class where it will be up against leading teams that include professional drivers on their rosters. The race will provide a valuable learning experience for B-Quik Racing and we will be targeting to reach the finish, aiming to respond to any adversities and to chase the best possible result.

Henk J. Kiks: “I think we’ve had a bit of a difficult week getting the car sorted, but it seemed to work well yesterday afternoon, which was good, but yesterday afternoon the weather didn’t help as we were on a drying track, so it was difficult to judge. Then yesterday evening in the dark, that’s a different game all together, but Dario and Daniel were quick in the dark, astonishingly quick but basically yesterday evening in the dark was my first time in a good car and I was a bit off the pace. Today in qualifying Daniel was P1 with a very quick 2:11 time and me P1 with a bit slower time but with the benchmark of where I need to be, and Dario was a bit quicker than Daniel in his qualifying, but up against a pro so P2. Overall we are where we need to be in our target of what where we think we need to be to be on the podium but it’s 12 hour race, it’s not a qualifying or a sprint race, but we have our ideas and our lines set and we think we can hit the numbers of where we need to be.”

Dario Garcia: “I’m still learning a lot about the car and the track also so I took qualifying more as being a continuous improvement of the week. I’ve been driving quite a lot to learn the car and learn the track, and so I’m

getting faster and faster so I’m really happy, the qualifying session was also a way to see how we can deal with when we have to push but I’m quite happy and obviously I’m very happy with my laptime as it’s my best laptime of the week for me so far but there is still room for improvement but so far I’m happy.”

Daniel Bilski: “My qualifying session really got off with a scare as when I was leaving the pitlane there were a few drops of rain starting to appear so I had to push really hard on the outlap to get one good lap in the dry in case it rained. But the rain didn’t really come it sort of backed off, it was constantly a few drop of rain throughout but I set some reasonable times, got a clear track and set good laps. Then towards the latter end of the session it rained a bit more and the track got greasy and we knew we weren’t going to get any quicker so I parked the car at that point. Over the last few days we’ve had some challenges with the set up and getting comfortable with the car but now were at the point that all three drivers are happy with the car and now it’s a question of optimising it for the race, to preserve the tyres a little bit as obviously were not going to be pushing as hard as we were during qualifying. But the car balance is there; the condidence is there in the car.”

Photo credit: B-Quik Racing

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Sepang 12 Hours: Audi prepares to race in the Sepang 12h in Malaysia

Audi Press Release

• Team Absolute Racing fields three entries at the Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race (MMER) on August 30
• Seven Audi R8 LMS Cup drivers to participate at Sepang International Circuit
• First GT endurance race for upcoming youngster Matt Solomon

Sepang, Malaysia, August 28, 2014 – Audi returns to the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia this weekend as the brand with the Four Rings prepares for the Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race (MMER) on August 30. Team Absolute Racing will be fielding three Audi entries, with nine drivers in total, of which seven are Audi R8 LMS Cup drivers.

Audi Sport customer racing Asia is supporting the three MMER entries of Absolute Racing with factory driver Marchy Lee, 2012 Audi R8 LMS Cup Champion, and Audi Hong Kong driver Matt Solomon. For youngster Solomon, the MMER will be his first GT endurance race, his first night race and an important step in the driver development programme of Audi for the upcoming talent.

Ashraff Dewal will drive his "Visit Malaysia" cup car (#69), together with Jacky Yeung and Marchy Lee. Jeffrey Lee and Massimo Vignali will team up with fellow Audi R8 LMS Cup driver and 2013 Champion, Adderly Fong, in an Audi R8 LMS ultra (#101). As the seventh Cup driver, youngster Matt Solomon joins a team with the Swiss pair, Alexandre Imperatori and Henri Moser in an Audi R8 LMS ultra (#99).

"The participation of seven Audi R8 LMS Cup drivers in the MMER underlines the increasingly broad reach of the Audi Sport customer racing Asia programme. For youngster Matt Solomon, his first GT endurance race and first night race will be an important development step in his career", says Rene Koneberg, Director of Audi Sport customer racing Asia.

The MMER safety car will be an Audi R8 V10, which is also used for the 2014 season of the Audi R8 LMS Cup. The drivers will return to the familiar circuit close to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur just two weeks after racing in Sepang for Rounds 5 and 6 of the Audi R8 LMS Cup, the only brand cup of Audi worldwide.

In last year’s Sepang 12h race, Audi took a one-two finish in the GTC class. Alex Yoong, Jacky Yeung and Ashraff Dewal were first across the finish line, ahead of the Audi R8 LMS of the Chinese Brothers Racing Team.

Also representing Audi will be team MPS from Australia, who will be driving an Audi R8 LMS ultra (#28) in the GT3 class, and team B-Quik Racing from Thailand, whose Audi R8 LMS (#26) will be racing in the GTC class.

Photo credit: Audi R8 LMS Cup

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Sepang 12 Hours: B-Quik Racing enters MMER Sepang 12 Hours

B-Quik Racing Press Release

B-Quik Racing, one of the leading motorsport teams in Thailand, is set to contest its first ever endurance event by entering the MMER Sepang 12 Hours on Aug 30-31. The team will enter its new Audi R8 Cup in the GTC category.

This marks a planned programme step up for the Bangkok based team, which is part of B-Quik Co. Ltd., Thailand’s biggest national automotive repair chain.

B-Quik Racing was formed in 2009, initially to participate in classic car racing before stepping up in 2011 to race in the popular ‘Super Retro’ category that was part of ‘Super Car Thailand’, the premier national motorsport championship. In 2012 B-Quik Racing progressed to ‘Super Car’, the topmost category of Super Car Thailand, with a Porsche 997 GT3 Cup and driver Henk J. Kiks finished as the championship runner up.

For 2014 B-Quik Racing is running a new Audi R8 LMS Cup, once again in Super Car, which is now organised by Thailand Super Series (TSS). The first round of TSS took place at Sepang International Circuit, giving the team its first experience with the new racecar on this track at the same time as the machine’s debut.

However, after the second round of TSS, held last month at Bira International Circuit, Pattaya, the team has replaced the chassis with a brand new unit flown out from the factory in Germany. With such a short period of available time B-Quik Racing’s engineers have been working round the clock to prepare the car for the Sepang 12 Hours. The depth of experience within the organization has seen this work progressing to target.

Competing in major endurance races is the future strategy for B-Quik Racing and taking part in the MMER Sepang 12 Hours, regarded as one of the most prestigious and toughest races in South East Asia, is seen as the perfect launch pad, especially as the team has prior knowledge of the circuit.

B-Quik Racing regards this entry as a learning experience for both the drivers and team personnel and the primary target is to reach the finish line, while aiming to successfully respond to and overcome any adversities encountered along the way. However this being motor racing and with the desire and ambition that drives our team we will be looking to achieve the best result possible.

Drivers for the Sepang 12 Hours will be Daniel Bilski (Australia), Dario Garcia (Switzerland) and Henk J. Kiks (The Netherlands). Team Manager is Barry Forth.

Henk J. Kiks says: “We visited the race for the first time last year to survey and as soon as we stepped on the grid we knew that we wanted to be taking part this year. The atmosphere was electric while the professionalism and strength in depth of the teams and cars taking part coupled with the excellent organisation make this perfect event for B-Quik Racing to make the first small step to endurance racing. We’re pretty excited and unquestionably this will be the high point of our season but we’re used to 30 to 40 minute races max and we know that we have an awful lot to learn ahead of us, we know it’s going to be tough. But we’ve prepared well and had great support from our partners so we should be in good shape and I hope that by the end of the weekend everyone that is part of B-Quik racing will have learnt a lot.”

Photo credit: B-Quik Racing

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Australian GT: Top 5 and class win for Audi teams in Sydney Motorsport Park race 1

By Tarek Ramchani

The Audi teams performed very well in the first of the two Australian GT Championship races today at Sydney Motorsport Park. Top 5 results overall and domination in GT Trophy class with a fine 1-2 victory.

The #6 Skwirk.com.au Audi R8 LMS shared by  Rod Salmon and Nathan Antunes finished in a very solid fourth overall and took a great GT Trophy class win.

The #71 Audi R8 LMS from Equity-One Motorsport ended right behind in fifth place and second in GT Trophy class. The car was driven by Dean Koutsoumidis and James Winslow.

The #75 JAMEC PEM Audi R8 LMS ultra driven by Steve McLaughlan and Warren Luff finished the 1-hour race in eighth place overall.

Outright victory went to the #7 Aston Martin V12 Vantage from VIP Petfoods. The #1 McLaren MP4-12C from Darrell Lea was second. The #48 Lamborghini Gallardo FL2 GT3 from Interlloy was third.

Photo credit: Australian GT

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Sepang 12 Hours: Seven Audi R8 LMS and ultra cars will enter Sepang 12 Hours

By Tarek Ramchani

One week to go for the traditional Malaysia Merdeka Endurance at Sepang International Circuit. The Audi brand will be represented by a total of seven Audi R8 LMS and ultra cars.

The Audi entries are from three different teams and will target both overall victory and  GTC class win.s The Sepang 12 Hours will feature eleven GT3 cars. The Audi teams and drivers will be challenged by strong rivals from Ferrari, Aston Martin and Mercedes-Benz teams.

Absolute Racing will have a very busy race with no less than five cars. Two Audi R8 LMS ultra and three Audi R8 LMS Cup cars.

MPC from Australia will field a single car, their Audi R8 LMS ultra will feature Audi works driver Christopher Mies.

B-Quick Racing from Thailand will field an Audi R8 LMS Cup and will compete in GTC class.

Sepang 12 Hours entry list can be seen here.

Photo credit: Absolute Racing

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Super GT: Christopher Haase joins Audi Team Hitotsuyama at Suzuka 1000km

By Tarek Ramchani

An exciting news coming from Japan and Super GT. Audi Team Hitotsuyama announced that Audi works driver Christopher Haase will join them at Suzuka.

Christopher Haase will share the #21 Audi R8 LMS ultra with regular drivers Richard Lyons and Tomonobu Fujii. The Suzuka race is a 1000km event and the stellar event of the Super GT series.

Christopher Haase has won this year the Nürburgring 24 Hours overall with Phoenix Racing and doing the full TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season with Paul Miller Racing.

At Suzuka the three drivers will have to fight hard in a very demanding GT300 field with many factory supported teams.

Photo credit: Hitotsuyama Racing

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Audi R8 LMS Cup: “Franky” Cheng Congfu wins Round 6 in Malaysia

Audi R8 LMS Cup Press Release

• Chinese driver “Franky” Cheng Congfu crosses the finish line ahead of Alex Yoong and André Couto
• Yoong regains the series lead ahead of Rahel Frey and Cheng
• GTM category lead for Jacky Yeung balances disappointing GT Asia results

Sepang, Malaysia, August 17, 2014 — “Franky” Cheng Congfu pulled away after taking an early lead to secure victory in Round 6 of the Audi R8 LMS Cup at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. Starting from position four on the grid, Cheng jumped to the front to snatch the lead from André Couto in the first lap, having a 60 kg weight advantage over the experienced Macanese. Local Malaysian hero, Alex Yoong, had a good start as well and passed Couto early. Yoong held on to second position but was not able to close the gap to Cheng.

“The introduction of the push-to-pass function as well as the weight additions has fully paid off. The races are very competitive, and the field is very close. André Couto has proven that it is possible to reach the podium despite a 60 kg weight addition,” commented Rene Koneberg, Director of Audi Sport customer racing Asia.

Couto put in a good performance with consistent and steady driving. Marchy Lee, himself carrying an additional 40 kg from his second place in Round 5, was always right behind him, but Couto never allowed him the opportunity to pass and held on to third.

The battles for positions fourth to seven were close, with Lee being chased by Rahel Frey, who herself had to fend off Adderly Fong and Zhang Zhiqiang throughout the race. Fong succumbed to a final push by Zhang in the last lap, but kept sixth position, as Zhang later received a 30-second penalty for an incident on turn two with Stefano Montesi earlier in the race.

“The drivers’ championship is very close now, with only nine points between the top four drivers. I expect more close races to come in Shanghai in October”, said Rene Koneberg.

After Round 6, Yoong once again tops the overall standings with 84 points, followed by Frey (82 points), Cheng (79 points) and Couto (75 points).

In the amateur category, Steven Lin secured another victory to extend his lead at the top of the amateur standings. Malaysian Ashraff Dewal had to retire in the first lap to give Lin an easy path to victory. Lin leads the amateur championship with 142 points, ahead of Dewal (88 points) and Jacky Yeung (75 points).

Running alongside the Cup, GT Asia was held at the Sepang International Circuit this weekend. The professionals’ qualifying saw Audi on pole position and P2 with the pairings of Christopher Mies/Jeffrey Lee and Alex Yoong/Philip Ma, but Round 7 ended with disappointment as both cars had to retire due to mechanical problems. In Round 8 on Sunday, car 7 of Mies/Lee achieved 5th place and car 98 of Yoong/Ma finished in 14th place. However, Jacky Yeung again provided a positive for Audi. With 2nd and 4th place finishes in the GTM class, he took the overall lead in the standings for this category.

Next up, the Audi R8 LMS Cup heads to Shanghai, China for Rounds 7 and 8 on October 18-19, 2014.

“Franky” Cheng Congfu: “Getting off to a good start and taking the lead early was the key today. Neither Alex nor I had weight additions, so we both could have taken the lead from the start. Alex is a very good driver and the local hero here, and I’m really sorry about our incident yesterday. However, I’m happy to have won ahead of him today.”

Alex Yoong: “We all raced very hard. I don’t think I could have won today. Franky was too fast and I struggled with some tyre problems. I just knew I had to take André and keep him behind me. I saved my push-to-pass boosts for the end, so he couldn’t catch me.”

André Couto: “The car was good today, except for the extra 60 kg of course! I survived and finished in a good position. Luckily I had no major problems this time.”

Rahel Frey: “I got some more points on the board this weekend, which is really important for the championship. We had some interesting races – everyone was really close together, which shows the high level and competitiveness of the competition. I’m happy so far, but I’d really like to repeat last year’s win in Shanghai, which will help me to win the championship this year.”

Steven Lin: “Unfortunately for Ashraff he had to retire early. I could then push myself against the professional drivers, which was an interesting race for me. It was great!”

Photo credit: Audi R8 LMS Cup

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GT Asia: Unbelievable bad luck hit Audi teams in Sepang race 1

By Tarek Ramchani

The Audi teams faced a very unlucky GT Asia Series race 1 today at Sepang International Circuit. None of the Audi R8 LMS ultra cars finished the 1-hour race.

The first race today is maybe the hardest ever for the Audi brand and team Absolute Racing in GT Asia Series.

It all started very well with a brilliant pole position and even a 1-2 Audi in Qualifying 1. Alex Yoong was the fastest ahead of Audi works driver Christopher Mies. Then all changed in race 1 with an unbelievable bad luck hitting the two ultras. The #7 Audi driven by Christopher Mies and Jeffrey Lee was forced to retire after 23 laps into the race. The sister #98 machine in the hands of Alex Yoong and Philip Ma faced the same fate earlier on lap 15.

Best ranked Audi car, was the #77 R8 LMS Cup from Tiger Racing Team in tenth place overall, however the car was competing in the lower GTM class.

Overall race victory went to the #97 Aston Martin V12 Vantage from Bamboo Craft Racing. Second place for #37 Ferrari 458 GT3 from team BBT. The #32 McLaren MP4-12C from Clearwater Racing was third.

Sepang race 1 results can be seen here.

Race 2 is set for tomorrow. The #7 R8 LMS ultra of Christopher Mies and Jeffrey Lee will start from position eight, the #98 Audi in the hands of Alex Yoong and Philip Ma will start from position nineteen.

Photo credit: GT Asia Series

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Audi R8 LMS Cup: André Couto wins on a perfect day for BRT

Audi R8 LMS Cup Press Release

• Couto wins ahead of Marchy Lee and Sun Zheng
• Rahel Frey leads the overall championship ahead of Alex Yoong and André Couto
• Steven Lin wins in the amateur category to give BRT third podium

Sepang, Malaysia, August 16, 2014 — André Couto took a start-to-finish victory in Round 5 of the Audi R8 LMS Cup at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. Couto maintained a comfortable lead ahead of 2012 champion Marchy Lee in second place, and teammate Sun Zheng in third. With Couto and Sun on the podium, it was a fantastic day for the Brothers Racing Team of China.

“The first podium finish for Sun Zheng this year further underlines the competitiveness of the Cup, after we already had six different drivers on the podium in the previous two rounds at Fuji. André Couto had a superb race, while Rahel Frey’s jump to the top of the standings proves again that consistency is a key factor in success,” commented Rene Koneberg, Director of Audi Sport customer racing Asia.

Local hero, Malaysian former Formula 1 driver Alex Yoong, started the race strongly, despite carrying an extra 60 kg of ballast for his win in Round 4, but was nudged off the track midway through the race by “Franky” Cheng Congfu. Yoong had to eventually settle for a disappointing 10th place. The contact resulted in a drive-through penalty for Cheng.

At the front of the field there were intense battles between the top drivers. Throughout the race, 2013 champion Adderly Fong and Sun Zheng fought for third place, with both executing spectacular overtaking manoeuvres. However, Adderly was forced to retire right at the end of the race, giving Sun Zheng a clear third place finish.

Behind them, Swiss GT specialist, Rahel Frey, youngsters Matt Solomon and Aidan Wright, and Korean driver K.O. You changed positions numerous times as they all drove hard. Even though she carried an extra 40 kg weight from her second place in Round 4, Frey eventually ran ahead to take fourth, securing enough points to go top of the overall standings. Solomon fell back after contact with K.O. You, while Wright ensured an exciting end to the race as he narrowly edged past the Korean in the last few metres to cross the finish line in fifth.

In the amateur competition, Steven Lin notched up another victory, ahead of Massimo Vignali, who made his 2014 cup debut, and local Malaysian hopeful Ashraff Dewal.

Going into Sunday’s Round 6, André Couto will start from pole position having clocked the fastest lap time today. He will have 60 kg added for his win. Marchy Lee will start from second with an additional 40 kg, while Alex Yoong, who recorded the third fastest lap time today, will start from position three without carrying any extra weight.

So far in the competition, Rahel Frey tops the overall standings with 72 points, ahead of Alex Yoong (66 points) and André Couto (60 points).

Round 6 of the Audi R8 LMS Cup will take place at 11:55 Malaysia local time (UTC +8) on Sunday, August 17.

André Couto:
“It was not an easy race today, even if it looked easy. Sepang is very difficult in the heat, which is really hard on the tyres. I focused and had the fight in me to push ahead and finish the race with a win.”

Marchy Lee:
“It was crowded at the start of the race. Once I passed Adderly, using my push-to-pass, I knew I could catch Franky and Alex. I took the opportunities to move past them and ended the race in second. André was too far ahead for me to catch up though. It was a good race and a good result!”

Sun Zheng:
“It was a difficult race. There were always cars right in front of me and right behind me! But I think I did a good job. I am happy with the third place finish.”

Steven Lin:
“It was a good race for me. My main rival, Ashraff, had a little incident, which allowed me to take the lead. It worked out well for me today.”

Photo credit: Audi R8 LMS Cup

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Bathurst 12 Hour: Four Audi R8 LMS ultra and one Audi TT RS on the provisional entry list

By Tarek Ramchani

Bathurst 12 Hour organizers have published today the provisional entry list for the famous Mount Panorama enduracne event. The Audi squad is represented by five cars, additional teams may join later.

The Audi brand won Bathurst 12 hour twice, in 2011 with Audi race experience Team Joest and a year later with Phoenix Racing.

For the 2015 race, four Audi R8 LMS ultra will challenge for the ovrall victory entering the demanding Class A against strong rivals from Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Nissan. Three cars are from local Australian teams, Marc Cini, Rod Salmon and Steve McLaughlan. The fourth effort is from Anglo-American team and race regulars United Autosports.

In addition to the Audi R8 LMS ultra cars, there is an Audi TT RS from Kintyre Motorsport which will compete in Class D.

Bathurst 12 Hour 2015 provisional entry list can be seen here.

Photo credit: United Autosports

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GT Asia: The Audi teams aiming high at Sepang

By Tarek Ramchani

The GT Asia Series is heading to Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia this weekend. The Audi Sport customer racing squad will be represented by five Audi R8 LMS and ultra cars.

The Audi teams performed very well last time out at the Fuji Speedway. Audi works driver Christopher Mied along with team-mate Jeffrey Lee were victorious driving an Audi R8 LMS ultra from Absolute Racing.

In Malaysia, three Audi R8 LMS ultra will try to give the Audi brand additional wins and strong results. The Audi drivers including the returning Christopher Mies will have to fight against strong teams representing Ferrari, McLaren, Aston Martin, Porsche and Nissan.

#7 Absolute Racing - Jeffrey Lee / Christopher Mies
#17 Absolute Racing - Sun Jing Zhu / Wang Jian Wei
#98 Absolute Racing - Alex Yoong / Phillip Ma

In addition to the three Audi R8 LMS ultra who will target the outright victories, two Audi R8 LMS cars will compete in the lower GTM class.

#23 Taiwan Top Speed Racing - Sasha Chu
#77 Tiger Racing Team - Jacky Yeung / Ashraff Dewal

The two qualifying sessions and race 1 art set for Saturday, the second race will be held on Sunday.

Photo credit: GT Asia Series

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Super GT: Extremely hard qualifying for Audi Team Hitotsuyama at Fuji

By Tarek Ramchani

The popular and very fast Fuji Speedway is hosting the fifth round of the 2014 Super GT season. Audi Team Hitotsuyama once again fielding the only R8 LMS ultra in the field.

Audi Team Hitotsuyama performed very well last time out at Sugo taking a breathtaking third place and very deserved podium finish. For the Fuji round the Japanese Audi team was aiming high with their R8 LMS ultra in a very demanding GT300 field.

Unfortunately the qualifying session turned to be an extremely hard one for Hitotsuyama squad. Richard Lyons Tomonobu Fujii who are sharing the #21 Audi qualified twenty-third within the GT300 class with a best time of 1'42.066.

Richard Lyons Tomonobu Fujii will try to bounce back tomorrow in the 300km endurance race against strong teams from various brands.

The qualifying session was dominated by Honda with two CR-Z cars locking the front row. Third place went to a McLaren MP4-12C.

GT300 qualifying session results can be seen here.

Photo credit: Hitotsuyama Racing

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Audi R8 LMS Cup: Top five finish for Solomon in Audi R8 LMS Cup at Fuji

Matt Solomon Press Release

Just a week after claiming his maiden race wins in the Formula Masters China Series in South Korea, Audi Hong Kong’s rising star Matt Solomon was back in Japan for the second event on the Audi R8 LMS Cup program.

After claiming sixth on debut during the opening round in South Korea, the former GT Asia Series race winner suffered a DNF in race two whilst within reach of a top five finish, showing he has what it takes to compete with the established stars.

For Fuji, Solomon was reunited once more with ‘The Hulk’, the Hong Kong teenager quickly up to speed in practice and right back where he’d left off in South Korea..

“Practice got underway on Friday morning and I had a decent session to be sixth in P1, and then I got to grips with the circuit and the car and everything was not too bad during the second session,” Solomon explained.

“It was qualifying next and there was a little bit of mayhem in the pits, and I got stuck behind some traffic leaving pit lane, so I had to find myself a good gap and do my fast lap with only six push to pass functions – and with the tyre situation the way it was, you really only had one lap to set a time.

“So, on my best lap I had to overtake two cars and that obviously cost me a lot of time and I ended up qualifying ninth. However, carrying over my grid penalty from Korea, that put me down to 14th to start the first race.

“Despite that I got a mega, mega start and fought my way through the field to be tenth after the opening lap. I went on to catch the guys in front and had a good fight with Adderly [Fong] and Aiden [Wright] which ended up being one of the best fights I have had yet in my car racing career. It was great, pass after pass after pass – all three of us were battling really close and then Alex Yoong got in the mix. Then collectively we caught the group in front, so it was the top positions, from three to nine, all being disputed in those last couple of laps.

“Going through turn four I got a good run on the Korean driver [Kyong-Ouk You] – I was looking to pass him into the next corner, however as I did that he moved over in the braking zone – which you’re not allowed to do – and hit the front right of my car. That sent me left and into Alex Yoong who was trying to pass me with that same move, and we also ended up having contact.. so I was sandwiched in the middle, and damaged both my front wheels, and both front tyres popped off the rim, and I was forced into retirement.

“That was a shame because you know, up until then I was having a good race, and I think a top four or five in the race would not have been out of the question.

“Whilst the DNF wasn’t great, my lap time at the start of the race was good enough for tenth, so as a result, I would start tenth in the second race.

“I had a good start and moved into eighth after the first two corners and was chasing down the guys in front and I had another good fight, this time with Franky Cheng. That was a good battle, and I managed to make it up to fifth, and I just had to maintain my pace for the rest of race and pull away from the guys behind – Sun Zheng and Adderly Fong. I had a decent pace to keep up with Franky, but he was just a little bit too far ahead and I was unable to catch him in the end.

“I am happy to finish in the top five and have a good result to end the weekend. Now we move on to the next race in Sepang – that is going to be difficult because I am doing both Formula Masters and the Audi Cup, so it’s going to be a bit tricky.

“That said, Sepang is a track I have been too many times and I’ve set two lap records [there] so it should be doable, and hopefully I can score good results in both, and try and close down the championship on James Munro in Formula Masters, and try and fight for a top three finish in the Audi Cup.”

The Malaysian round will see event four on the Formula Masters China Series program and event three of the 2014 Audi R8 LMS Cup Series at the Sepang International Circuit in Kuala Lumpur on August 15-17.

Photo credit: Audi R8 LMS Cup

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Audi R8 LMS Cup: Audi R8 LMS Cup debuts in Japan

Audi Press Release

• Audi R8 LMS Cup visits the Fuji International Speedway
• Alex Yoong leads the drivers’ championship
• Japanese film actor and race car driver Koichi Iwaki to drive for Team Audi Japan

Fuji, Japan, July 24, 2014 — The Audi R8 LMS Cup visits Japan for the first time ever this weekend. Rounds 3 and 4 of the 2014 season of the sprint race series will be held at the Fuji International Speedway on July 26. After his first and third places at the season opener in Korea, former Formula 1 driver, Alex Yoong from Malaysia, arrives in Fuji as points leader, ahead of Round 1 winner “Franky” Cheng Congfu and Rahel Frey.

“The addition of the Japan race weekend to the Audi R8 LMS Cup is the next step in the expansion of the series around Asia. It emphasizes the commitment of Audi to the development of motorsport in the region,” commented Rene Koneberg, Director of Audi Sport customer racing Asia. “Audi won here a few weeks ago in the GT Asia series, and we anticipate another weekend of exciting motorsport action.”

Qualifying will take place on Friday June 25, with Rounds 3 and 4 both to be held on Saturday, July 26. The Fuji International Speedway has been host to the Japanese Grand Prix, sitting beneath the symbolic Mount Fuji. It is a 4.5 km circuit, featuring 16 turns, challenging corners and a high-speed 1.5 km straight, one of the longest among motorsport tracks.

Team Audi Japan, representing the brand in the host country, will join the competition for the first time. Starting for the local Audi team will be actor and race driver, Koichi Iwaki. Team Tunewear Racing will field two additional Japanese drivers with Kato Gachi and Kenji Abe.

Young regulars Matt Solomon and Aidan Wright will be joined by fellow Formula Masters China driver Ronald Wu in Fuji, who debuts in the Audi R8 LMS Cup.

After the season opener at the Korea International Circuit in Yeongam, South Korea, Alex Yoong sits top of the leader board (40 points) after two podiums with his 3rd place finish in Round 1 and victory in Round 2. “Franky” Cheng Congfu is just four points behind him (36 points) with his start-to-finish win in round 1 and 5th place in Round 2. In third place is the young Swiss female driver, Rahel Frey (30 points).

Meanwhile, in the Amateur Cup, Steven Lin of Brothers Racing Team comfortably tops the standings (51 points) after back-to-back wins in South Korea.

The Audi R8 LMS Cup is the first brand cup in the history of Audi. After its successful maiden season in China in 2012, and expansion to Malaysia and South Korea in 2013, the sprint race series has added Japan to its stops around Asia this year.

Photo credit: Audi R8 LMS Cup

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Super GT: Podium for Audi Team Hitotsuyama at Sugo

By Tarek Ramchani

Sportsland Sugo hosted today the fourth round of the 2014 Super GT season. Audi Team Hitotsuyama in the only Audi team in the field performed very well.

The #21 Audi R8 LMS ultra driven by Richard Lyons Tomonobu Fujii finished the race in a very strong third place. A great result and deserved podium for the whole Audi Team Hitotsuyama after an eventful 79-lap race.

The two drivers who qualified seventh within the GT300 class, improved a lot and were able to pass several of the thier rivals in front. The third place in the end is a right award after a lot of bad luck since the start of the season and how the Balance of Performance is penalizing the Audi R8 LMS ultra.

Race victory went to the #88 Lamborghini Gallardo from team Manepa. The #65 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 from team Leon was second.

Sugo GT300 race results can be seen here.

Photo credit: Hitotsuyama Racing

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GT Asia: Audi returns to Japan

Audi Press Release

• Five Audi entries in Rounds 5 and 6 of the GT Asia series
• Team aiming for improved results
• Audi Factory driver Christopher Mies joins the lineup

Japan, July 11, 2014 – The five Audi entries are hoping for an improved performance at the Fuji International Speedway in Japan for the fifth and sixth rounds of the GT Asia series from July 11-13. Audi took first and second place in Fuji last year and Team Absolute Racing is confident of achieving similar success again.

“The very long straight in Fuji is not to our advantage, with the difference in speed in the competition. But with the weather being unpredictable and counting on our drivers and team putting in good performances all round, we will hopefully have a good weekend and come away with podium finishes and positive results,” commented Fabien Fior, Director of Absolute Racing.

In the GT3 class, Jeffrey Lee, who took first place at the Fuji International Speedway last year, will drive his usual car number 7, partnered by Audi Factory driver Christopher Mies, whose addition strengthens the lineup. Alex Yoong, who came second in Fuji last year, will drive with Philip Ma in car 98. In the GTM class, Jacky Yeung will partner Keith Wong in the number 77 Audi R8 LMS Cup car; Joe Hsu and Han Lin will drive car 22, and Japanese gentleman driver Francis Onda will be in car 86 in front of his home crowd.

Despite putting in great performances last time round at Autopolis in the third and fourth rounds, the drivers suffered from bad luck with accidents which limited their final results. Although the results were disappointing, all the drivers were really good for pace and posted some great lap times. More positively, Jacky Yeung, in his Audi R8 LMS Cup car, finished second in the GTM class in Round 3 for his third podium of the 2014 season in the competition.

In Rounds 1 and 2 of GT Asia at the Korea International Circuit, Jacky Yeung enjoyed the best results, with a win in the GTM class. Elsewhere, Alex Yoong and Matt Solomon endured a tough race in the first round but managed to finish in fourth.

The qualifying sessions will be held on Friday July 11, with Rounds 5 and 6 taking place on Saturday July 12 and Sunday July 13 respectively.

Photo credit: GT Asia Series

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PHOTOS: Audi Team Hitotsuyama at Autopolis

A selection of great photos from Audi Team Hitotsuyama at Autopolis, round 3 of the Japanese Super GT series.

Photo credit: Hitotsuyama Racing

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