Pirelli World Challenge: Four Audi R8 LMS ultras ready for Miller Motorsports Park

By Tarek Ramchani

The Pirelli World Challenge is moving to the beautiful and challenging Miller Motorsports Park in Utah this weekend. The Audi Sport customer racing squad will be represented by a total of four Audi R8 LMS ultra cars representing three different teams.

Two Audi R8 LMS ultras will compete in the upper GT division. Mike Skeen will be once again behind the wheel of the #2 Audi R8 LMS ultra. The CRP Racing driver faced a frustrating Mid-Ohio round last time out and will try to challenge for the top spots in Utah.

GMG Racing team owner James Sofronas will drive the #14 Audi R8 LMS ultra. James Sofronas is having an unlucky season in Pirelli World Challenge, the 2013 series' runner-up will try to bounce back and collect big points.

As it is the case in GT, two Audis will enter the GTA class. Drew Regitz will drive the #19 Audi R8 LMS ultra from Stephen Cameron Racing. Brent Holden will drive the #44 Audi R8 LMS ultra from GMG Racing.

Miller Motorsports Park Entry List

Photo credit: Pirelli World Challenge

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Pirelli World Challenge: Podium for Mike Skeen Audi in Road America race 1

By Tarek Ramchani

Mike Skeen has clinched a great podium in the first of three Pirelli World Challenge races today at Road America.

The CRP Racing driver was behind the wheel of the #2 Audi R8 LMS ultra. He ended behind race winner Tomas Enge with a Lamborghini Gallardo and James Davison with a Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3.

More to come.

Photo credit: Pirelli World Challenge

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Pirelli World Challenge: Top 10 in qualifying for Mike Skeen's Audi at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

By Tarek Ramchani

The Pirelli World Challenge has crossed the border this weekend, up north to Canada. The beautiful Canadian Tire Motorsport Park - former Mosport - is hosting rounds eight and nine of the 2015 season. Only three Audi R8 LMS ultra cars are taking part in the Canadian event.

The qualifying session held yesterday was a mixed one for the Audi Sport customer racing squad. A single Audi R8 LMS ultra qualified inside the Top 10.

The best ranked Audi driver was Mike Skeen with the #2 R8 LMS ultra qualified tenth overall. The 2014 series runner-up set a personal best of  1:15.968. The CRP Racing driver will be eager to bounce back on race day.

The remaining two Audi R8 LMS ultra cars who took part in the qualifying session were further behind, both competing within the GT-A class. JCR Motorsport team-owner and driver Jeff Courtney qualified twenty-sixth place with his #99 Audi R8 LMS ultra. Drew Regitz was twenty-eighth driving the #19 Audi R8 LMS ultra from Stephen Cameron Racing.

Pole position went to Johnny O'Connell with his factory #3 Cadillac ATS-VR GT3 from Cadillac Racing. Series points leader Olivier Beretta was second driving the #61 Ferrari 458 GT3 from R.Ferri Motorsport. Butch Leitzinger quailified his Dyson Racing run #20 Bentley Continental GT3 in third place.

The first Pirelli World Challenge race will be held on Saturday.

Photo credit: Motorsport.com

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Pirelli World Challenge: Top 10 in qualifying for Mike Skeen's Audi at Long Beach

By Tarek Ramchani

The streets of Long Beach played host to a thrilling Pirelli World Challenge qualifying session on Saturday. A full field of stars and beautiful GT3 race cars battled for pole position.

Best ranked Audi driver was Mike Skeen in ninth place behind the wheel of the #2 Audi R8 LMS ultra. The CRP Racing driver set a personal best time of 1:20.324. The 2014 series runner-up will be eager to improve on race day and fight for the top spots.

GMG Racing team owner James Sofronas had an unlucky qualifying session. The driver of the #14 Audi R8 LMS ultra was only twenty-first fastest with a personal best time of 1:21.272.

David Welch driving the #21 Audi from GMG Racing was twenty-fifth overall. Jeff Courtney was twenty-eighth was the #99 R8 LMS ultra from JCR Motorsports. GMG Racing' Brent Holden qualified in twenty-ninth postion with the #44 machine. Drew Regitz was thirtieth with the #19 Audi from Stephen Cameron Racing.

Pole position went to Olivier Beretta with #61 Ferrari 458 GT3 from R.Ferri Motorsport. The series points leader was followed by two McLarens from K-PAX Racing with Flying Lizard Motorsport, Robert Thorne was third (#6 650S GT3) and Kevin Estre (#9 650S GT3).

Long Beach qualifying results are here.

The 50-minute sprint race will be held on Sunday after the IndyCar Series event. We wish the best of luck to all Audi teams and drivers.

Photo credit: Motorsport.com

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Pirelli World Challenge: The Audi teams ready for Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

By Tarek Ramchani

The Pirelli World Challenge is moving to California this weekend for the prestigious Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. The series is sharing the weekend with IndyCar Series and TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.

The Audi Sport customer racing squad will be once again very well represented with a total of six Audi R8 LMS ultra cars.

Two drivers will compete in the upper and demanding GT class. 2014 Pirelli World Challenge runner-up Mike Skeen will be behind the wheel of the #2 Audi from CRP Racing. 2013 vice-champion and GMG Racing team owner James Sofronas will drive the #14 R8 LMS ultra. Both Mike Skeen and James Sofronas will be eager to fight for the overall victory and top spots against world class rivals representing various brands.

The remaining four Audis will fight for GTA class honors. GMG Racing will enter two cars in the class with drivers David Welch (#21 R8 LMS ultra) and Brent Holden (#44 R8 LMS ultra). Drew Regitz will drive the #19 Audi of team Stephen Cameron Racing. Jeff Courtney will race with the #99 car from JCR Motorsports.

The Grand Prix of Long Beach entry list is here.

Photo credit: Motorsport.com

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Pirelli World Challenge: Audi teams at St. Petersburg and race 1 podium for Skeen and CRP Racing

By Johan Laubscher

The Pirelli World Challenge moved to the streets of St. Petersburg for rounds three and four of the 2015 season. Six Audi R8 LMS ultra cars were entered by five different teams this weekend.

GMG Racing arrived with two Audi R8 LMS ultra entries: James Sofronas (#14 Audi – GT) and Brent Holden (#44 Audi – GTA). CRP Racing fielded its #2 Audi R8 LMS ultra with Mike Skeen (GT), Stephen Cameron Racing with the #19 Audi R8 LMS ultra of Drew Regitz (GTA), M1 Racing with the #23 Audi R8 LMS ultra bring driven by Walt Bowlin, and JCR Motorsports with the #99 Audi R8 LMS ultra of Jeff Courtney.

It was a wet qualifying session which was dominated by Ryan Eversly and his four-wheel-drive Acura. Mike Skeen was the highest placed Audi during qualifying, despite not getting a clear lap, he was able to qualify seventh. James Sofronas qualified twentieth, ahead of Drew Regitz in twenty-seventh, Jeff Courtney in twenty-eighth and Walt Bowlin in thirty-second.

Race one was held on a sunny Saturday and Ryan Eversly won from pole position, defending from Ryan Dalziel in his Porsche. The start of the race unfortunately saw Drew Regitz involved in an incident with stalled vehicles on the front straight, ending his and a number of competitors’ race. Mike Skeen had a good start and continued to move up through the field, ultimately finishing third under caution.

James Sofronas also moved forward during the race and finished thirteenth. Jeff Courtney progressed up to twenty-first finishing position, followed by Walt Bowlin in twenty-seventh. Brent Holden did not start the race.

The second and final race was held on Sunday. Mike Skeen was the highest Audi on the grid. The first lap saw a number of different incidents which resulted in a caution period that lasted for over half of the race duration. Unfortunately the #23 Audi R8 LMS ultra of Walt Bowlin was involved in one of the opening lap incidents and retired with damage, luckily Bowlin was unharmed.

A twenty-minute sprint began when the race went green. Mike Skeen moved up to fourth place and held that position until he was passed by Ryan Dalziel and spun around by Davison in the Nissan.

James Sofronas finished as the highest placed Audi in eighth, ahead of Jeff Courtney in nineteenth, Skeen in twenty-eighth and Drew Regitz in thirty-second.

The weekend’s results can be seen HERE.

The Pirelli World Challenge will now be heading to Long Beach from 17-19 April.

Photo credit: 
Audi Communications - Motorsport
Pirelli World Challenge

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PHOTOS: Best of CRP Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra in 2014 Pirelli World Challenge

A selection of great photos featuring the CRP Racing in the 2014 Pirelli World Challenge. The team joined earlier this year the Audi Sport customer racing family with an R8 LMS ultra and was close to take the GT drivers' title with Mike Skeen.

Photo credit: Pirelli World Challenge

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HSR: Overall and class victories for Rogers Motorsports and GMG Racing at Daytona

By Johan Laubscher

Daytona International Speedway hosted a very special vintage racing event this weekend, The Classic 24 Hour at Daytona, which also included the annual HSR Daytona Historic.

A total of four Audis were entered in the various events. The entry list for the Classic 24 Hour included a mixture of old and new Audi R8 cars. Rogers Motorsports entered the #38 Champion Racing liveried Audi R8 with drivers Doug Smith and Andy Wallace competing in the E-1 class.

Two Pirelli World Challenge teams each entered one Audi R8 LMS ultra in the E-4 class. CRP Racing entered the #2 R8 LMS ultra for Alex Lloyd, David Roberts and Mike Skeen. GMG Racing entered the #76 for the duo of Alex Welch and James Sofronas.

The fourth Audi entry was the the #21 ex-Champion Racing Audi S4 Competition (B5) of Mike Fisher, who is a regular entrant in HSR and SVRA historic events. He was entered in the HSR Daytona Historic races.

This unique event featured 24 Hours of racing. The large entry list was split into six groups (A-F) based on the build year of the competing cars. Each group had four separate races during the 24 Hour period, ensuring night and day time racing for every group. The final results were based on the aggregate of all four races in each group respectively.

The Classic 24 got underway at 13h00 local time and Group E had its first race at 17h00. Rogers Motorsports took victory during each of the four races, ensuring that their aggregate was enough for victory in the E-1 class and Group E overall.

GMG Racing performed very well during the four races. Alex Welch and James Sofronas piloted the #76 Audi R8 LMS ultra to sixth place overall within Group E, taking the E-4 class victory in the process. CRP Racing dropped back during the second race with troubles facing their R8 LMS ultra. By the end of the four races the trio of Alex Lloyd, David Roberts and Mike Skeen finished fourteenth overall, third in class.

The weekend’s results can be seen HERE.

The victory for Rogers Motorsports was very special for the team. They had travelled to Daytona with heavy hearts and a clear mission. Long-time Champion Racing team member, Keith Bransford, recently lost his battle with bone cancer and the team was out to win for Keith at Daytona this weekend. The Audi R8 also carried a special tribute in honour of Bransford, with his name included on the R8 which went on to victory at Daytona on Sunday.

RIP Keith Bransford (1958-2014)

Photo credit: 

James Edmonds

Alex Lloyd

Alex Welch 

Doug Smith

Bobby Green

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HSR: Mixture of old and new Audi R8 entries heading to Daytona

By Johan Laubscher

A very exciting weekend of historic racing will be taking place at Daytona International Speedway this upcoming weekend. The Classic 24 at Daytona, which includes the annual HSR Daytona Historic, will see a massive entry of classic race cars, including four Audis. This event is sanctioned by the HSR (Historic Sportscar Racing, LTD).

The Classic 24 at Daytona entry list includes three Audi entries and the HSR Daytona Historics entry list has one Audi entry. The Audi race cars are a mixture of old and new.

The legendary Audi R8 race cars (2000-2006 LMP900 & LMP1) have been a regular sight in North American historic racing since 2003, and one will be taking part at Daytona. Rogers Motorsports will be entering their #38 Champion Racing liveried Audi R8, chassis #607. Doug Smith and Andy Wallace will be behind the wheel. 

The Rogers Motorsports team is heading to Daytona with heavy hearts and a clear mission. Long-time Champion Racing team member, Keith Bransford, recently lost his battle with bone cancer and the team will be out to win for Keith at Daytona this weekend. The Audi R8 will also be carrying a special tribute in honour of Bransford, with his name included on the R8.  

RIP Keith Bransford (1958-2014).

Two Audi R8 LMS ultra entries will also be taking part, both of which were seen in the Pirelli World Challenge this year. CRP Racing will be fielding their #2 Audi R8 LMS ultra which took Mike Skeen to the runner-up spot in the 2014 Pirelli World Challenge standings. Skeen will be driving the Audi R8 LMS ultra alongside Alex Lloyd. The car is entered in the E-1 class.

GMG Racing will be running the #76 Audi R8 LMS ultra of Alex Welch in the E-3 class. The car will be driven by Welch and James Sofronas. This car competed at selected events of the 2014 Pirelli World Challenge with Welch behind the wheel, whilst Sofronas was a full-season competitor in his #14 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra.

The fourth Audi entry is the ex-Champion Racing Audi S4 Competition (B5) of Mike Fisher, who is a regular entrant in HSR and SVRA historic events. His Audi S4 Competition took part in the SPEED World Challenge GT series (former name of the Pirelli World Challenge) during the early 2000s. The car currently has the 2001 Champion Racing livery, as driven by Derek Bell.

Audi entries for the Classic 24 at Daytona:

E-1 Class:

Rogers Motorsports – #38 Audi R8 (chassis #607) – Doug Smith and Andy Wallace

CRP Racing – #2 Audi R8 LMS ultra – Alex Lloyd and Mike Skeen

E-3 Class:

GMG Racing – #76 Audi R8 LMS ultra – Alex Welch and James Sofronas

The entry list can be seen HERE.

Audi entries for the HSR Daytona Historics:

Group 5 - SSA Class:

#21 Audi S4 Competition – Mike Fisher

The entry list can be seen HERE. 

Photo credit:
Bobby Green

Audi Communications - Motorsport  

James Sofronas

SascoSports

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