Interview: Christopher Haase "The Audi Sport TT Cup is closely fought series with young talented drivers"

By Tarek Ramchani

Christopher Haase is having a great season in the North American based TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. The Audi works driver is leading the demanding GT Daytona class with team-mate Dion von Moltke driving an Audi R8 LMS from Paul Miller Racing.

We recently had a chat with Christopher Haase about the newly formed Audi Sport TT Cup and how great is the new single-make series for the drivers.

Read also: Interview with Christopher Haase - GT Daytona points leader in TUSC

"In my opinion it was a great idea to form this series which is part of the DTM race weekend programme. As a young driver these days, there are so many options in motorsport, actually like never before."

"Most of the time a sponsor's budget decides which series to contest but the bigger question should always be which series is the best for you as a driver!? In which one can a driver perform well, in equal machinery, and where can you best get noticed if you have good results?"

"A young driver has to 'grow' and needs support. In the new Audi Sport TT Cup you get all of these possibilities. It is the same for everyone. That's why a Cup is always a good choice, if the Cup is correctly supported and managed like the Audi Sport TT Cup."

"By racing in the Audi Sport TT Cup and claiming good results, is definitely a good base to Audi Sport itself or DTM and GT Racing. Of course to become a factory driver you always need luck, needing to be in the right place at the right time, but you never know. That's why you have to try it."

"All of the Audi Sport TT Cup drivers have the possibility to talk with my GT colleague Markus Winkelhock. He is the coach of the Audi Sport TT Cup. He is already very experienced in different cars, classes, and last but not least, Formula One. So he can pass on the right tips for young drivers to learn and to improve." 

"Sometimes as a young driver you just need one guy which can explain you some little racing secrets perfectly and suddenly the day after you have improved because of these comments. Thats another big advantage in the Audi Sport TT Cup."

"I haven´t driven the car yet but I have to say it would be interesting. :-) Markus has told me it's fun to drive the 310 hp car (plus 30hp push-to-pass). It's a very professional, closely fought series with young talented drivers. If you see the Audi racing, the TT looks great on the race track so overall I'm a fan of the Audi Sport TT Cup."

Photo credit: Audi Media

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Q/A: Interview with Christopher Haase - GT Daytona points leader in TUSC

By Tarek Ramchani

Christopher Haase is having a very successful 2015 season so far. The talented German Audi factory driver is leading the GT Daytona (GTD) class in the demanding TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. He is also competing in selected European races in Blancpain Endurance Series and French GT Tour.

We recently had a chat with Christopher Haase about his North American campaign with Paul Miller Racing and more.

You just clinched a great GTD podium with Paul Miller Racing at the 6 Hours of the Glen, tell us more about your race weekend.

All I can say is "what a race"! :-) We had the worst weather conditions which you can have. 'Slick' tyres on a damp track for the race start.

During the race, 'slicks' with it drizzling. In the closing stages, rain - no sorry, make that heavy rain! I was on rain tyres but the car would aquaplane under heavy acceleration even in a straight line. The conditions were very, very difficult. :-) For a couple of minutes, there was also a Red Flag stoppage because we couldn´t follow the Safety Car as it was impossible to see the rain lights of the cars in front. So it was a good choice to put out the Red Flag for safety reasons. After some minutes the weather improved a little and we went back to racing. But many cars went off the track causing more Safety Car periods. Indeed the last lap of the race was completed behind the Safety Car and I was very thankful for that. :-)

We always put the focus on ourselves and this was the key during the race to finish on the podium. And of course thanks to Paul Miller Racing for a great job in truly difficult conditions.

You are sharing the #48 Audi R8 LMS with Dion von Moltke, how is the work split between the two of you during race weekends?

There is nothing special. We have the same feeling of the car, so we always set-up the Audi in the same direction. We share all of our information which brings us closer as a team. He is a great team-mate and we also have fun together out of the car. ;-)

How strong is the competition in GT Daytona within the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship?

It is strong. Very strong. There are good drivers and teams in the series. They all know how they have to work in the Tudor. If you look to the championship points than you can get a feeling how strong it is. Each race is a new, big challenge.

How different is the new Audi R8 LMS (GT3) compared to the all conquering Audi R8 LMS ultra?

It is a big difference but a very positive one. :-) The new car is much easier to drive - I love it :-) . There is a better range to set-up the car for different driving styles and great interior cooling. But the drivability was the main focus to improve. The up and down shifting is much better, the traction control is supersensitive, and now we have the important buttons on the steering wheel. For the long distance races, when there are multiple drivers sharing a car, there is now the possibility to change the pedalbox to get the best possible seat position for each driver. And of course the new R8 LMS just looks amazing. :-)

This year you will not compete in the Spa 24 Hours (clash with Lime Rock TUSC race), what are Audi chances in the event with the new car?

Unfortunately that's true. In future the Tudor series and the 24h of Spa race should find a schedule that doesn't clash. We already showed at the 24hNürburgring that our new Audi is capable of winning a 24h race. But remember it is still a brand new car, so we shouldn´t think too much about winning. The car has great performance and without any issues, I'm sure they will fight for the victory. I will cross my fingers for them. :-)

Blancpain Endurance Series vs TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, which series is more demanding?

The two championships are difficult to compare. In BES there are around 65 GT3 cars. To race in such a big field is great but also physical. There is never a 'free' lap. And to overtake a [GT3] car with your own [GT3] car is not easy. Each car/brands have different advantages and disadvantages around a track, so a driver must figure out the optimum place to overtake and of course this changes on each race track.

Whereby in the Tudor series, there are GTD, GTLM, PC, LMP2, DP cars. In your own class, you have the same issues like in BES with different cars/brands. But these cars don´t have ABS or TC plus less downforce, making them more difficult to drive than a GT3-specification car. There are less cars in he GTD class but on the other hand, there are the faster GTLM, LMP2 and DP cars on track - none of which want to loose any time behind a slower class car. Often in a race there is the scenario of fighting with a car in my class but then suddenly faster class cars, themselves fighting for position, are in my mirrors. To find the right balance on track is very difficult. Sometimes you are just in the wrong place [corner] at the wrong time which can effect your race either in a negative or positive way.

So both championships have a different style of racing - one is not more demanding than the other. But if you want to win, it will be never easy!

Photo credit: Paul Miller Racing / Audi Media / Blancpain GT Series

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TUSC: Christopher Haase with a top-five finish in Rolex 24 at Daytona

Christopher Haase Press Release

In its 53rd edition, the 24 hour classic at Daytona delivered the usual excitement – and it proved to be more challenging than ever. Changing track conditions and levels of surface grip, dense traffic, and enormously high speeds tested the driver’s abilities, and hardly any of the teams had a race that was even remotely free of trouble. The quartet of drivers for Paul Miller Racing also struggled to get its #48 Audi R8 LMS to the finish. They ultimately came through and secured 5th place in the GTD class, and the team can be happy with important points for the USCC season standings.

The weekend started out very well for the drivers Bryce Miller, Dion von Moltke, René Rast, and Christopher Haase, with no problems in free practice. An excellent setup for the car had already been found at the “Roar”, the official pre-race test at Daytona. In qualifying, Haase drove the Audi to position 11 on the grid and thus established a good starting point for the race that would run over 24 long hours. Still, Haase was not entirely happy with his qualifying run: “I believe we ran a bit too much wing which cost us some top speed on the long straights. And going through the infield section, the additional downforce did not gain us enough time to make up for it.”

The race itself was off to a difficult start for the team. Rain during the night before meant that grip levels on the track had changed which affected the Audi R8 LMS’ performance. But as darkness descended on the Daytona International Speedway, the car’s initial grip returned, and things were looking up. Place by place, the four drivers moved up the order; a few hours into the contest, the team was in the lead of its class, battling with its competitors. Just as for so many other teams, however, trouble soon set in for the #48 crew. Haase: “Over time, our rear suspension got worse, the car was precarious to drive. That led to an off-track excursion which meant repair work that unfortunately brought us a few laps’ deficit on the class leaders, and the damage to the car then also led to the front bodywork coming unfastened during my stint – that meant we had to stop again. Thankfully, the guys at Paul Miller Racing made sensationally quick work of it and we were able to contain the loss of time.”

Photo credit: Paul Miller Racing / Bob Chapman

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TUSC: From Mosport to a motorsport legend: Christopher Haase and TUSC travel to Indianapolis

Christopher Haase Press Release

Two 8th place finishes in a row – nevertheless Audi driver Christopher Haase was happy after the races at Watkins Glen and Mosport. At the former Formula 1 track in upstate New York, he and his team mate Bryce Miller were able to fight themselves back into a point scoring position following a tactical error that saw the car coast to a halt, out of fuel. And in Canada's Mosport, also a track with a rich racing tradition, the duo again collected points towards the overall championship, despite a very difficult situation at the outset of the race.

„In qualifying, we missed the top spot by two tenths“, Haase recalls a particularly challenging weekend with the Audi R8 LMS of Paul Miller Racing, „the race itself was very fast, not just because of the track itself which with its many elevation changes and an amazingly high average speed certainly qualifies as the „little Nordschleife“. There were also no yellow flag periods, and all competitors showed a very equal performance. The only way you can make a pass the hard way, and we avoided anything like this. So in the end we scored another 8th place, and again collected important points. This puts Bryce and myself up into 5th place in the drivers' standings; and we are not missing much on the championship leaders now, as almost all direct competitors finished behind us. Now we will work hard to improve our performance in qualifying, because we certainly want to bring home better race results!“ Christopher Haase and his team mate Bryce Miller are already thinking ahead, to the next race in two weeks' time at the legendary the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, for the „Brickyard Grand Prix 2014“.

USCC GTD category – drivers' championship standings:
1. Townsend Bell/ Bill Sweedler (Ferrari 458 Italia) 164 points
2. Andy Lally/John Potter (Porsche 911 GT America) 161
3. Leh Keen/Cooper MacNeil (Porsche 911 GT America) 157
4. Dane Cameron/Markus Palttala (BMW Z4) 155
5. Christopher Haase/Bryce Miller (Audi R8 LMS) 150
6. Mario Farnbacher/Ian James (Porsche 911 GT America) 149
7. Seth Neiman/Dion von Moltke (Audi R8 LMS) 145
8. Jan Heylen/Madison Snow (Porsche 911 GT America) 143
9. Nelson Canache Jr./Spencer Pumpelly (Audi R8 LMS) 141
10. Jeff Westphal 140 (Ferrari 458 Italia)

Follow Christopher Haase on Facebook www.facebook.com/haase.christopher and Twitter https://twitter.com/ChHaase!

Photo credit: Paul Miller Racing / Bob Chapman

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TUSC: More points for Christopher Haase at Watkins Glen

Christopher Haase Press Release

Audi driver Christopher Haase did not spend much time celebrating his major success, the overall victory in the 24 hour race at the Nürburgring: the man from Bavaria travelled straight to the USA for the next round of the United Sports Car Championship (USCC), again with Paul Miller Racing. And again he was able to make the acquaintance of a legendary racetrack: “It is a special experience to get to know a track such as Watkins Glen. Add to this the fact that almost all road courses in the USA are natural circuits, with elevation changes and fast, flowing combinations of corners. They are a dream come true, even though – or because – you need major commitment to be fast here.”

Qualifying on the 5.472 kilometer track brought no problems for Haase and his team mate Bryce Miller, and the set-up of their Audi R8 LMS seemed to be good right away. In the race, which ran over a duration of six hours, initially all went well for Miller and Haase: “The start went smoothly, we were able to make up several spots right away. Then it was a perfect team performance by Bryce and myself which saw us in 4th position in the GTD class after about two hours”, says Haase, who then unfortunately ran out of luck. “I was on the last lap of my stint when the Safety Car came out. We wanted to take advantage of this situation, and make up some more time. Had it worked out, we would have been on course for the class win. But then I ran out of fuel, just a few hundred meters before the pit entrance.” This mishap cost them four laps which ultimately denied them not only their chance at winning in class but also the podium finish they had believed was secure.

8th place was damage limitation for Haase and Miller. “After the unfortunate incident, we were determined to get some points, and with 8th position we did just that”, says Christopher Haase who only gets to spend a little over a week at home in Germany before he returns to North America. “We have come to the half-way point of the year already, and I would like to thank Paul Miller Racing for the terrific first half of the season. Racing in the USA is fun! We’ll try to get on the podium a few more times in the second part of the year. Maybe we’ll get there already at Mosport, on the next legendary track!”

Follow Christopher Haase on Facebook www.facebook.com/haase.christopher and Twitter https://twitter.com/ChHaase!

Photo credit: Paul Miller Racing / Bob Champan

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Nürburgring 24 Hours: Christopher Haase triumphant in the 24 hour race at the Nürburgring!‏

Christopher Haase Press Release

Audi driver Christopher Haase repeated the greatest victory of his career this Sunday: Sharing an Audi R8 LMS ultra for Phoenix Racing with his team mates Markus Winkelhock, René Rast, and Christian Mamerow, he triumphed in the world's biggest and toughest 24 hour race in „Green Hell“, on the Nordschleife of the Nürburgring.

The quartet had to prevail against very tough competition, both from within the marque and from the competition – and once again the race in the Eifel was a pure sprint with tough competition from start to finish. The key to success was not to aim for uncompromising speed, but drive smart when it mattered.

The experienced Phoenix Racing crew followed through with this strategy right from the first practice and qualifying sessions. Christopher Haase: „We came here extremely well prepared and only had to make minor changes and adjustments in practice. We had some rain during night practice sessions so to save our material, we didn't even drive.“ Qualifying brought the first highlight for the number 4 team: „Christian Mamerow put the car on P3 with a time of 8:14 minutes which is superb. It was a terrific lap that could not have been better. When you are in among the top ten positions on the starting grid of a 24 hour race, you have played it right“, says Christopher Haase.

Phoenix Racing and its four drivers kept on doing everything right in the race. Just as his colleagues, Christopher Haase made no mistakes and ultimately celebrated another overall victory in the world's toughest endurance race, his second after the win in 2012. „I am very proud of the whole team and my great team mates. I would like to say a special thank-you to Audi and Phoenix Racing who let me be part of this crew. This success is an absolute highlight for me!“

But there’s not much time for celebrations: Christopher Haase is already on his way to Watkins Glen International racetrack, where he will be racing the “Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen” in the Audi R8 LMS of Paul Miller Racing the upcoming weekend!

Follow Christopher Haase on Facebook www.facebook.com/haase.christopher and Twitter https://twitter.com/ChHaase!

Photo credit: Audi Media

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Nürburgring 24 Hours: Phoenix triumph in Nürburgring 24 Hours

Phoenix Racing Press Release

Haase/Mamerow/Rast/Winkelhock win in Audi R8

Christopher Haase, Christian Mamerow, René Rast and Markus Winkelhock in the Audi R8 LMS ultra of Phoenix Racing won the 42nd ADAC 24-hour race at the Nürburgring in front of more than 200,000 spectators. For Ernst Moser’s team, this marked the fourth triumph in the ‘Eifel marathon’ after 2000, 2003 and 2012. Two years ago Haase and Winkelhock, together with Marc Basseng and Frank Stippler, had produced the first Audi triumph in the 24-hour race on the legendary Nordschleife. And following the Le Mans 24 Hours Audi celebrated the second 24-hour success within just a week.

“I’m overjoyed,” beamed Phoenix Team Director Ernst Moser. “Not only the number of victories is decisive but proving that you’re in contention again and again, that’s what’s so special about it. We were optimally prepared and my guys, every single member of the team, just like the drivers, did an impeccable job. This is the victory of my squad.”

After 24 hours the #4 Phoenix Audi took the chequered flag with an advantage of 2m 59s over the Mercedes that was victorious last year. Third place, with a two-lap gap, went to Mercedes as well. The 159 laps completed have set a new distance record for the 24-hour race. For the first time, over 4,000 kilometres (4,035.102 km) were covered.

“In the Audi R8 LMS ultra we’ve got a very powerful car and we showed that we were able to counter even when the pressure increased now and then. From Saturday night on, we were leading the race most of the time but only an hour and a half before the end it was clear that we’d be able to expect victory. The minutes before the chequered flag was waved then proved particularly long and nerve-wracking,” admitted Ernst Moser.

The victorious quartet of Christopher Haase, Christian Mamerow, René Rast and Markus Winkelhock together with Ernst Moser enjoyed the winners’ champagne to the fullest. “It was simply brilliant that here at the Nürburgring, just like a week before at Le Mans, I was able to drive both the start and the final stint. That was a great honour for me and a tremendous experience,” said an enthusiastic René Rast. “I’d like to thank the Phoenix team that did a brilliant job as well as my fellow drivers. Nobody made any mistakes. That was the key to success and that’s also why we deserved winning.”

For Markus Winkelhock, after 2012, this marked the second triumph in the Nürburgring 24 Hours: “This victory is worth just as much as the first one and it feels exactly the same way too. Winning this race is a very special thing because you only get the chance to do that once a year. The competitiveness of the field was huge and it was a tough race. Everybody did a mega job.

For Christopher Haase, this was the second triumph after 2012 as well: “This is a brilliant day for me, for all of us. Standing on the very top of the podium twice is only possible with a perfect team. I take my hat off to everyone who has contributed to this victory. Plus, in the Audi R8 LMS ultra we had a perfect base.” Christian Mamerow was overjoyed too: “This victory makes me totally proud. It’s not a matter of fortune but of quality when a team like Phoenix wins this race several times. Phoenix was perfectly prepared and everything fit.”

In the top-30 qualifying session on Friday afternoon Christian Mamerow in the #4 Audi had clinched position three on the grid. After the start the #4 R8 initially dropped to fourth place but quickly made up ground to second place and fought impressive duels with the enormously strong competition in the process. A total of 165 GT sports cars and touring cars had started the endurance race through the ‘Green Hell’ at 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, including more than two dozen candidates for victory.

How quickly hope can turn into disappointment was a bitter experience which Phoenix Racing, based in nearby Meuspath, had in the race as well. The second Audi R8 LMS ultra, driven by Marc Basseng, the three-time Le Mans winner Marcel Fässler, Frank Stippler and Laurens Vanthoor, retired after less than an hour and a half when start driver Basseng on a bump in the ‘Tiergarten’ track section lost control of the Audi and crashed into the guard rails. While Basseng, who like Stippler was part of the winning squad two years ago, was not injured in the incident a repair of the #3 Audi was out of the question.

The race turned into a true thriller in the early morning hours when the gap between the #4 R8 that was leading most of the time and its immediate rivals from Mercedes and BMW shrunk to less than a second. The GT3 sports cars chased each other bumper to bumper across the 25- kilometre Nordschleife, to the great delight of the fans. The Phoenix Audi prevailed in this remarkable three-way battle.

“Now we’re tired but happy and then we’re going to concentrate on the Norisring next weekend,” said Ernst Moser, who competes in the DTM with his Audi Sport Team Phoenix as the title defenders in the teams’ and drivers’ classification (with Mike Rockenfeller). “My thanks go to all who supported us in this 24-hour race, particularly to Audi Sport and Audi Sport customer racing, to Michelin and to our partner TÜV Rheinland.“

Photo credit: Audi Media

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TUSC: More joy for Christopher Haase - A podium result in Detroit with the Audi R8 LMS

Christopher Haase Press Release

The Raceway at Belle Isle Park in Detroit was last weekend’s venue for Christpher Haase‘s next motor racing

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Q&A: Interview with Christopher Haase - Audi GT factory driver

By Tarek Ramchani

Christopher Haase had a busy and very strong 2013 season, racing for different Audi Sport customer racing teams in different series and endurance events in Europe.

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