Audi R8 LMS Cup: Mortara takes pole as Yoong crashes in Macau qualifying

By Johan Laubscher

The finale of the Audi R8 LMS Cup is taking place on the streets of Macau this weekend. A total of twenty Audi R8 LMS cars are taking part in the event.

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Audi R8 LMS Cup: Championship down to the wire in final race of the season

Audi R8 LMS Cup Press Release

•          Alex Yoong and Adderly Fong in final contention for the title
•          "Mr Macau" Edoardo Mortara joins round 11 as a guest driver
•          Season finale will be part of the 60th anniversary of the Macau GP

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Macau GP: Provisional entry list reveals an army of Audis and Mr Macau Edoardo Mortara returns

By Johan Laubscher

The sixtieth Macau Grand Prix is set to take place in November. The annual Macau GP press conference was held today, along with the release of the provisional entry lists, which includes an army of twenty-seven Audi R8 LMS and ultra cars.

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Audi Signs Franky Cheng Congfu, Announces Season Finale at the 60th Macau Grand Prix

Audi R8 LMS Cup Press Release 

Beijing, April 5, 2013 – Audi has signed Chinese racing star Franky Cheng Congfu for the Audi R8 LMS Cup and the GT Asia series. The 28-year old joins Audi from Mercedes, with whom he made his DTM (the German Touring Car Championship) debut in 2010. 

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Video: Inside the Audi team at Macau

By Johan Laubscher

The 2012 Macau Grand Prix was the scene of Edoardo Mortara’s fourth consecutive win at Macau. He was driving an Audi R8 LMS ultra in the Macau GT cup, entered by the Audi R8 LMS Cup team. The team did very well at the event and had entered two cars, one for Mortara and the second for Jeffrey Lee.

Here is a set of four videos documenting the team’s efforts at the 2012 Macau Grand Prix.

Macau Day 1 

Macau Day 2 

Macau Qualifying

Macau Race Day

Photos by: Audi R8 LMS Cup

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Video: 2012 Macau GT Cup Full Race

By Johan Laubscher

Macau 2012 saw Edoardo Mortara re-establish himself as “Mr Macau,” by winning for the fourth time in succession. He won the Macau GT Cup event in an Audi 8 LMS ultra. He faced strong competition this year which included ex-Macau F3 winner Lucas Di Grassi in a Ferrari 458 Italia GT3. Despite the increased competition and losing the lead at the start, he was able to come through and win the race.

Here is the first full race video which has appeared on YouTube. It is over a hour of footage and is well worth the watch.

Photo by: Audi R8 LMS Cup

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Video: Onboard 2012 Macau GT pole position lap

By Johan Laubscher

Edoardo Mortara, also known as “Mr Macau,” won his fourth successive event at Macau this weekend. It was his second Macau GT Cup victory at the wheel of an Audi R8 LMS ultra. Along with race victory he also claimed pole position.

Edoardo shared his pole lap video with the Official Audi Sport Facebook page this afternoon. We have included that video below. The video features Edoardo taking pole position near the end of the second qualifying session held on Saturday. The video also includes extra insight with the addition of telemetry. Enjoy the sights and sounds, it is another faultless performance from Mr Macau.

Photo by: Audi R8 LMS Cup

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Video: Race day at Macau

By Johan Laubscher

Mr Macau passing Di Grassi who jumped the start

As race day dawned at Macau, Edoardo Mortara and the Audi team were ready for the Macau GT Cup. Starting from pole the young Italian managed to regain the lead with a stunning out-braking maneuver and stormed onto victory.

Here is the latest video featuring the team and their second Macau GT Cup victory.

Photo by: Audi R8 LMS Cup

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Audi retains Macau GT Cup crown with ‘Mr Macau’ Edoardo Mortara

Audi R8 LMS Cup Press Release 

·         Audi DTM ace Edoardo Mortara wins his fourth straight race on the Guia Circuit and defends Macau GT Cup title

·         Jeffrey Lee finishes fourth in GT Asia Series

·         Thrilling finale to strong Audi customer racing China season

Macau, November 18, 2012 – Audi DTM ace Edoardo Mortara took his fourth straight victory at the 59^th Macau Grand Prix, defending his Macau GT Cup crown with a masterful manoeuvre to stand atop the podium. Known as ‘Mr Macau’ for his successful dominance of the 6.2km Guia street circuit, Mortara competed with team Audi R8 LMS Cup in an Audi R8 LMS ultra, along with newly crowned Audi R8 LMS Cup Amateur Cup champion Jeffrey Lee. 

Mortara, the only driver to have twice won the Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix and the current lap record holder, arrived in the city as the man to beat. In the first of two qualifying sessions, Mortara found himself caught in traffic and could not do better than second in Friday’s session. A day later, however, Mortara found a completely clear lap, recording the fastest time of the two sessions with a 2:20.617.

Starting from pole position, Mortara dropped a place as the cars thundered off the grid. While Lucas di Grassi in a Ferrari 458 GT3 would later be penalized for jumping the start, at the time Mortara was solely focused on finding a way past his rival. The opportunity came on Lap 4, with Mortara getting by at the notorious Lisboa Bend to grab the lead.

Mortara held the lead as he stormed relentlessly towards the flag, even after the restart which followed a Safety Car period, ultimately winning his second straight Macau GT Cup, ahead of Alexandre Imperatori in a Porsche 911 GT3 R and Danny Watts in the McLaren MP4-12C GT3.

Meanwhile Lee continued to fly the flag for Audi in the regional GT Asia Series, for which the Macau GT Cup served as its final round. Lee put in a strong performance in the second qualifying session to find himself lining up on the fifth row of the grid. While Lee did not finish as high as he had hoped, the Chinese Taipei driver finished fourth overall in the GT Asia Series points standings, while the team finished fifth.

Commented Director of Audi Sport customer racing in China, Rene Koneberg: “We are thrilled to celebrate Edoardo’s second win with Audi in the Macau GT Cup at the Macau Grand Prix and bring the curtain down on a fantastic season of Audi customer racing China. I would also like to congratulate Jeffrey on a strong Audi season this year, first with his Amateur Cup title in the Audi R8 LMS Cup and a strong result in this year’s GT Asia Series.”

The two entries in the Macau GT Cup are part of the expanding reach of the Audi China motorsport programme. The Audi R8 LMS Cup, the region’s newest international sportscar series and the first ever by the brand the Four Rings, was launched earlier this year. Hong Kong’s Marchy Lee was crowned the 2012 champion, with Jeffrey Lee taking the Amateur Cup honours.

With an official Audi R8 LMS Cup entry in the GT Asia Series, Audi China had an ideal platform to promote the series and Audi lightweight technology to audiences across Malaysia, Japan and Macau. Audi China also offers sportscar experience and race experience programmes, as well as race licensing courses for motorsport enthusiasts.

Rounding out the Audi R8 LMS ultra trio was Hong Kong’s Philip Ma with Team Hong Kong Racing, who finished 13^th in the race.

Quotes after the Macau GT Cup:

Edoardo Mortara:

“It’s always tough. It doesn’t matter who your toughest competitor is, it’s always tough. Today, Lucas [di Grassi] was pushing really hard. He obviously had a good package, and he put me in trouble. After the start, I thought the race win would be really difficult. I had to invent a move into Lisboa to overtake him.

“To be honest, I took a lot of risks, not only in Lisboa but through Mandarin as well. His car was faster on the straights, so I had to be faster in the corners. I just went flat out in Mandarin, almost crashed, and then broke 50 or 60 metres later than him into Lisboa. So it’s not that easy, I tell you!”

Audi R8 LMS Cup Official Website at: www.audir8lmscup.com

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Video: Mr Macau Edoardo Mortara storming to victory

By Johan Laubscher

The big news of the morning was the Macau GT Cup victory for Edoadro Mortara. Despite loosing the lead at the start he was able to dominate the race and storm to his fourth successive victory at Macau, and his second with an Audi. He has previously won the F3 Macau race in 2009 and 2010 followed by winning the Macau GT Cup in 2011 and now 2012 as well.

Below is the first video from the race to emerge on YouTube, it shows the last three laps of the race after a long safety car period. Enjoy the sights and sounds.

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Video: Mortara taking pole at Macau

By Johan Laubscher

Mr Macau, Edoardo Mortara successfully took pole position for the Macau GT Cup on Saturday. Bad luck struck the Italian during the first qualifying session where he did not manage to find a clear lap in traffic and only achieved second place. However the second qualifying sessions saw him find a clear lap and he once again took pole at Macau in an Audi. Here is a short highlights video featuring both of the qualifying sessions followed by interviews with the Audi crew.

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Video: 2011 Onboard with Mr Macau Edoardo Mortara pole position

By Johan Laubscher

The Macau weekend is upon us. Three Audi R8 LMS ultra cars have been entered for the Macau GT Cup. Mr Macau, Edoardo Mortara, will return with an Audi to defend his title. He will be driving the #1 Audi R8 LMS Cup entry. He absolutely dominated the event last year on his way to topping all of the sessions and race victory. Here is an onboard video of his 2011 pole position lap when he blitzed the entire field by over three seconds! Sit back and enjoy, this is a good one.  

Photo by Absolute Racing

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History of Audi at Macau

By Johan Laubscher

Macau 2011

The streets of Macau are famous for hosting the prestigious Grand Prix of Macau. The Audi R8 LMS ultra will debut at Macau this year looking to defend the GT Cup title. Edoardo Mortara was victorious at the 2011 Macau GT Cup in his #66 Audi R8 LMS from Absolute Racing. The victory marked the third event victory at Macau for an Audi. Various Audis have entered events at Macau in the last two decades. We have included a brief history of the four rings at Macau below.

Macau 1993

The famous Macau Guia Race (touring car event) was the scene for the first four Audi appearances. The first Audi to take to the streets at Macau was an Audi V8 DTM entered by a Belgian team in 1993, driven by Bernard Winderickx. 

Macau 1996

Following the debut in 1993 there were entries of Audi A4 STW teams at Macau in 1996, 1998 and 1999. 1996 saw Frank Biela take the overall victory ahead of Brad Jones from Australia for an Audi 1-2 overall finish. 

Macau 1998

After missing the 1997 event, Audis returned to the streets in 1998 with the Australian Audi team consisting of Brad Jones and Frank Biela. Jones achieved a third place overall finish. 

Macau 1999

The 1999 Macau Guia race had the most Audis ever entered. A total of four Audis were entered by Phoenix Racing and Mayer Motorsport. It was a dominant display as Michael Bartels stormed to the second Audi victory at Macau.

Macau 2010

After the 1999 victory the Audi brand would not be seen at Macau for over a decade. The drought finally came to an end with the introduction of the Audi R8 LMS in 2009. At the end of 2010 the FIA GT3 specification racer from Audi made its Macau debut with United Autosports and Absolute Racing. The cars were competing in the Macau GT Cup. It was a successful debut with two podium places.

Macau 2011

In 2011 the victory was the clear goal, and Mr Macau, Edoardo Mortara, did not disappoint. Absolute Racing and Mortara were untouchable on their way to victory. Along with the victorious #66 Audi R8 LMS two more Audi entries came from United Autosports and Hitotsuyama Racing.

Macau 2012

The entry list for the 2012 Macau GT Cup includes the GT Asia competitors. There will be three Audis on the grid. Two Audi R8 LMS ultra cars from the Audi R8 LMS Cup team have been entered, which includes Edoardo Mortara. The third Audi R8 LMS ultra is the Team Hong Kong Racing entry of Phillip Ma. The 59th running of the Macau Grand Prix is set for 18 November 2012.

Below are videos from all the above mentioned Macau events where Audis have been entered. 

 1993 1996 1998 1999 20102011

Images: Audi R8 LMS images from the Absolute Racing FB page (LINK), touring car images are screenshots from the included videos. 

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Audi set to defend Macau GT Cup crown

Audi R8 LMS Cup Press Release

·         Audi DTM ace Edoardo Mortara looks to defend Macau GT Cup title with Audi customer racing China

·         Audi R8 LMS Cup Amateur Cup champion Jeffrey Lee competes as part of GT Asia Series season finale

·         Thrilling finale at Macau Grand Prix caps superb Audi customer racing China season

Macau, November 14, 2012 – Having dominated the Macau GT Cup last year, Audi DTM ace Edoardo Mortara is set to defend his crown at this week’s 59th Macau Grand Prix. Known as “Mr. Macau”, Mortara will race for team Audi R8 LMS Cup. The team will also field newly-crowned Audi R8 LMS Cup Amateur Cup champion Jeffrey Lee in the prestigious race on the 6.2km Guia street circuit.  Both drivers will be at the wheel of an Audi R8 LMS ultra.

Mortara is the only man ever to have won two Formula 3 Macau Grands Prix and the current lap record holder. The Italian arrives in Macau from his Formula 1 test in Abu Dhabi, and two victories in Shanghai in the season finale of the Audi R8 LMS Cup at the weekend. Mortara finished fifth overall in this year’s DTM series, the German Touring Car Championship.

Lee, meanwhile, comes to Macau having clinched the Amateur Cup title in this year’s inaugural Audi R8 LMS Cup at the weekend.  The Macau GT Cup also counts as the final round of the GT Asia Series, and Lee will be looking to climb the leaderboard, where he currently lies third, before the final chequered flag of the season.

The two entries in the Macau GT Cup are part of the expanding reach of the Audi China motorsport programme. This year saw the debut of the first-ever Audi one-makes championship – the Audi R8 LMS Cup. Competing in identical Audi R8 LMS Cup cars, the field of 16 battled it out over 12 rounds. Marchy Lee of Hong Kong made history last weekend when he was crowned the world’s first Audi R8 LMS Cup champion.

In the GT Asia Series, the official Audi R8 LMS Cup entry showcases Audi ultra lightweight technology and the Audi customer racing programme to audiences in Malaysia, across Japan and now Macau. Audi China offers sportscar experience and race experience programmes as well as racing licence courses to motorsport enthusiast in Asia.

Commented Director of Audi Sport customer racing China, Rene Koneberg: “Following the successful season finale of the debut Audi R8 LMS Cup last weekend, we are delighted to close the year by competing this weekend at the 59th Macau Grand Prix. We look forward to defending our Macau GT Cup title with Edoardo Mortara, and to putting in a strong performance with our new Audi R8 LMS Cup Amateur Cup champion Jeffrey Lee.”

A third Audi R8 LMS ultra driven by Hong Kong’s Philip Ma with Team Hong Kong Racing completes the three-strong Audi line-up.

Practice for the Macau GT Cup at this year’s 59^th Macau Grand Prix is set for Thursday, with qualifying sessions on both Friday and Saturday.  The Macau GT Cup will take place on Sunday.

Audi R8 LMS Cup Official Website at: www.audir8lmscup.com

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