Spa 24 Hours: Sainteloc Racing with two Audis and high hopes

By Tarek Ramchani

The Audi brand will be very well represented at the Spa 24 Hours. One of the many Audi Sport customer racing teams taking part in the Belgian classic is Sainteloc Racing.

The French squad has been loyal to Audi and the R8 LMS since the year 2010. Sainteloc Racing will enter the stellar event of the Blancpain Endurance Series with a pair of Audi R8 LMS ultras in two different classes.

The first car will compete in the upper Pro-Cup class. The #35 Audi R8 LMS ultra will feature a very strong driver line-up. Long time team's regular Grégory Guilvert will be joined by two Audi works driver, Edward Sandström and Marc Basseng. The three drivers are aiming high for the 24-hour race and will battle for the top spots against world class competitors including the other Pro-Cup Audi entries.

Sainteloc Racing second Audi entry will compete in the Am-Cup (former Gentlemen Troph). Only two drivers have been confirmed so far, Michael Blanchemain and Gilles Lallement, both from France. Their-mates will be annouced very soon. The #36 Audi R8 LMS ultra will fight for the class victory against 10 GT3 race cars from BMW, Ferrari and Porsche as well the Audi R8 LMS ultra from Team Parker Racing.

Sainteloc Racing Audis at the Spa 24 Hours:

#35 Audi R8 LMS ultra - Grégory Guilvert / Edward Sandström / Marc Basseng (Pro-Cup)
#36 Audi R8 LMS ultra - Michael Blanchemain / Gilles Lallement / TBA (Am-Cup)

Photo credit: Blancpain GT Series

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GT Tour: Saintéloc Racing announces 2015 driver line-up for its Audi R8 LMS ultra entry

By Johan Laubscher

Saintéloc Racing has announced both its participation and driver line-up with an Audi R8 LMS ultra entry in the 2015 French GT Tour.

The Saintéloc Audi R8 LMS ultra will be driven by the young trio of Romain Monti, Valentin Simonet and Pierre Sancinena.

The French Audi Sport customer racing team will be starting its sixth year with Audi GT3 machinery, following its debut with Audi R8 LMS cars during 2010.

A number of GT Tour teams, including Saintéloc Racing, were out testing at Lédenon last week.

The season opener of the GT Tour will be taking place at Lédenon from 18-19 April.

Photo credit: MOVE RIGHT

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GT Tour: Saintéloc Racing testing Audi R8 LMS ultra at Lédenon

By Johan Laubscher

Saintéloc Racing tested a white Audi R8 LMS ultra at Lédenon on Thursday 19 March. The French Audi Sport customer racing team is busy preparing for the 2015 GT Tour, with details about the season's plans expected to be revealed soon.

A number of GT Tour teams were also testing at Lédenon, including another team running Audi R8 LMS ultra cars this year, Sébastien Loeb Racing.

Lédenon will be hosting the season opener from 18-19 April.

Photo credit:
Pierre Sancinéna
Valentin Simonet

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GT Tour: Podium for Saintéloc Racing and title missed for Sébastien Loeb Racing

By Johan Laubscher

The French GT Tour hosted its season finale at Paul Ricard this weekend. A total of seventh Audi R8 LMS and ultra cars were fielded by four different teams.

Sébastien Loeb Racing came into the finale weekend aiming to clinch the drivers’ and teams’ titles. Their drivers of the #51 Audi R8 LMS ultra, Henry Hassid and Mike Parisy, arrived as the points leaders in the drivers’ standings, leading by seven points. The team itself was lying second in the teams’ standings, six points behind Sofrev ASP. They entered their #50 and #51 R8 LMS ultra cars this weekend.

Saintéloc Racing entered three cars along with a single entry from Team Speed Car. A new Audi team was also on the gird this weekend. Team Tech Auto by Exclusiv'Cars fielded the ex-Alfab Racing Audi R8 LMS from Sweden.

Qualifying for the first race saw the #51 Sébastien Loeb Racing R8 LMS ultra taking third spot and Saintéloc Racing #42 was tenth. The second qualifying session concluded with pole position for the #50 Sébastien Loeb Racing R8 LMS ultra, the only Audi within the top ten. Their teammates suffered a clutch problem in the #51 R8 LMS ultra and qualified last on the grid.

The first race was held on Saturday. The #42 Saintéloc Racing R8 LMS ultra of David Halliday and Gregory Guilvert finished as the highest placed Audi in fifth. Sébastien Loeb Racing’s two Audis finished in positions seven and eight, with the #51 leading home #50. Henry Hassid and Mike Parisy retained the points lead, but their lead had been reduced to six points. Team Speed Car finished twelfth, ahead of Saintéloc Racing #43 in thirteenth.

Race two on Sunday saw the points leaders Henry Hassid and Mike Parisy starting from last position. With a spirited drive the duo were able to move up to seventh, which would have been enough to clinch the drivers' title, but they were given a time penalty for contact earlier in the race and they dropped to tenth. As a result Henry Hassid and Mike Parisy finished runner-up in the drivers' standings, loosing the title to Raymond Narac and Nicolas Armindo in the IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Saintéloc Racing again finished as the highest placed Audi team during race two, with the #42 Saintéloc Racing R8 LMS ultra of David Halliday and Gregory Guilvert finishing on the podium in third. Team Speed Car finished eighth.

Photo credit: GT Tour

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Spa 24 Hours: Sainteloc Racing performed well in the Belgian classic with Audi

By Tarek Ramchani

Sainteloc Racing was one of the four Audi Sport customer racing teams at the Total 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. The French team entered two Audi R8 LMS ultra cars showing an impressive pace.

The two cars competed in two different classes, one in the upper Pro-Cup and the second in the Gentlemen Trophy.

The #26 Audi R8 LMS ultra, the car which entered the Pro-Cup class was very impressive. The FIFA backed Audi driven by Stéphane Ortelli, Edward Sandstrom and Gregolry Guilvert who had great Blancpain Endurance Series races in the first three rounds at Monza, Silverstone and Paul Ricard.

At Spa-Francorchamps the three drivers were among the strongest and fastest line-ups in a very demanding Pro-Cup field. They narrowly missed the podium and ended in a very strong fourth place overall right behind another Audi, the #3 R8 LMS ultra from Belgian Audi Club Team WRT.

With their strong Spa performances, Stéphane Ortelli, Edward Sandstrom and Gregolry Guilvert moved to second place in the Blancpain Endurance Series Pro-Cup drivers' standing with 67 points. At the Nurburgring for the season finale the three drivers will challenge the series leader and Audi driver Laurens Vanthoor (Belgian Audi Club Team WRT) for Pro-Cup drivers' championship title.

Unfortunately the second car from Sainteloc Racing was forced to retire. The #25 Audi R8 LMS ultra which entered the Gentlemen Trophy class was fast but had a severe crash ending its race. The car was driven by Jean-Paul Buffin, Claude-Yves Gosselin, Philippe Haezebrouck and Marc Rostan.

Photo credit: Blancpain GT Series

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Spa 24 Hours: Audi wins the Spa 24 Hours 2014

By Tarek Ramchani

Audi did it again at Spa-Francorchamps. The Ingolstadt brand just won the prestigious Total 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps overall with the all conquering Audi R8 LMS ultra. A total of four cars made into the Top 5 overall.

The winning #1 Audi R8 LMS ultra run by the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT was simply the best car in this demanding all GT3 field. Laurens Vanthoor, René Rast and Markus Winkelhock who started from pole position Saturday afternoon crossed the finish line victorious covering 527 laps. René Rast made the decisive move with 15 minutes left passing the leading BMW.

The three drivers pushed very hard all race long and deserved this victory after a very hard 24-hour race. Laurens Vanthoor, René Rast and Markus Winkelhock gave also Audi a first victory this season in the Blancpain Endurance Series.

René Rast won his second Spa 24 Hours victory after the victory in 2012 with Phoenix Racing. for both Laurens Vanthoor and Markus Winkelhock this is a first win in the Belgian Ardennes.

Second place went to the #77 BMW Z4 GT3 from BMW Sports Trophy Team VDS driven by Dirk Werner, Lucas Lhur and Markus Paltalla. The podium was completed by the #3 Audi R8 LMS ultra from Belgian Audi Club Team WRT in the hands of Christopher Mies, Frank Stippler and James Nash who performed very well all race long.

A great race for the French Sainteloc Racing team. Their #26 Audi R8 LMS ultra of Stéphane Ortelli, Edward Sandstrom and Gregory Guilvert ended in a very strong fourth place.

Bad luck hit the three-time Le Mans 24 Hours winners. André Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler finished twelfth overall after loosing many laps in their garage.

Credits to the British Parker Racing Team who finished the Spa 24 Hours in a fine second place within the Gentlemen Trophy class. Their #22 Audi R8 LMS ultra was driven by Ian Loggie, Leonid Machitski, Carl Rosenblad and Julian Westwood.

This marks the third major endurance victory for Audi this year after the wins at Le Mans 24 Hours with Audi Sport Team Joest (Audi R18 e-tron quattro) and the Nurburgring 24 Hours with Phoenix Racing (Audi R8 LMS ultra). Audi repeated an achievement already done in 2012 when the brand won all three major European endurance races.

For the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT today's victory at Spa-Francorchamps is their second in the Belgian endurance classic after their first win back in 2011.

At first the Audi victory looks really easy, but fact is the field was great and the race was very hard for all competitors. A lot of Saftey Car periods and even a long red flag after a horrific crash involving two Ferrari 458 GT3s highlighted this 2014 edition.

Now all focus will be on the Blancpain Endurance Series season finale at the Nurburgring. Audi teams and drivers will fight for the championship titles in the special 1000km race. Laurens Vanthoor is the new Pro-Cup leader with 74 points followed by the three Sainteloc Racing Audi drivers Stéphane Ortelli, Edward Sandstrom and Gregory Guilvert in second with 67 points.

Photo credit: Audi Media

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GT Tour: Victory for Sainteloc Racing Audi in Val de Vienne race 2

By Tarek Ramchani

The second French GT Tour race at Val de Vienne gave the Audi Sport customer racing squad great satisfaction..

Sainteloc Racing took a sensational victory after a thrilling 1-hour sprint race. The winning #42 Audi R8 LMS ultra was shared by David Hallyday and Gregory Guilvert. They took the win the last lap ahead of the second placed #1 Ferrari 458 GT3 from Team Sofrev ASP. David Hallyday and Gregory Guilvert are now the new leaders in the drivers's standing with 110 points each.

Another Audi performing well was the #51 R8 LMS ultra from Sébastien Loeb Racing taking a strong fourth place with drivers Henry Hassid and Mike Parisy. Sébastien Loeb Racing is now leading the team's standing with 122 points.

The #44 entry from Sainteloc Racing finished in eleventh place with Gilles Lallement and Jean-Paul Buffin, they were third within the Coupe de France class open to gentlemen drivers.

Unfortunately two Audi R8 LMS ultra cars did not finish the race, the #50 car from Sébastien Loeb Racing and the #36 car from Team Speed.

Race 2 results can be seen here.

The French GT Tour will have its annual summer break and will resume at Magny-Cours, September 6th and 7th.

Photo credit: GT Tour

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Blancpain Endurance Series: Top 10 finish for Audi teams in the Paul Ricard night race

By Tarek Ramchani

After an unlucky qualifying session the Audi teams faced a mixed race in the Paul Ricard night race, round 3 of the Blancpain Endurance Series.

After three hours of racing two Audi R8 LMS ultra cars made it into the Top 10 overall. Before the start of the race the Audi teams we aware it will be hard to fight for race win even with strong teams and drivers line-ups. The Audi R8 LMS ultra suffered an obvious lack of top speed compared to their rivals in the very long straights of the French circuit. The Pro-Cup Audis were in a mission, battle for top spots and collect big points.

The #26 Audi from Sainteloc Racing finished the race in a solid fifth place. The car shared by Stéphane Ortelli, Edward Sandstrom and Gregory Gulivert had a solid race and battled very well in a great quality field.

The #3 R8 LMS ultra from the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT charged back and was able to improve from P14 to a seventh place and sixth within the Pro-Cup class. The car was driven by Christopher Mies, James Nash and Frank Stippler.

Their team-mates Laurens Vanthoor, Cesar Ramos and Marc Basseng ended in thirteenth place with their #1 Audi R8 LMS ultra from Belgian Audi Club.

The #55 Audi from the Chinese Brothers Racing Team finished the race in sixteenth place with drivers Zheng Sun, Congfu Cheng and Andre Coutow.

The remaining four Audi R8 LMS ultra entries competed in the Gentlemen Trophy class. The #4 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT was twenty-seventh, the #25 Sainteloc Racing was thirtieth, the #22 Team Parker Racing was thirty-fourth and the #2 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT was thirty-ninth.

The overall race win went the factory #7 Bentley Continental GT3 from M-Sport Team Bentley. Second place went to the #98 McLaren MP4-12C from ART Grand Prix. Third place for the #85 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 from HTP Motorsport.

The Paul Ricard round was the last race in Blancpain Endurance Series before the stellar event of the series, the prestigious Spa 24 Hours.

Photo credit: Belgian Audi Club

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Blancpain Endurance Series: Unlucky qualifying session for Audi teams at Paul Ricard

By Tarek Ramchani

The Audi teams had an unlucky and frustrating Blancpain Endurance Series qualifying session at the Paul Ricard. A single Audi R8 LMS ultra car made it into the Top 10.

The best ranked Audi car was the #26 R8 LMS from the French team Sainteloc Racing. The car driven by Stéphane Ortelli, Edward Sandstrom and Gregory Guilvert was eight fastest with a best time of 1:57.971, only 0.773s down to the leading McLaren car. The three drivers were classified fourth within the Pro-Cup class.

The #3 Audi R8 LMS ultra from Belgian Audi Club Team WRT which lead the first Q1 ended in fourteenth place. The car is shared by Christopher Mies, James Nash and Frank Stippler.

The second Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Pro-Cup entry had a harder session. The #1 car with drivers Laurens Vanthoor, Marc Basseng and Cesar Ramos finished in twenty-fourth place.

The other Audi R8 LMS ultra cars were further down. The #55 Brothers Racing Team (Pro-Cup) was twenty-ninth, the #25 Sainteloc Racing (Gentlemen Trophy) was thirty-sixth, the #4 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT (Gentlemen Trophy) was thirty-seventh, the #22 Team Parker Racing (Gentlemen Trophy) was thirty-eighth and the #2 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT (Gentlemen Trophy) was fourty-first.

Overall pole position went to the #98 McLaren MP4-12C from ART Grand Prix. The #85 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 from HTP Motorsport was second. The #80 Nissan GT-R from Nissan GT Academy Team RJN was third leading the Pro-Am field.

The combines qualifying session results can be seen here.

The three-hour nigh race will start at 19:15 with a Live Stream coverage at www.blancpain-gt-series.com

Photo credit: Blancpain GT Series

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Blancpain Endurance Series: Mixed pre-qualifying session for Audi teams at Paul Ricard

By Tarek Ramchani

Action has started at the Paul Ricard in the Blancpain Endurance Series. The Audi Sport customer racing squad faced a hard pre-qualifying session this afternoon in the famous French circuit.

Only one Audi R8 LMS ultra managed to enter the Top 10. The #3 Audi from Belgian Audi Club Team WRT finished in fifth place overall and second within the Pro-Cup class. The car driven by Christopher Mies, James Nash and Frank Stippler with a best time of 1:58.4122, they only 0.264s behind the leading #11 Ferrari 458 GT3 from Kessel Racing.

A much harder session for all other Audi Pro-Cup entries, all of them were pushed outside the Top 20. The #1 car from Belgian Audi Club Team WRT driven by Laurens Vanthoor, Marc Basseng and Cesar Ramos was twenty-fourth. The #55 Audi from Brothers Racing Team in the hands of Zheng Sun, Congfu Cheng and Andre Coutow was twenty-fifth. The #26 Audi from Sainteloc Racing with drivers Stéphane Ortelli, Edward Sandström and Grégory Guilvert was twenty-seventh.

Four Audi R8 LMS ultra cars are competiting in the Gentlemen Trophy class. The #4 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT of Jean-Luc Blanchemain, Yves Weerts and Pierre Hirschi was fourth in class. The #22 Audi from Team Parker Racing driven by Ian Loggie, Chris Jones and Julian Westwood was sixth. The #2 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT of Stéphane Pourquie, Harry Teneketzian and Grégoire Chaix was eighth. The #25 Audi Sainteloc Racing of Claude-Yves Gosselin, Jean-Claude Lagniez and Marc Sourd was ninth.

The Audi teams will be back on track tomorrow at the Paul Ricard. The qualifying session will be held a 11:20 local time, the race will start at 19:15.

Photo credit: Blancpain GT Series

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Blancpain Endurance Series: Eight Audi R8 LMS ultra in the Paul Ricard night race

By Tarek Ramchani

The Blancpain Endurance Series is heading to southern France this weekend, round three of the 2014 season at the Paul Ricard Circuit. The Audi Sport customer racing squad will be very well represented with no less than eight Audi R8 LMS ultra cars.

In the upper Pro-Cup class, four Audi R8 LMS ultra will fight for the outright win. In the opening two rounds of the series Audi cars finished second at Monza with Sainteloc Racing and third at Silverstone with Belgian Audi Club Team WRT. At Paul Ricard the target will be a first victory this season in a very demanding field.

The Belgian Audi Club Team WRT will field two cars. The #1 Audi in the hands of Marc Basseng, Cesar Ramos and Laurens Vanthoor. The sister #2 Audi will be driven by James Nash, Frank Stippler and Christopher Mies.

Sainteloc Racing will be back with a single car effort in Pro-Cup. Their #26 Audi R8 LMS ultra will have a strong driver line-up with Stéphane Ortelli, Edward Sandström and Grégory Guilvert.

The fourth effort is coming from the Chinese team Brothers Racing Team. The Absolute Racing run #55 Audi R8 LMS ultra will be shared by Zheng Sun, Congfu Cheng and Andre Couto.

No Audi entries in the Pro-Am class, all the remaining four R8 LMS ultra cars will compete in the Gentleman Trophy class.

As it is the case in Pro-Cup, the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT will field two cars in the class open to gentlemen and amateur drivers. The #2 R8 LMS ultra with Stéphane Pourquie, Harry Teneketzian and Grégoire Chaix. The sister #4 machine will be shared by Jean-Luc Blanchemain, Yves Weerts and Pierre Hirschi.

Team Parker Racing from the UK will enter their #22 Audi R8 LMS ultra with drivers Ian Loggie, Chris Jones and Julian Westwood.

Sainteloc Racing completes the Audi entries in the class with the #25 Audi R8 LMS ultra of Claude-Yves Gosselin, Jean-Claude Lagniez and Marc Sourd.

The three-hour race is set for Saturday with a night time finish. The Paul Ricard round will be the final one before the demanding and stellar event in the Blancpain Endurance Series calendar, the Spa 24 Hours.

Photo credit: Blancpain GT Series

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GT Tour: André Lotterer and Belgian Audi Club Team WRT win Spa-Francorchamps race 2

By Tarek Ramchani

The Belgian Audi Club Team WRT won a thrilling second race in the French GT Tour at Spa-Francorchamps. After an unlucky race 1 yesterday André Lotterer and Enzo Ide scored a fine victory beating the full season regulars.

André Lotterer crashed yesterday with the #5 Audi R8 LMS ultra at the very fast Raidillon corner, the three-time Le Mans winner finished the race in twelfth place. Today along with team-mate Enzo Ide it was a very different story. The WRT run Audi dominated the race and took the checkered flag victorious ahead of the second placed #76 Porsche 997 GT3-R from IMSA Performance Matmut.

Third place for the #51 Audi R8 LMS ultra from Sébastien Loeb Racing. The car is shared by Mike Parisy and Henry Hassid and they finished 3.122s behind the winning Audi.

David Hallyday and Gregory Guilvert ended in a strong fourth place with their #42 Audi R8 LMS ultra from Sainteloc Racing.

Two other Audis made it into the Top 10. The #50 R8 LMS ultra from Sébastien Loeb Racing was ninth and the #43 car from Sainteloc Racing was tenth.

Bad luck hit the second Belgian Audi Club Team WRT car. The #6 Audi R8 LMS ultra in the hands of Benoit Tréluyer and Yves Weerts was a lap down in fifteenth place.

Photo credit: GT Tour

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GT Tour: Second and third for Audi teams in Spa-Francorchamps race 1

By Tarek Ramchani

A very positive day 1 for the Audi teams at Spa-Francorchamps, round 3 of the French GT Tour series. Pole postion and three cars within the Top 4 in Race 1

The #5 Audi R8 LMS ultra from Belgian Audi Club Team WRT took a great pole position earlier today. The car is shared by last weekend Le Mans 24 Hours winner André Lotterer joined by Enzo Ide.

Next, the Audi Sport customer racing squad performed very well in the 1-hour sprint event in the Ardennes. The #51 from team Sébastien Loeb Racing finished in a strong second with drivers Mike Parisy and Henri Hassid. The twi drivers ended right behind the winning #1 Ferrai 458 GT3 from Team Sofrev ASP.

The #42 Audi R8 LMS ultra from Sainteloc Racing was third overall, the car in the hands of David Halliday and Gregory Gulivert.

The #36 Audi R8 LMS ultra from Team Speed Car had a strong race and narrowly missed the podium ending in a positive fourth place with Vincent Abril and Jérôme Demay.

Both Audis from the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT were outside the Top 10. The #5 Audi R8 LMS ultra of André Lotterer and Enzo Ide was twelfth. The sister #6 machine driven by Benoit Tréluyer and Yves Weerts was thirteenth.

Photo credit: Sebastien Loeb Racing / V-Images

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GT Tour: Victory for Sebastien Loeb Racing Audi at Lédenon

By Tarek Ramchani

It was good weekend for the Audi teams at the Lédenon circuit in the second round of the French FFSA GT Tour

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