V de V: Class victory for AB Sport Auto Audi R8 LMS in Spain

By Johan Laubscher

AB Sport Auto and its two Audi R8 LMS cars took part and performed very well in the opening round of the French V de V Endurance Series in Spain this weekend. It was the annual 4-hour season opening endurance race at Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya.

The French Audi Sport customer racing team has added a second Audi R8 LMS to its arsenal for the GTV 2 class this year. The #45 Audi R8 LMS was entered under the banner of AB Sport Auto and driven by the familiar trio of Franck Thybaud, Maxime Jousse and Thierry Proust. The second Audi R8 LMS was the #11 entry running under the banner of V de V. This #11 Audi was driven by Eric van de Vyver, Tiziano Carugati and Michel Wegelin.

Qualifying saw AB Sport Auto with positions two and four in class, positions six and nine overall. It was the #45 Audi R8 LMS ahead of the #11 Audi R8 LMS.

The 4-hour endurance race held on Sunday saw AB Sport Auto's two Audi R8 LMS cars running at the front of the GTV 2 class. By the end of the race the #11 Audi R8 LMS was piloted to a well deserved GTV 2 class victory, fourth place overall. The #45 Audi R8 LMS finished fourth in class, seventh overall.

The next round of the V de V Endurance Series will be another 4-hour endurance race hosted at Mugello in Italy, from 24-26 April.

Photo credit: AB Sport Auto - Fan page

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V de V: AB Sport Auto 2013 season review

By Johan Laubscher

The 2013 V de V Endurance Series saw the participation of one Audi Sport customer racing team. AB Sport Auto fielded their #46 Audi R8 LMS during the season. They took part in five of the seven rounds. 

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Good warm up for WRT and JWS Audi R8 LMS teams - VdeV

By Johan Laubscher

Earlier in the year Audi fans saw some clues from the Belgian W Racing Team regarding a specific French championship. The WRT team took part in the V de V series test days at Dijon and rumours surrounding a few WRT V de V race participations emerged. V de V is a French championship for a variety of different race cars which compete in both sprint and endurances races across Europe.

The opening round of the V de V series took place in Spain at the Catalunya circuit for a 6 hour endurance race on the weekend of April 1st. Originally a total of four Audi R8 LMS cars had been entered for the race. Two from WRT and one from both JWS Racing and AB Sport Auto. Despite four cars on the original entry list only two cars would ultimately take part. One car from WRT driven by François Verbist, Yves Weerts and Kurt Mollekens and one car from JWS driven by William David and Jean-Marc Quintois. The WRT team had originally planned two cars, one for the team bosses to have some fun in and the other to be driven by more rapid drivers, but in the end only one car took part in an event deemed to be more for fun and preparation than for out right results. The JWS Racing entry was also aimed for preparation. This was the first race meeting for the JWS Racing team and their goal was to use the race to prepare for the 2012 French GT Tour season.

Both teams qualified very well for the race with WRT claiming class pole followed by JWS second in class, 4th and 6th overall respectively. The race got underway in very warm conditions with some great racing. JWS unfortunately retired early on lap 6 after an on-track incident. The team was very disappointed but they are fully focused on their next race, the season opener of the French GT Tour. WRT soldiered on in the 6 hour race which served as a good warm up for the team’s busy 2012 season, ahead of their FIA GT1 debut one week after this event. WRT finished the 6 hour endurance race in 4th position overall and 2nd position in class.

The 6 hours of Catalunya served as a good warm up for the both JWS Racing and WRT teams. We will soon see both teams and their R8 LMS cars in action again in various other races around Europe and in the case of WRT, around the world as well.

Photos by JWS Racing

More Information:

JWS Racing FB page

W Racing Team FB page 

V de V website

WRT # 8 Audi R8 LMS and JWS #38 Audi R8 LMS

JWS Racing #38 Audi R8 LMS

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