GMG Racing Press Release
GMG Racing, the multi-series professional racing team and premier performance tuning facility for European vehicles in Southern California, debuted a second Audi R8 LMS with a pair of victories at Thunderhill Raceway on May 19 and 20. The victories mark the first competition wins ever by an Audi R8 LMS in North America.
GMG Racing rolled the Audi R8 LMS into the National Auto Sports Association (NASA) events with something to prove. “The other Audi R8 LMS in the GMG Racing lineup has been running under very limiting restrictions imposed by SCCA in the Pirelli World Challenge Series,” pointed out GMG Racing president, co-founder, and lead driver James Sofronas. “We have all been very eager to open up this second R8 on the track and show what we can do with it.”
"I simply went into the weekend beginning to understand the capabilities of the Audi R8 LMS on a new track,” said Alex Welch, GMG Racing driver and owner of the vehicle. “The car far exceeded my expectations.”
“GMG Racing has been working with and testing this Audi R8 LMS extensively since it joined our team just a few months ago,” offered GMG Racing vice president and co-owner Fabryce Kutyba. “We felt it was time to put it through the paces in real competition, which turned into a pair of wins and a significant amount of data we can use moving forward.”
Welch kicked off the weekend by qualifying for the top spot in Saturday’s sprint race after logging a best time around the 3.0 mile course while hitting an average of 95.967 mph. That was all he needed to dominate the 12 lap Class C race later in the day.
GMG Racing kept the momentum up through Sunday for the featured race. Sofronas joined Welch for the driving duties, splitting the scheduled 4 hour event evenly. The duo roared through the race to a clean 4 lap margin of victory.
"The Audi R8 LMS is an amazing car to drive, and is made for this type of endurance racing," noted Welch after the race. “GMG did an amazing job supporting myself, James and the R8 LMS."
“It was a perfect weekend with Alex winning the sprint race and then coming back on Sunday to help win the 4 hour enduro. The team did a great job with the pit stops and strategy, and we learned a lot about this Audi,” reflected Sofronas. “The car was strong throughout the entire race and the Pirelli tires were fantastic. We ran the harder compound and the tires never gave up, in fact, we were running the fastest race laps at the end of the race after the tires had over 50 laps on them.”
GMG Racing has not revealed the next race event for this Audi R8 LMS but the other one in the GMG Racing stable will make its fourth appearance when the 2012 Pirelli World Challenge series hits Detroit on June 1-3.
More information:
