By Johan
Laubscher
1. The
Weekend
Focussing on
the weekend of 20 - 21 July 2013
2. The
Events
- VLN
- Superstars
- Superstars GT Sprint
- Italian GT
- Super Taikya
- STT
- Super GT Test
- VSCRC
- HAWK
- Rally Estonia Historic
- Cup & Tourenwagen
2.1. VLN
Round five of the VLN was held at the
Nurburgring this weekend. A total of nine Audis were at the event. Two Audi R8
LMS ultra cars were entered from Phoenix Racing and Twin Busch Motorsport.
Unfortunately only one R8 LMS ultra competed, following a technical problem on
the Twin Busch car. The Phoenix Racing R8 LMS ultra finished fourth. The Raeder
Motorsport TT RS won the SP3T class and it was also an Audi 1-2, as an Audi TTS
finished second in SP3T.
2.2. Superstars
The Superstars Championship headed to
Portugal, hosting round five at Algarve in Portimão. Audi Sport Italia was
competing on two fronts this weekend, the Superstars in Portugal and the
Italian GT at Imola, thus they decided to only enter one Audi RS 5 at Algarve.
The car was driven by their lead driver, Gianni Morbidelli. He qualified on the
front row and dominated both races, taking four straight wins now in the series
following the double win at Zolder.
2.3. Superstars GT Sprint
The Superstars GT Sprint was also in Portugal
this weekend, with some Portuguese flavour being added to the Audi line-up. The
MTM Audi R8 LMS team has fielded an Audi all season long, driven by Thomas
Schöffler. He has shared the car with a number of drivers during the season,
and this weekend he was partnered by Portuguese Audi Sport factory driver,
Filipe Albuquerque. They qualified second and third for the two races. In the
end they finished second in both of the races.
2.4. Italian GT
Imola played host to round four of the Italian
GT Championship. It proved to be a weekend where Audi Sport Italia’s resources
were spread thinly. They downsized their Superstars effort in Portugal to only
one Audi RS 5 entry, but they did field both of their Audi R8 LMS ultra cars at
Imola. The qualifying was highlighted by pole position for Dindo Capello and
Andrea Sonvico for race one. They backed up the pole by winning Audi Sport
Italia’s first GT race of the 2013 season, followed by their teammates in
fifth. Race two saw another podium finish as
2.5. Super Taikya
The Japanese Super Taikya held
round three at Twin Ring Motegi this weekend, a five hour endurance event. Nova
Engineering entered their Audi R8 LMS ultra (2013) at the event. The car was
tested by Seiji Ara at Motegi at the beginning of July. They qualified seventh and
Nova Engineering completed the race and finished sixth overall.
2.6. STT
The Spezial Tourenwagen Trophy (STT) was at
Spa, hosting round five. A total of six Audis took part, including a 2004 Audi
A4 DTM R11 and SP4T VLN Audi TT RS cars.
2.7. Super GT Test
The Japanese Super GT held a two-day test at
Suzuka this week. Hitotsuyama Racing took part in the test, fielding their 2013
Audi R8 LMS ultra. This was also the first event where the äpr racing team
fielded their new Nissan GT3 car, having switched from their 2012 R8 LMS ultra
which they fielded during 2012 and the beginning of 2013. Hitotsuyama Racing
did well during the test, placing within the top ten during some of the
sessions.
2.8. VSCRC
Round three of the Victorian State Circuit
Racing Championships (VSCRC) was held at Sandown in Australia. The Rod Salmon
Audi R8 LMS ultra was entered by Melbourne Performance Centre. Salmon qualified
fourth and finished races one to three in third, seventh and seventh
respectively. He was classified sixth overall for the weekend.
2.9. HAWK
The HAWK vintage racing festival was held at
Road America this weekend. A number of Audi R8 race cars have competed at this
event in years past, but only one Audi was entered this weekend, a very special
Audi. The car was an Audi A4 DTM, the first appearance of one of these Audi
race cars in the United States vintage events. It is an ex-Mattias Ekström car
from the 2006 DTM season, a 2006 Audi A4 DTM “R12 plus”. The car was entered by
ANSA Motorsports and driven by Eric Johnson.
2.10. Rally Estonia Historic
Volkswagen Motorsport works WRC driver,
Jari-Matti Latvala, took part in the 2013 Rally Estonia Historic this weekend.
He fulfilled a dream by driving an Audi quattro rally car in the event. Latvala
dominated the event from the start, but unfortunately he lost out on the win
due to a technical problem.
2.11. Cup & Tourenwagen
The German Cup & Tourenwagen Trophy was
also at Spa this weekend. A single private Audi was entered in the event, the
MK1 Audi TT driven by Franz-Josef Fischer.
2.12. Other Audi News
Seven Audi R8 LMS ultra cars will now be
taking part in the Spa 24 Hours next weekend. Originally nine cars had been
listed on the provisional entry lists, but the two-car Sainteloc entry has been
withdrawn from the event, thus leaving four Audi cars from Belgian Audi Club
Team WRT, two from Phoenix Racing and one from United Autosports.
United Autosports used social media to
announce their final Spa 24 driver line-up this week. They announced the
drivers daily, starting with Mark Patterson, Alain Li, Will Bratt and Glynn
Geddie.
The new South African V8 Touring Car Series
had some developments this week. The first car was completed and had its first
test run at Queensland Raceway on Wednesday. Pace Innovations in Australia has
developed the new car, closely based on the new generation of Australian V8
Supercars. The new car, developed for South Africa, is called the “GTC” -
Global Touring Car. Thus far Audi and Ford cars have been confirmed for the new
series, with the first car built being a Ford. The first Audi will soon be
built, along with an order of further cars for the South African series which
is set to begin in mid-2014. The first GTC car will undergo further testing in
Australia next week, after which it will be sent to South Africa for testing.
More can be read about the new GTC cars and the shakedown test HERE.
Waterfest 2013 was held this weekend. The
annual Audi and VW event saw many examples of road-cars and race cars from the
brands. APR was well represented at the event, and their Audi R8 GRAND-AM was
also on display. An Audi R10 TDI and other Audi race cars were also present.
Many of the South African Bridgestone
Production Car Championship teams headed to the Phakisa Freeway in Welkom on
Wednesday. It was a day of testing ahead of round six of the championship which
will take place at Phakisa at the beginning of August. VMP Motorsport took part
in the test, fielding both of their Audi S4 cars driven by Gennaro Bonafede and
Melvill Priest.
The 2013 Le Mans winners visited Neckarsulm
this week. Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Loïc Duval visited the Audi Forum
Neckarsulm and the Audi Sport facilities.
MOMO Megatron DF1 did not take part in round
three of the ELMS at the Red Bull Ring this weekend. They have announced that
they will be taking part in the final two rounds of the series in Hungary and
France.
The 2013 Race of Champions will again be held
in Thailand. The event will be held at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok, and
will take place on the weekend of 14-15 December. For the last three years Audi
R8 LMS cars have been used at the event, as part of the wide variety car
line-up.
The äpr racing team in Japan may have
switched to a Nissan GT3 for the Super GT, but their #30 Audi R8 LMS ultra
(2012) was seen at the Concourse d’Elegance Japan 2013 this weekend. The car
was display alongside a number of Audi road cars.
The Peter Conroy Motorsport Audi R8 LMS was
part of a Bathurst 12 Hour display at the Meguiar's MotorEx event. It was on
display alongside a Mercedes-Benz SLS and Ferrari 458.
3. Next
Weekend’s events (27-28/07/2013)
- Spa 24 Hours
- Grand-Am
- Britcar
- BRCC
- BTCC Super Touring
- DMV TCC
- Supercars International Series
- Norwegian GT
- Brazilian GT
- French Rallycross
- Super GT
All photos
are hosted at their respective website which are listed within the Weekend
Round Up
