By Johan Laubscher
The 2013 FIA GT Series provided some of the most exciting GT racing
seen in Europe this year. Three Audi Sport customer racing teams fielded a number
of Audi R8 LMS ultra cars.
Belgian Audi Club Team WRT fielded three regular cars and they were joined by single car entries from Phoenix Racing and Team Novadriver.
The season concluded with the 2013 FIA GT Series Pro Cup teams' and drivers’ titles being awarded to Belgian Audi Club Team WRT.
The season review has been compiled from the 2013 Audi Motorsport Blog
Weekend Round Up posts. Each round has been added as was seen in the individual
Weekend Round Up posts during 2013, which can be accessed via the links
throughout the review below:
Round 1: Nogaro
The FIA GT Series got underway at Nogaro this weekend. Five Audi R8 LMS
ultra car arrived at the track, but to everyone’s surprise they were in 2012
specification. The 2013 updates have not yet been homologated and thus the cars
had to run in the older specification. Despite the setback the Audis were fast
and Rene Rast claimed pole position for the qualification race. The WRT entry
of Rene Rast and Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof held the lead until the closing stages
when Loeb managed to claim the win in his McLaren. Three Audis finished within
the top five. The main championship race took place in wet weather on Monday
afternoon. Mayr-Melnhof remained in second and stayed in contention with Loeb
during the first stint, and took the lead during the pitstops. Rast eventually
lost the lead due to a touch but regained it when the leading McLaren was
called in for a pitstop infringement. During the closing minutes the #13 and
#11 WRT cars also made it onto the podium to complete a WRT Audi 1-2-3 overall
finish. In doing so WRT won the Pro class and the Pro-am class. The other Audis
also did well, Phoenix Racing finished fifth overall and Team Novadriver
finished second in Pro-am, which rounded off a 1-2 finish for Audi in both
classes.
Update: The #12 WRT entry was later penalised with a 30 second penalty,
thus giving the overall victory to the #13 WRT entry of Edward Sandström and
Frank Stippler. The Team Novadriver Audi squad thus also took the Pro-Am class
victory.
Round 2: Zolder
The FIA GT Series arrived at Zolder in Belgium this weekend. This was
round two of the European series and five Audi R8 LMS ultra cars were once
again entered in the event. All five cars were seen in the 2013 Audi R8 LMS
ultra specification (minus the new rear diffuser). The cars were very fast and
WRT achieved victory in the qualifying race with the #11 R8 LMS ultra. This
victory marked the first race win for the new 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra. The
Championship Race saw a good battle for the lead between a Reiter Lamborghini
and the #11 WRT Audi. In the end the WRT squad finished second and third, with
the third car in fifth. Phoenix Racing and Team Novadriver completed a top ten
finish for all the Audis by placing sixth and ninth respectively.
Round 3: Zandvoort
The FIA GT Series headed to the Netherlands this weekend, hosting round
three at Zandvoort. The regular five Audi R8 LMS ultra entries from Belgian
Audi Club Team WRT, Phoenix Racing and Team Novadriver were all present. They
showed well, and four Audis made it into the top ten during qualifying. The start
of the Qualifying Race was exciting as an Audi emerged at the front after it
was three-way-wide in turn one. Vanthoor continued to lead the race and his
teammate Ortelli brought the #11 Audi R8 LMS ultra home for another race
victory. Four Audis finished within the top ten, all three WRT cars and the
Team Novadriver entry. The main Championship Race on Sunday saw only two Audi
cars finishing the race. The #11 and #13 WRT cars both battled to the line for
second position, thus completing a double podium as #11 finished second ahead
of #13 in third. Ortelli and Vanthoor have maintained their lead in the
driver's standings and WRT is still leading the team's standings. The Phoenix
Racing entry and the #12 from WRT both retired from the race. The Novadriver Audi
suffered a hard crash, but luckily Cesar Campanico was reported as unharmed.
Round 4: Slovakia Ring
Round four of the FIA GT Series headed to the Slovakia Ring. Only four
of the regular five Audi entries were fielded this weekend, as Phoenix Racing
decided to withdraw from the event. Three cars from Belgian Audi Club Team WRT
and one from Team Novadriver. Balance of Performance has been the buzzword as
of late, with the 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra suffering under the current BoP. WRT
decided to retrofit their three cars with the 2012 R8 LMS ultra specification,
thus taking advantage of the older specification’s BoP, which is now less harsh
than the 2013 version. It was a wise decision and it paid handsome dividends,
as the WRT cars were running at the front all weekend long. The #12 Audi took
pole position with Rast behind the wheel. During the Qualifying Race Rast lead
in the beginning, but an early safety car period bunched up the field.
Mayr-Melnhof took over from Rast and held the lead until being passed by Loeb,
he ultimately dropped to fifth. The highest Audi was the #11 of Vanthoor and
Ortelli, who had progressed up to second, despite their penalty in qualifying.
Three Audis within the top ten was rounded out by the #13 WRT car in ninth. The
main Championship Race saw Ortelli leading from the start, but his start was
judged as a jump-start and the penalty dropped them back. By the end of the
race the WRT Audis were running together 1-2-3 in the Pro-Cup class, positions
two through fourth overall. The Audis finished in the order: #12 of Nikolaus
Mayr-Melnhof and Rene Rast ahead of #11 Stéphane Ortelli and Laurens Vanthoor,
and #13 of Edward Sandström and Frank Stippler.
Round 5: Navarra
Navarra in Spain hosted the fifth and penultimate FIA GT Series round
this weekend. Four Audi R8 LMS ultra cars were entered, three from Belgian Audi
Team WRT and one from Team Novadriver. WRT arrived with the goal of maintaining
their advantage at the head of the driver’s and team’s points standings. During
qualifying the Audis showed very well, as Stippler and Sandström qualified on
the front row. The qualifying race got underway in wet conditions, with many
teams gambling on tires. The #12 WRT Audi suffered on the wrong tires, but a
terrific battle for second place ensued between the #11 and #13 WRT Audis. By
the end of the race the #13 of Stippler and Sandtröm finished second, as
Ortelli and Vanthoor dropped back to seventh, having gambled on the wrong tires
during the pitstop. The #14 Team Novadriver Audi finished sixth overall, taking
third in the PAM class. The main championship race on Sunday saw another podium
result for WRT, as the #13 crew finished third, followed by their teammates in
the #12 in fifth. The #11 of Vanthoor and Ortelli suffered brake issues and
finished fifteenth. Team Novadriver finished ninth overall, again on the PAM
podium. The championship battle will come down to the final round at Baku, as
Ortelli and Vanthoor lead the standings in the #11 WRT Audi, just five points
ahead of Stippler and Sandström in the
#13 WRT Audi. Belgian Audi Club Team WRT remain in the lead of the team’s championship
points.
Round 6: Baku World Challenge
The finale of the FIA GT Series took place in Azerbaijan this weekend.
The Baku World Challenge street circuit was the scene for the finale, which saw
the participation of six Audi R8 LMS ultra cars from three different teams.
Four cars were entered by Belgian Audi Club Team WRT and one each from Phoenix
Racing and Team Novadriver.
The drivers’ championship in the Pro Cup class came down to this
weekend and it was a straight duel between WRT’s two crews of #11 Stéphane
Ortelli / Laurens Vanthoor and #13 Edward Sandström / Frank Stippler. WRT was
also aiming to clinch the teams’ title this weekend.
The Audi teams showed good pace at the front during the entire weekend.
Good times in practice were backed up by a very strong showing in qualifying.
The two qualifying sessions concluded with Rene Rast setting a massively
impressive lap time, leading an Audi 1-2-3, with the #12 WRT Audi on pole,
ahead of the #5 Phoenix and #11 WRT. Team Novadriver secured second position
within the Pro-Am Cup. Phoenix Racing was later disqualified and dropped to
last place for a technical infringement.
Sunday kicked off with the Qualifying race. A damp track had put a
delay on the proceedings, but the race did eventually get going under safety
car conditions. Rene Rast took control when the green flag was waved and
continued to build a good gap in the #12 Audi ahead of Vanthoor in second
position with the #11 Audi. The #13 Audi of Sandström was running further back
after their grid drop penalty. By the end of the pitstop sequence the #12 Audi
re-emerged as the race leader, now with Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof behind the wheel,
ahead of Stéphane Ortelli in the #11 Audi.
A safety car period bunched up the field after the pitstops and Ortelli
was on the tale of Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof. Stippler had recovered to tenth in
the #13 Audi. Mayr-Melnhof held onto the lead until the race was red flagged
due to an incident involving the #14 Novadriver Audi.
The race was restarted with an additional ten minutes added to the race
time. Mayr-Melnhof continued to lead ahead of Ortelli. Mayr-Melnhof held onto
the lead and opened up a small gap ahead of his teammate, which was enough to
secure victory.
Rene Rast and Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof were victorious in the #12 Audi
ahead of Audi #11 with Stéphane Ortelli and Laurens Vanthoor in second. Edward
Sandström and Frank Stippler finished eighth in the #13 Audi. The #5 Phoenix
Racing Audi finished tenth with Enzo Ide and Markus Winkelhock. The #18 WRT
Audi finished seventeenth with Grégoire Demoustier and Filipe Albuquerque
behind the wheel.
These results were enough to crown Belgian Audi Club Team WRT as the
2013 FIA GT Series Pro Cup teams' champions. The drivers' title would be
decided in the Championship Race.
The Championship Race was held later on Sunday and it certainly had a
chaotic start. Ortelli managed to take the lead during the run into the first
corner and chaos broke out behind him with many cars making contact.
Pole-sitter Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof was unfortunately involved in the incident
and dropped back after heavy contact. The Phoenix Racing Audi managed to avoid
the incident by running through the chicane and when things had settled down
they re-emerged in third place, chasing the second placed McLaren and Ortelli
in the lead. A few laps later the leading Audi of Ortelli dropped back to third
behind the leading McLaren and Winkelhock in the Phoenix Audi.
Further back Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof made contact with the #10 McLaren
and lost more time with repairs in the pits during the prolonged safety car
period for track repairs. When the green flag came out the leading McLaren and
the #11 and #13 WRT Audis came into the pits, promoting Winkelhock into the
lead, until he was given a penalty for passing cars off-tack in the first lap
incident. The #13 Audi lost time during the pitstop as the team had to work on
the car, effectively removing Sandström and Stippler from the fight for the
drivers' title.
When the frantic pitstop period came to an end it was the #11 WRT Audi
of Vanthoor who was in second and chasing the leading Mercedes-Benz. Vanthoor
continued to eat into the lead and eventually took the race lead with nine
minutes to go, as the leading Mercedes-Benz began to slow on track.
The final FIA GT Series race of 2013 concluded with the #11 WRT Audi R8
LMS ultra of Stéphane Ortelli and Laurens Vanthoor taking victory, finishing
ahead of Team Novadriver in eighth overall, who took second place in Pro Am.
The #5 Phoenix Racing Audi finished in twelfth. The remaining two WRT Audis
also finished outside of the top ten, as the #13 finished eleventh and the #12
in fifteenth.
Stéphane Ortelli and Laurens Vanthoor took victory in the Championship
Race and they were also crowned as the 2013 FIA GT Series Pro Cup drivers'
champions. This added to Belgian Audi Club Team WRT's success in the FIA GT
Series, as they won both the Pro Cup drivers' and teams' titles this weekend.
Belgian Audi Club Team WRT also took the first three places within the
Pro Cup drivers' standings with Stéphane Ortelli and Laurens Vanthoor in first,
followed by Edward Sandström and Frank Stippler in second and Nikolaus
Mayr-Melnhof in third.
Photo credit: FIA GT Series
