By Johan Laubscher
The 2013 edition of the 25 Hours of Thunderhill is coming up this
weekend. Three Audi Sport customer racing built Audi race cars from two
different teams will be taking part.
GMG Racing were the first Audi entrants for the race this year, with a two-car entry having been included on the entry list since its first version was published in September. They will be entering two Audi R8 LMS cars (cars #08 and #14), both entered in the ES class. This will be the race debut for the Audi R8 LMS in the 25 Hours of Thunderhill and also the R16’s first twenty-five hour race event. The team was seen testing at Thunderhill two weeks ago.
The second Audi team, who were confirmed and added to the entry list much later, is Rotek Racing. Rotek Racing will be using their SP4T specification Audi TT RS race car from the VLN. The car will also be entered in the ES class, joining the two R8 LMS cars from GMG Racing. They had fielded this TT RS in the 2013 VLN Endurance Series in Germany this year, the very same car that was fielded by 034 Motorsport at the 2012 25 Hours of Thunderhill, where it was leading the race before a gearbox failure ended in retirement last year. 034 Motorsport will be part of and supporting the Rotek Racing entry at the race this year.
The latest update of the 2013 entry list has included more information
about the drivers who will be taking part.
Audi Sport customer racing entries (as of 3 December):
Audi Sport customer racing entries (as of 3 December):
GMG Racing:
Team 28 - GMG Racing 1
#08 Audi R8 LMS
Drivers:
Alex Welch, James Sofronas, Alexandra Sabados, Drew Regitz,
Michael McGrath
Team 29 - GMG Racing 2#14 Audi R8 LMS
Drivers:
TBA
Rotek Racing:
Team 47 - Rotek Racing
#24 Audi TT RS
Drivers:
Robb Holland, Roland Pritzker, Jeff Altenburg, Rob Huff*, Kevin Gleason**
*The 2012 WTCC champion, Rob Huff, is not yet listed on the entry list,
but a press release via Huff’s website has confirmed his participation. That press
release can be seen HERE.
**Kevin Gleason is also not listed on the entry list, but he has been confirmed for the Rotek Racing entry via his press release which can be seen HERE.
The entry list for the entered teams can be seen HERE, and the list of entered drivers can be seen HERE.
The track action kicks off on Thursday with a testing session from 09:00
- 16:30 local time. Friday will again include a testing session from 09:00 -
16:30. This will be followed by an open practice/qualifying session
from 16:45 - 17:45, wherein qualifying will be taking place from 17:15 - 17:45.
The race itself will be taking place on Saturday and Sunday. The race
will begin at 11:00 local time on Saturday and run through the day and night concluding twenty-five hours later at 12:00 noon local time on Sunday.
Update: The entry list for
the 25 Hours of Thunderhill may include two Audi R8 LMS entries from GMG
Racing, but the team’s official pre-event press release, which was released
last night, only mentions one Audi R8 LMS, the #08 machine. This would be
consistent with the fact that GMG Racing only tested this one vehicle at
Thunderhill Raceway two weeks ago. Thus this means that the Audi count for the
race is two cars, with the #08 R8 LMS from GMG Racing and the #24 TT RS from
Rotek Racing. The GMG Racing press release can be seen HERE.
Photo credit:
GMG Racing
GMG Racing
