The Audi R8 LMS Cup was AUDI AG’s first racing one-make cup. The racing series in Asia starts its sixth season with many new ideas and offers the participants more opportunites than ever before.

This year’s calendar includes ten races, each with their own qualifying session, at five events in Malaysia, Japan, Korea and China. In the previous year, around 65 million viewers watched the 30-minute highlight shows from each race weekend on leading television sports channels as well as on livestreams on the internet. For the first time, the Audi R8 LMS Cup is now partnering with another racing series, the new Blancpain GT Series Asia. The calendars are matched so that the teams can compete in both series. Logistical costs of participation in both series will be covered in full. In addition, the team that wins the amateur classification in the Audi R8 LMS Cup will be able to contest the 2018 Spa 24 Hours without an entry fee. “Our calendar gives the teams the flexibility to use their Audi R8 LMS in a different racing series,” says Bernd Goeres, Director of Audi Sport customer racing Asia. “Audi Sport is thus once again a pioneer in the development of motorsport in Asia.”

This year, the amateurs, who form the backbone of the customer racing program, can enjoy special support. At the end of the season, the winner of the amateur class will be reimbursed the entire volume of his tire budget. The “push-to-pass” technology, which releases additional power from the V10 engine over a limited period of time, will return in the 2017 season. The amateurs will receive privileges in every race: they can use this function twice as often as the pros.

The new tire partner for this year is Pirelli. The number of tire sets for each event has been increased from two to three, so the teams have more options in the set-up of their race cars. Additionally, the Italian manufacturer will award the “Pirelli Best Lap Trophy” for the fastest lap in each race, and at the end of the year will it give the “Pirelli Best Lap Award”.

Interested parties can compete with their own teams in the Audi R8 LMS Cup, or make use of the turnkey application concepts from the four service providers, Absolute Racing, Phoenix Racing Asia, KC Motor Group (KCMG) and Team WRT Asia.