A word from ... Rahel Frey

The GT3 driver is facing an intensive season with Audi.

This week Team Yaco Racing received the Audi R8 LMS, designated as car number 50, from Audi Sport customer racing. What’s behind this?

Audi Sport customer racing has built and delivered an amazing number of 50 new R8 LMS cars to date. Competing in car number 50 is a way of paying homage to this round lot. Our team boss, Uwe Geipel, took over the car on Thursday. My teammate, Philip Geipel, and I are excited about the new ADAC GT Masters season coming up and are looking forward to the Audi R8 LMS. Our season starts at Oschersleben on April 16.

What are the capabilities of the new Audi R8 LMS and what strengths characterize the team?

We are looking forward to the new Audi R8 LMS. Our season in the ADAC GT Masters concluded with a race victory at the Hockenheimring and now we want to build on this success with the new generation Audi R8 LMS. The car has been rigorously developed and it has been victorious at three 24-hour races so far. It has very sophisticated aerodynamics and more set-up options than its predecessor. The car can be set up to suit any customer wish. As a team we’re challenged to put this on track through good communication between the drivers and the engineers. Our big advantage is being a well-gelled team. In 2016, we’re in our third year of running as a driver pairing. This year, the ADAC GT Masters will be particularly competitive because many first-class teams with good drivers have submitted entries for the series.

Will the program in Germany completely fill your schedule?

No, I have the opportunity to handle many other commitments for Audi. This year, I’m contesting races with the Audi R8 LMS in Asia again. For the Audi driving experience, I took part in the FIS Ski World Cup Finale in St. Moritz and for the Swiss importer AMAG I conducted driver training sessions in Samedan.