Audi teams at Bathurst on the first two rows of the grid

Audi’s customers secured good starting positions in both qualifying sessions for the Bathurst 12 Hour in Australia. René Rast, as the fastest Audi driver in the field, will be starting from the front row. In the Audi R8 LMS of Jamec Pem Racing, designated as car number 75, he achieved the second-fastest lap at 2m 01.840s. As a result, the driver from Frankfurt beat last year’s fastest time by 0.712 seconds. “We made perfect use of our tire’s top performance and caught a nearly clear lap,” said the Daytona GTD winner. His German teammate Christopher Mies in the sister car set the fourth-best time. Laurens Vanthoor had to settle for ninth place after the Belgian had still been sixth for Phoenix Racing in the first qualifying session. A fourth Audi driver, Australian Nathan Antunes who is competing for the Melbourne Performance Centre, made it into the top ten as well. Consequently, Antunes is the best Audi driver in the amateur class, in which he took third place. Christer Jöns (D), Marcus Marshall (AUS) and Matt Halliday (NZ) achieved grid positions six to eight in this classification. “Our teams were already doing well in qualifying,” said Romolo Liebchen, Head of Audi Sport customer racing. “Across the twelve-hour race distance, it will be crucial to manage the tires well, drive a flawless race and make tactically clever use of possible caution periods.” The race will start on Sunday at 5:45 a.m. local time, with live coverage on the internet at www.bathurst12hour.com.au.