Audi customer teams collect trophies around the world
- First success for the Audi RS 3 LMS in the TCR International Series
- Alessio Picariello and Alex Yoong in front in the Audi R8 LMS Cup
- Audi R8 LMS strong in the hands of the customers
On the first weekend of May, The Audi customer teams were successful internationally in Australia, Asia and Europe with the RS 3 LMS and the R8 LMS.
Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)
First victory for the champion: Title-holder Stefano Comini stood on top of the podium for the first time with Audi on the third weekend of the TCR International Series. The Swiss, who switched to ComToYou Racing in the winter, drove his Audi RS 3 LMS to victory in the first race on the challenging Spa circuit. In the second round, he collected another trophy in third. Comini is thus now second on the table of the highest-quality TCR series. Between the ComToYou Racing team’s decision to start the project on March 6 to its first victory was thus just eight weeks.
Victory in the mountain race: Patrick Cunha won in his class with an Audi RS 3 LMS in the Rampa Internacional da Falperra mountain race in Braga, Portugal. He prevailed in two individual sprints and thus won the overall rankings with a 3.6-second advantage.
Podium in Scandinavia: At the opener of the Scandinavian STCC racing series, an Audi driver clinched a trophy. Tobias Brink from the Brink Motorsport team drove to third place in the second race in front of his home crowd in Knutstorp, Sweden, with an Audi RS 3 LMS.
Two strong Audi customers in Le Castellet: Car Collection Motorsport reached second place in the TCR class of the Le Castellet 24 Hours in an Audi RS 3 LMS with the driver quintet Monika Parhofer/Dirk Vorländer/Christian Kranenberg/J.M. Littman/Rik Breukers. Third place went to the Audi RS 3 LMS of the Cadspeed Racing with Atech team and its five drivers, James Kaye/Ricky Coomber/Paul White/David Drinkwater/Thomas Gannon.
Audi R8 LMS (GT3)
Opener in Sepang: Alessio Picariello is the first table-leader in the 2017 Audi R8 LMS Cup. The Belgian won the first race in Malaysia and was only beaten by the title-defender Alex Yoong in the second race, who is now 14 points behind the European.
Victory and second place in Malaysia: In the Asian Le Mans Sprint Cup in Sepang, the Singha Plan B Motorsport team was successful in the GT class. The two Thailanders Bhurit Bhirombhakdi/Kantasak Kusiri won the first race in the Audi R8 LMS with a one-lap advantage and finished second in the second sprint.
Trophies at Brands Hatch: Four drivers from the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT took podiums in the second round of the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup. Robin Frijns/Stuart Leonard finished the main race in second with the Audi R8 LMS, in front of their teammates Markus Winkelhock/Will Stevens.
Success in Southern France: The German Car Collection Motorsport team returned from the Le Castellet 24 Hours with several trophies. In the fourth round of the 24H Endurance Series, Adrian Amstutz, Patrick Kujala, Martin Kodric and Connor De Phillippi shared an Audi R8 LMS, finishing in second place in the overall rankings and second in the Pro-Driver rankings. Also in the amateur classification, a car from Car Collection Motorsport stood on the podium: Dr. Johannes Kirchhoff, Gustav Edelhoff, Max Edelhoff, Elmar Grimm and Ingo Vogler achieved second place in their class and sixth place overall.
Two podium results in Australia: On the third race weekend of the Australian GT in Barbagallo, Ash Walsh from the Supabarn Supermarkets team took second place in an Audi R8 LMS in front of brand colleagues Kelvin van der Linde/Geoff Emery from the Valvoline team.
Points victory in Victoria: Ross Lilley won the weekend-rankings of the Victorian State Circuit Racing Championships in the Australian state of Victoria. The Australian, with his Audi R8 LMS, collected 92 points at the Phillip Island Circuit, whilst his brand colleague Matt Stoupas followed in second with 88 points.
Podium in Sweden: Jan Brunstedt drove to the podium in the opener of the Swedish GT Championship. The former title-holder achieved third place in the second sprint at Knutstorp with the Audi R8 LMS, only 1.4 seconds behind the winner.
Dates for next week
12–13/05 Goldenport (CN), China GT/GT Asia Series 1st and 2nd round
12–13/05 Monza (I), Michelin Le Mans Cup 1st round
12–14/05 Hungaroring (H), FIA European Touring Car Cup 3rd and 4th round
13–14/05 Fort Grozny (RUS), TCR Russia 1st and 2nd round
12–14/05 Monza (I), TCR International Series 4th round
13–14/05 Silverstone (GB), Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup 2nd round
12–14/05 Oschersleben (D), Spezial Tourenwagen-Trophy 3rd and 4th round
12–14/05 Zhuhai (CN), TCR Asia Series 3rd round