​Audi Motorsport Newsletter 10/2015

Audi customer teams dominate in southern France

In the opening round of the Blancpain Sprint Series season, the Audi R8 LMS ultra was the leading car: five of the powerful 560 hp GT3 racecars finished in the top eight in the main race. The most successful of this group was Belgian Audi Club Team WRT, which took second place in the main race with drivers Stéphane Ortelli and Stéphane Richelmi after they had won the previous day’s qualifying race. The second WRT Audi driven by Christopher Mies/Enzo Ide finished both races in third place. Their team mates James Nash/Frank Stippler were sixth in the main race. Marco Bonanomi and Filip Salaquarda finished seventh for the Audi customer team ISR. Their team mates Anders and Thomas Fjordbach celebrated class victory in the Silver Cup category. A fantastic comeback drive by Markus Winkelhock and Niki Mayr-Melnhof from Phoenix Racing ended in eighth place after having stated from the back of the grid. The Blancpain Endurance Series also starts its new season this coming weekend. Ten Audi R8 LMS will join the grid at Monza – four from Belgian Audi Club Team WRT, and two cars each from Saintéloc Racing and ISR as well as a single car from Phoenix Racing and Team Parker Racing. Phoenix and WRT will both field a new R8 LMS.

Lucas di Grassi reclaims Formula E championship lead

Lucas di Grassi reclaimed the overall lead in the Formula E standings in Long Beach (USA): the Audi factory driver, who races for the Audi Sport ABT Formula-E Team in the series for purely electric powered single-seater cars, finished third in California. It was his fourth podium in six races. Following races in Asia as well as South and North America, the Formula E arrives in Europe: the race around the streets of Monaco is set for May 9, before the only German team travels to Berlin for its home event.

Audi Team Hitotsuyama celebrates podium finish

Fightback rewarded: Audi Team Hitotsuyama finished on the GT300 podium in the first round of the Super GT season at Okayama. After a difficult qualifying Richard Lyons and his team mate Tomonobu Fujii started the 300-kilometer race from tenth on the grid. Thanks to drivers’ excellent performances and perfect pit stops, the duo finished the race in third place despite difficult conditions. Audi Team Racing Tech can also be satisfied with the start of the season. After starting 15th, the drivers Christian Mamerow and Shinya Hosokawa finished fourth behind their stablemates.

Strong outing in Australia

At the Bathurst Motor Festival, a non-championship event, an Audi R8 LMS ultra was the most successful car. Audi driver Rod Salmon took a second and a first place finish in the two one-hour-races with the sportscar. In addition to his victory on Sunday, Salmon, who won the Trophy category in the Australian GT Championship last season, also recorded the fastest lap. Salmons Audi R8 LMS ultra was the same car that Nathan Antunes took to victory in the opening round of Australian GT in early March.

Edoardo Mortara special guest at TT premiere in Dubai

The market launch of the new Audi TT Coupé* in the Middle East was celebrated with an array of celebrities. Among the guests: Edoardo Mortara. The DTM driver in Audi’s employ performed a sprint in the drop zone of the ‘Skydive Dubai’ facility in the compact sports car. The jump by a group from Skydive Dubai that formed the TT logo in the air was the highlight of the event. “This was my first event for Audi in this region. I very much enjoyed it, especially as I’ll be spending more time in Dubai in the future,” said Mortara, who owns an apartment in the biggest city of the United Arab Emirates.

Audi in the middle of London with the WEC

A London landmark provided the backdrop for an appearance of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). On Thursday, the racing series presented itself to the media and the public at Marble Arch near Hyde Park. Audi driver Oliver Jarvis, Allan McNish, the 2013 FIA WEC Champion, and an Audi R18 e-tron quattro represented the brand with the four rings. On the weekend after Easter, the first of eight races of the season will be held at Silverstone.

Mattias Ekström drives DTM and World RX

In addition to the title win in DTM, Audi driver Mattias Ekström is pursuing another aim this year. The Swede would like to become champion in the FIA World Rallycross Championship (World RX) with his private rallycross team EKS. “My focus this year is clearly on the DTM title with Audi, but I’m very happy that I’m additionally able to compete in World RX as a driver and as the team boss,” says Ekström. The 36-year-old will personally be taking the wheel of an Audi S1 EKS RX quattro in selected races. The second EKS rallycross supercar is driven by Ekström’s compatriot Anton Marklund, who is on the grid of the new Audi Sport TT Cup as well.

Fans welcome at DTM test at Oschersleben

Good news for fans of the DTM: During the final pre-season track tests from April 14 to 16, the paddock and the grandstands will be open to spectators on all three days. All eight Audi DTM drivers will be testing at Oschersleben. To be seen for the first time sporting their new 2015 season graphics will be the Audi RS 5 DTM cars of Mattias Ekström (Red Bull), Edoardo Mortara (Castrol EDGE), Nico Müller (Audi Financial Services) and Timo Scheider (AUTO TEST).

Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM at Audi Forum Neckarsulm

For DTM fans the Audi Forum Neckarsulm will be worth a visit until April 12. Since Monday, Mike Rockenfeller’s Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM with its new graphics for the 2015 season has been on display in the vehicle exhibition. During this time, visitors will have the chance of winning tickets for the DTM Festival at the Hockenheimring on the first weekend in May.

A word from Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich

The Head of Audi Motorsport about the company’s extensive motorsport program that begins with the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season opener at Silverstone next weekend.

In 2015, Audi is tackling the biggest motorsport program in its history. Why is Audi so significantly involved in motorsport?

Motorsport is superbly suited for emphasizing the sportiness of the brand around the world, to enable substantial technology transfer and to provide a growing number of customers with models they can be successful with themselves.

Last October, Audi Sport moved from Ingolstadt to Neuburg. What are the working conditions like? What’s the feedback of the teams that prepared the new race cars before the beginning of the 2015 season in Neuburg for the first time?

The teams were as enthusiastic as our own employees. The new environment offers completely different working conditions. The job of preparing new cars is a lot more enjoyable from everyones point of view. This has been a unanimous verdict and reflects my feelings too!

LMP forms the spearhead of the motorsport commitment. How do you view the development of LMP since its formation?

The development of the Le Mans prototypes is a success story in motorsport. Ever since the FIA has been licensing a World Championship you can tell that interest in this series in international motorsport has massively increased. The regulations that have been jointly worked out are extremely focused on the future. Consequently, manufacturers can demonstrate their technological expertise in motorsport which in turn benefits the customers, as efficient and eco-conscious driving is the direction that is being pursued for road vehicles as well.

The DTM is the second factory-backed program. How important is the DTM for Audi?

´The DTM is very important for Audi. It’s a very product-related championship and we’re in direct battle with our main competitors in the premium class – BMW and Mercedes. On the race track, you can immediately recognize the base models. These road-going vehicles directly compete with each other in the market place as well. We tackle this challenge on the race track with the RS 5 DTM, one of the brand’s sportiest road-going models.

The DTM weekends have received a new format for 2015. What’s the philosophy behind this?

We’d like to deliver even greater motorsport to the fans over a weekend. By introducing two races per event the fans are clearly getting more DTM per weekend than before.

Coming up next week

12/04 Silverstone (GB), WEC round 1

12/04 Monza (I), Blancpain Endurance Series, round 1

12/04 Hockenheim (D), Spezial Tourenwagen Trophy, round 1

12/04 Shanghai (CN), TCR round 2

* Combined fuel consumption in l/100 km: 7.3 – 4.2; combined CO₂ emissions in g/km: 169 – 110.

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