Audi Motorsport Newsletter 21/2016

Audi wins in GT Asia Series

Marchy Lee and Shaun Thong triumphed in round two of the GT Asia Series season at Buriram, Thailand. The drivers from Team Phoenix Racing Asia won the first race on Saturday following a brilliant performance by Lee who drove the final stint. The Hong Kong Chinese took over the wheel of the Audi R8 LMS halfway through the race following solid preliminary work by his partnering driver Thong in position five. Toward the end of the 60-minute sprint race, Lee was the fastest driver on the Thai tarmac, overtook the rivals in front of him and celebrated victory.

Audi Sport Italia strong at Misano

Successful weekend for Audi Sport Italia in the Italian GT Championship: At Misano, Filipe Albuquerque and Marco Mapelli in the Audi R8 LMS took second place in race two on Sunday afternoon. In the first race on Saturday, the Portuguese-Italian driver duo had achieved a podium success as well, in position three. In addition, their teammates, Matias Enrique Russo and Emanuele Zonzini, celebrated victory in the GT3 class in race two.

Audi customer team successful in Australia

Greg Taylor triumphed in the Australian GT Trophy Series. At Winton Motor Raceway, he secured victory in the Audi R8 LMS from pole in the first 50-minute race. In race two, Taylor additionally celebrated an impressive second place in his class, directly in front of his brand colleague Rob Smith.

Ekström on podium again in World Rallycross Championship

Mattias Ekström has continued his impressive string of podium places. In round five of the FIA World Rallycross Championship in Hell, Norway, Ekström finished third. This means that across the series he competes in, the DTM and rallycross campaigner took podium finishes on six consecutive weekends. This further success means that Ekström and his privateer team, EKS, have defended their lead of the drivers’ and teams’ standings in the World Rallycross Championship. Round six of the season will be held at Höljes. In his home round, the Swede has triumphed in the two past years.

DTM meets Le Mans

DTM meets Le Mans: Audi DTM drivers will be guests at three Audi Cities around the world during the Le Mans 24 Hours on June 18 and 19 and treat visitors there to a special live experience. Nico Müller, for instance, will be in Berlin, Mike Rockenfeller will travel to Moscow, Edoardo Mortara will be on site in Beijing and Adrien Tambay in Paris. Audi Cities are innovative rooms for interaction between the brand, people and product. Mattias Ekström will be in action on the Le Mans weekend as well. The DTM star is going to offer Audi’s VIP guests rides in his Audi S1 EKS RX quattro from the FIA World Rallycross Championship.

Audi relies on new trucks from MAN

For success in the DTM and in the FIA WEC Audi leaves nothing to chance. Right in time for the Le Mans 24 Hours and the DTM round at the Norisring a week later, Audi is using eight new MAN semitrailers. The trucks transport the Audi RS 5 DTM and Audi R18 cars across Europe and accommodate spare parts and mobile facilities for meetings or medical care. “The vehicles offer high levels of driving and living comfort. Particularly pleasant are the numerous assistance systems that make driving safer,” says Dieter Gass, Head of DTM, praising the new semis.

Excited about Le Mans

Audi driver Marcel Fässler and his two Swiss fellow race drivers Neel Jani and Sébastien Buemi sparked the enthusiasm of media in their country for the 24-hour race at Le Mans. On the race track of Lignières in the canton of Neuenburg, the pros who will be battling for overall victory at Le Mans for three automobile manufacturers answered the questions of some 30 members of the media. During taxi rides as Marcel Fässler’s passengers in the Audi R8 V10 Coupé, the journalists got an emotional impression of dynamics and acceleration.


A word from ... Jamie Green

The British Audi DTM driver about the difficult start of the season in the DTM, his recovery and Audi Sport’s upcoming “home round” at the Norisring on June 25/26.

Following such a difficult start of the season you scored more points than any other driver in the past three DTM races. How do you explain this breakthrough?

I wouldn’t call it a breakthrough but a return to normality. In the first races I had a lot of misfortune. In the two Hockenheim races I was involved in accidents that weren’t my fault and in qualifying for the first Spielberg race I didn’t have the optimum set-up. Finally, in race two and on the entire Lausitzring weekend everything was running smoothly and as a result I was able to do my job as best I could and to achieve good results.

You’re trailing the leader of the standings by only 13 points. Are you peering hard at the overall classification?

Most definitely. You always keep an eye on the current situation. The higher your place in the standings, the better it feels. Obviously, we’re still at a very early stage of the season. There are still a lot of races left and many points to be awarded. So as far as that’s concerned I’m not taking any all-out risks. But if things continue this way then I’m expecting to be in contention for the title again this year.

The next two races will be held on “your home turf,” the Norisring: a good opportunity to make up even more ground. Why are you so successful on this track?

The Norisring is a very narrow city street circuit. It’s about driving with great precision and finding the exact braking points. That’s something that suits me well. If you don’t manage this you can lose a lot of time in several places – or, in the worst case, end up in the track barrier.

On June 18/19, Audi will be competing in the Le Mans 24 Hours. Are you going to watch the race?

Absolutely. It’s one of the best-known races in motorsport. Anyone who has only the slightest interest in motor racing should watch it. When I switched to Audi in 2013 I was on site at Le Mans: a very impressive event. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for my brand colleagues.


Coming up next week

Jun 13 Filipe Albuquerque 31st birthday
Jun 14 Jamie Green’s 34rd birthday
Jun 18–19 Le Mans (F), 24-hour race, WEC round 3
Jun 18 Le Mans (F), round 2, GT3 Le Mans Cup
Jun 17–19 Nürburgring (D), rounds 7 and 8, DMV GTC
Jun 17–19 Hockenheim (D), rounds 5 and 6, Spezial Tourenwagen-Trophäe
Jun 18–19 Rockingham (GB), round 4, GT Cup Championship