Audi Motorsport Newsletter 28/2016

One-two finish in ADAC GT Masters

In the fifth round of the ADAC GT Masters season at the Nürburgring, the Audi R8 LMS claimed its first victory of the season. The race on Sunday was won by Christopher Mies and Connor De Phillippi from the Montaplast by Land-Motorsport team. Thanks to their first victory of the season, Mies/De Phillippi reduced the deficit to the championship leader to 14 points. Second place went to kfzteile24 – APR Motorsport with drivers Laurens Vanthoor and Florian Stoll.

Podium place in Super GT

Audi Team Hitotsuyama concluded the fifth Super GT race weekend at Fuji in second place. After 62 laps, drivers Richard Lyons and Tomonobu Fujii in the Audi R8 LMS were beaten by the closest of margins – a mere 0.106 seconds. The Japanese Audi customer team clinched its best result of the season as a result.

Christopher Haase drives an Audi S6 Avant

Audi campaigner Christopher Haase is happy about a new Audi S6 Avant. The GT3 race driver has won the 24 Hours of Nürburgring with Audi twice and received his new company car in August. “I like a sporty style,” the native of Kulmbach, Germany, says, commenting about the 450-hp model. “The car looks great, handles well and is nice and large.” The color the 28-year-old pro likes best is Nimbus Gray Pearl Effect. Christopher Haase picked up his Audi S6 Avant at the Audi Forum Ingolstadt on Wednesday.

Rahel Frey with new Audi SQ5 TDI

A hat trick of another kind for Rahel Frey: the Audi driver accepted her new company car – an Audi SQ5 in Sepang blue – last week in Zuchwil, Switzerland. The Swiss lady relies on the 340 hp model for the third time. “The SQ5 is a great compromise between sportiness and comfort for the many kilometers that I do for Audi,” said Frey. “Things that my company car must always have: heated front and rear seats as well as the Panorama glass roof.” 

A word from ... Edoardo Mortara

The Italian about the joys of fatherhood, an excursion into GT racing and his DTM title chances.

About three weeks ago you became a father for the first time. How has the birth of your daughter Sofia changed your life?

It’s really great to be a father. I have more responsibility now, but everyday life has clearly changed more for my wife than for me. Due to regular breastfeeding, for example, she hardly gets any sleep. But I support her in everything else as much as I can.

You used the short DTM summer break last weekend for a run in the 24-hour race at Spa. How was it?

I always tremendously enjoy competing in a 24-hour race – be it at Spa or at the Nürburgring. This year I contested both races for the first time. It was really a great experience. Both races differ at lot from each other in terms of their characteristics. At the Nürburgring, there are various classes whereas GT3 cars exclusively race at Spa. At Spa, we were even running in fifth place some of the time but, unfortunately, an accident at night caused us to lose some ground and we ultimately took ninth place overall. I’m very thankful to Audi Sport and I.S.R. Racing for the opportunity to race at Spa. It’s always fun to drive the Audi R8 LMS.

Speaking about the DTM, you’re currently in third place of the standings, but the only driver to have won more than one race, have mounted the podium four times – another unrivaled achievement – and have the largest number of leading laps. What else is possible?

Unfortunately, the unnecessary drive-through penalty in Saturday’s race at Zandvoort cost valuable points. Otherwise I’d be trailing the leader of the standings, Marco Wittmann, by just a few points. But I’m pretty happy with the way the season has gone so far. Nothing’s been decided yet. I’m going to give my all in the remaining eight races and then we’ll see how I’ve fared in the end.

Coming up next week
11/08 Lucas di Grassi’s 32nd birthday
12–14/08 Utah (USA), round 16 and 17, Pirelli World Challenge
13–14/08 Kuala Lumpur (MAL), round 5 and 6, Audi R8 LMS Cup
13–14/08 Donington (GB), round 6, GT Cup Championship

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