Audi Motorsport-Newsletter 35/2015

Race wins and championship title in ADAC GT Masters

In the ADAC GT Masters finale at Hockenheim, the former Audi DTM driver Rahel Frey and Philip Geipel from Audi customer team Yaco Racing celebrated their first victory of the season in race one. Last year’s Champion Kelvin van der Linde and Stefan Wackerbauer from C. Abt Racing completed the podium in third place. In the second race, it was the Audi R8 LMS ultra that set the pace again. Nicki Thiim and Jordan Lee Pepper took the victory (C. Abt Racing). In addition to two race wins, there was also a championship title to celebrate: Andreas Weishaupt, who shares a C.Abt Racing Audi with Christer Jöns, triumphed in the Gentlemen classification.

Audi customer team wins VLN race

Twin Busch Motorsport won the eighth round of the VLN endurance championship Nürburgring. Twin brothers Dennis and Marc Busch produced a concentrated drive in the 4-hour race. After starting from fourth position, Busch/Busch drove permanently in the leading group at the wheel of their Audi R8 LMS ultra with start number 44. In the closing stages of the race, the first three cars were occasionally within one second of each other. The duo finally crossed the finish line with a 60.480 second advantage.

Victory in New Zealand

The Audi customer team International Motorsport clinched victory in the second round of the ASKO Endurance Series in New Zealand. In the one-hour race at the Mike Pero Motorsport Park in Christchurch, Neil Foster drove from pole position to victory in an Audi R8 LMS ultra.

Mixed feelings at WRT

The Belgian Audi Club Team WRT went through an emotional roller coaster during round 6 of the Blancpain Sprint Series at Misano. In Sunday’s main race, seventh (Stéphane Ortelli/Stéphane Richelmi) and eighth (Christopher Mies/Enzo Ide) were sufficient for the Audi customer team to win the teams’ classification in the sprint series with one round still to run. In addition, the Danish brothers Thomas and Anders Fjordbach from Czech team I.S.R. Racing celebrated a class victory in the Silver Cup, a class for drivers under 25 years of age. 

However, the successful weekend was tarnished by a hefty collision for WRT driver Laurens Vanthoor in the qualifying race on Saturday. The Belgian, who leads the drivers’ standing together with Robin Frijns before the finale, escaped from his car almost unhurt. The 24-year old suffered only bruising and a foot injury. Further tests will be made in his homeland. The Blancpain Sprint Series finale is held this coming weekend at Zandvoort (NL). The Audi customer teams can still win more titles.

Podium result in the Spezial Tourenwagen Trophy

Successful race weekend for the Audi customer teams contesting the Spezial Tourenwagen Trophy. At the Hockenheimring, ‘Maximilian Stein’ took second place in class in both races at the wheel of an Audi R8 LMS fielded by Schütz Motorsport. In the first race, Andreas Schmidt followed him onto the podium. In the second race, Berthold Gruhn finished third in class in a privately entered Audi R8 LMS ultra behind Stein.

Successful debut for United Autosports

United Autosports celebrated a podium finish in both races at Misano, Italy as the team made its debut in the GT Sports Club. Phil Burgan finished third in class in both races in an Audi R8 LMS ultra from United Autosports.

A word from ... André Lotterer

Japan is a second home for the Audi driver. The sixth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship WEC starts here on October 11.

How important is Japan to you?

I love the country, enjoy living here, have great respect for the people and love Japanese cuisine. I’ve been racing in Japan since 2003 and have lived in Tokyo now for many years. The WEC race at Fuji is a kind of home race for me, and I look forward to it because of this. The spectators are enthusiastic – sports car races have a great tradition in Japan.

What are your sporting goals with your teammates Marcel Fässler and Benoît Tréluyer?

We won two races at the start of the season. After taking two third places in summer, we were second most recently in Texas. To be perfectly honest, I’ll only be happy when my teammates and I won at Fuji with Audi. We know just what a challenge this will be from the past. The track is very challenging for the technicians and us. And not forgetting that the weather in October in the mountains can play a major role. Two years ago there was heavy rain, last year a typhoon was raging at the time and just missed us.

Will you just stay in Japan for the WEC race?

No, I’m currently spending several weeks in Japan. After our race in Austin, I spent a few days in America before flying to Tokyo. I’ll also stay in the country after the race at Fuji. After our 6-hour race, it’s almost a small tradition now that I invite the entire Audi team on Monday to a big party in Tokyo. A week later I race at Sugo in the north of Japan. The next WEC race in China is then on the agenda on November 1.

Coming up next week

09–10/10 Nürburgring (D), rounds 15 and 16, DMV GTC

10/10 Oulton Park (GB), rounds 21 and 22, GT Cup Championship

10–11/10 Fuji (J), rounds 9 and 10, Audi R8 LMS Cup

11/10 Fuji (J), round 6, WEC

11/10 Fuji (J), round 1, Asian Le Mans Series

11/10 Magny-Cours (F), round 6, V de V Endurance Series

11/10 Zandvoort (NL), round 7, Blancpain Sprint Series

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