Audi Motorsport Newsletter 38/2015

Jerry Wang takes class title in Asia

Fantastic victory for Jerry Wang in GT Asia: the Hong Kong-Chinese driving for Audi customer team Absolute Racing clinched the GTM class title at the season finale of the most important pan-Asian sports car series. A fifth place in class in the first race around the Thai Buriram United International Circuit was sufficient for Wang to wrap up victory in his Audi R8 LMS.

Sébastien Loeb Racing and Saintéloc Racing rejoice

Great joy for two Audi customer teams after the French GT Championship season finale at Le Castellet: Sébastien Loeb Racing celebrated a victory and two other podium finishes, Saintéloc Racing produced the Champion in the junior classification. In the final race of the sports car series, David Hallyday, Philippe Gaillard and Mike Parisy as well as Christophe Hamon, Christian Bottemanne and Lonni Martins, each trio sharing an Audi R8 LMS ultra, perfected the Audi one-two. Hamon/Bottemanne/Martins had already finished second in the first race. Alongside Grégory Guilvert and Marc Sourd, Valentin Simonet took a second and first place in the junior category and ultimately won the class title.

Overall victory at the Utah finale

A successful race weekend with two victories, one of which was a 1-2 result, for the two Audi Sport customer racing teams at the NASA Utah season finale at Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City. DXDT Racing won the first and third races of the event with James Burke behind the wheel of an Audi R8 LMS ultra and teammate David Askew finished third in the second race, a set of results that was enough to crown the team as the overall winners of the event. In the first race, TW Racing finished second with its R8 LMS driven by Derek Wolthoff, a 1-2 result for Audi.

Schmidt third in class at STT season finale

Andreas Schmidt took a podium finish in his category in the Spezial Tourenwagen Trophy (STT) season finale at the Nürburgring. Schmidt tackled the second race in his Audi R8 LMS from fifth positon in class 2 and worked his way up to third place within the 15 race laps. In the first race, Schmidt crossed the line fifth in class.

Car Collection Motorsport drives Audi in 2016

The German team Car Collection Motorsport fields two new Audi R8 LMS in the 2016 season. The team from Walluf in Hessen will contest the 24 Hours of Dubai in January with two of the GT3 sports cars from Ingolstadt. Furthermore, team Boss Peter Schmidt confirmed participation in the entire international endurance championship 24H series. In addition, the team is also negotiating with drivers to race in the Blancpain GT Series and ADAC GT Masters.

Italy welcomes Audi drivers

At the annual historic car exhibition ‘Auto e Moto d’Epoca’ in Padua, visitors admired the great history of the Audi Sport Italia racing team on the Audi Sport Club Italia stand. Its owners Emilio Radaelli and Roberta Gremignani displayed exhibits from more than 30 years of racing and rallying history. Furthermore, motorsport legends were awarded special memberships and honors. Among the numerous guest were the 1984 Rally World Champion Stig Blomqvist, Walter Röhrl’s former co-driver Christian Geistdörfer, former touring car driver Tamara Vidali, Audi factory driver Filipe Albuquerque, Dieter Gass, Head of DTM at Audi Sport and Lamborghini Motorsport Boss Giorgio Sanna.

Great honor for Audi Sport TT Cup runner-up

The season finale of the Audi Sport TT Cup had ended just two days earlier when the second-place finisher in the Audi one-make cup sat in a GT3 race car for an initial test. Audi Sport Team Phoenix provided Nicolaj Møller Madsen with an opportunity to get to know the racing version of the Audi R8. In the morning, the junior tested the proven Audi R8 LMS ultra and in the afternoon he was allowed to drive the brand new Audi R8 LMS which Phoenix had taken over the day before. “We were very pleased to give a young talent this opportunity,” said Team Manager Bernhard Demmer. “The changeable weather had no influence on our test schedule. In rain in the morning and in bright sunshine in the afternoon, Nicolaj was initially able to familiarize himself with the GT3 race car on used tires and to subsequently demonstrate his skills on new tires in qualifying and long-run simulations. He was proud to be one of the first drivers to be sitting in the new race car in the afternoon.” Møller Madsen completed 75 laps in total, in other words 450 kilometers, with Phoenix.

Rahel Frey at ‘Schaffhauser Herbstmesse’

Audi driver Rahel Frey visited the ‘Schaffhauser Herbstmesse.’ At the consumer show in the Swiss town of Schaffhausen, the 29-year-old professional race driver was a guest at the booth of Radio Munot. In an interview, she talked about her season in the Audi R8 LMS, victory in the ADAC GT Masters finale and the upcoming racing event at Shanghai. In fifth place of the standings, the Swiss will be contesting the two final rounds of the season in the Audi R8 LMS Cup in China on the last October weekend.

A word from … Jan Kisiel

Five race victories and by far the most consistent driver in the Audi Sport TT Cup: Jan Kisiel was a dominant force during the inaugural season of the Audi one-make cup and is a well deserving title-winner.

Jan Kisiel, how did you approach the 2015 season in the Audi Sport TT Cup?

I simply wanted to do my best. If someone had told me that I would finish amongst the best three of the Audi one-make cup, I would have been very happy with that.

Your first win was at round three in Spielberg and then the domination began.

Yes, I won my first race in Austria and then managed four wins in succession. Halfway through the season, I took the lead from Nicolaj Møller Madsen and I was determined to keep it that way until the end.

How did you approach the Hockenheim finale?

I came to Hockenheim pretty relaxed. I knew that I had done a great job so far this year by taking as many points as possible. I approached the first race with a clear aim: It was best to have a clever and calculated race, without taking any risks. I always had an eye on Nicolaj and I knew from the calculations that I was safe and could clinch the title with one race to spare.

Do you have any personal goals to further improve your performance?

I want to work on my punctuality. I was late for a number of drivers' meetings and sessions this year. I became known as the one who will probably be late, so one of my goals in future is trying to be on time for appointments during the race weekends.

What are your plans for 2016 and your next steps in motorsport?

I am still finalizing my plans for 2016. It was a very nice experience to be part of the Audi Sport TT Cup in 2015. I would really love to stay in the Audi family. It is an organization with a very nice atmosphere and professional surroundings.

Coming up next week

26/10 René Rast turns 29 years of age
30/10–01/11 Barcelona (E), GT Open, races 13 and 14
31/10 Mike Rockenfeller turns 32 years of age
31/10. Nürburgring (D), VLN, round 10
31/10.–01.11. Shanghai (CN), Audi R8 LMS Cup, races 11 and 12
01/11. Shanghai (CN), WEC, round 7
01/11. Autopolis (J), Super GT, round 7

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