Audi Motorsport Newsletter 38/2016

Mapelli and Vanthoor on podium in Italy

In the finale of the Italian GT Championship season at Mugello, Marco Mapelli and Laurens Vanthoor in the Audi R8 LMS of Team Audi Sport Italia clinched third place in both races. As a result, Marco Mapelli ended the season as runner-up in the Italian Super GT3 Championship, trailing Italians Stefano Gai and Mirko Venturi. Third place in the standings went to Felipe Albuquerque, who had to skip the finale due to a WEC commitment in Japan. In the GT3 classification, Mathias Russo and Emanuele Zonzini in the Audi R8 LMS ultra ended the season in second place of the standings as well, trailing Federico Leo and Eddie Cheever.

HCB-Rutronik Racing wins two titles

In the DMV GTC season finale at Oschersleben, Fabian Plentz in the Audi R8 LMS of Audi’s customer team HCB-Rutronik Racing achieved a commanding victory in race two. As a result, Plentz secured the overall title in the DMV GTC with a 28-point advantage. His teammate Tommy Tulpe finished the season in third place of the standings. In the Dunlop 60 Championship held as part of the DMV GTC supporting program, Tommy Tulpe and Fabian Plentz in the Audi R8 LMS just barely missed a podium place in the finale, but with an advantage of 4.75 points jointly won the title.

Max Edelhoff wins rookie title

Title success for Max Edelhoff: In spite of a retirement in the season finale at Brno, the 20-year-old junior driver finished the season in the 24H International Endurance Series as Rookie Champion. Edelhoff had driven an Audi R8 LMS of Team Car Collection Motorsport.

Audi R8 LMS Cup: victories by Rahel Frey and Alessio Picariello

On the penultimate weekend of the Audi R8 LMS Cup in Taiwan, Rahel Frey celebrated a dominant victory in race one. The Swiss overtook pole sitter Alex Yoong in turn one and extended her lead to more than twelve seconds by the end of the race. Second place went to Alessio Picariello ahead of Martin Rump. Title defender Alex Yoong who contested the race with 50 kilograms of additional weight claimed fourth place following an incident of body contact. In the second race, Alessio Picariello achieved his first victory in the Audi R8 LMS Cup, beating Rahel Frey and Alex Yoong to the checkered flag by a narrow margin. As a result, Picariello will be traveling to the season finale at Shanghai (November 4–5) as the new leader of the standings with a three-point advantage over Alex Yoong. Rahel Frey is ranked in third place of the standings with a 14-point deficit.

FIA World Rallycross Championship: Ekström takes Hamburg by storm

Mattias Ekström stopped in Hamburg with his EKS rallycross team. Before round eleven of the FIA World Rallycross Championship at the Estering, Ekström visited the northern German metropolis to attend a media day, thrilling countless onlookers, but not only them. Hamburg singer and actor Lotto King Karl was invited to sit in the passenger’s seat of the Audi S1 EKS RX quattro and did a few laps together with the Swede. The stadium announcer of the Bundesliga soccer club Hamburger SV was obviously enthralled by the 560-hp rallycross super car in which Ekström secured an early World Championship title win at the Estering.

Tom Kristensen at World Final of the Audi quattro Cup

Tom Kristensen visited the finals of the world’s largest amateur tournament series in golf. From October 6–10, the best 56 teams from the 750 previous tournaments met for the World Final of the Audi quattro Cup in Spain. At the Real Club de Golf El Prat in Barcelona, the nine-time Le Mans winner greeted the golfers, as well as former professional soccer player Hasan “Brazzo” Salihamidžić.

Renowned support for Audi Sport Team Rosberg

Audi Sport Team Rosberg had a special and, at the same time, familiar supporter in its ranks during the DTM finale at Hockenheim. Former Formula 1 Champion Keke Rosberg, who founded the team based in Neustadt, would not miss the opportunity to keep his fingers crossed on site for his squad headed by team boss Arno Zensen. Although Rosberg takes a back seat in running the outfit’s daily business, he occasionally stands at the command post and provides some impetus. His son, Nico, started his motorsport career in his father’s team and currently has good chances of winning the title in the Formula 1 World Championship.

Track tour with Tom Kristensen

Several journalists were treated to a tour of the track with Le Mans record winner Tom Kristensen during the DTM finale at Hockenheim. The group of ten media representatives from Russia covered all the key sections of the 4.574-kilometer Hockenheim ring on scooters. During the stops in between, Kristensen kept providing detailed insight into the meticulous set-up of the DTM cars and revealed tips for the optimum driving style. The Dane himself competed for Audi in the DTM between 2004 and 2011, celebrating a total of four victories.

Apprentices create trophy for Audi Sport TT Cup

In the season finale of the Audi Sport TT Cup at the Hockenheimring, Joonas Lappalainen was crowned champion. He received an impressive trophy: with a height of 72 centimeters and a weight of 15 kilograms. Based on a detailed 3D design, Audi apprentices in Neckarsulm cut the trophy from an aluminum block using a CNC lathe.

Champion in Audi Sport TT Cup to receive promotion

Joonas Lappalainen has reason to be happy not only about the title in Audi Sport TT Cup and a big trophy. As in the inaugural season, the best young driver in the Audi one-make cup will receive support for his future motorsport career. This year, the overall winner in the Audi Sport TT Cup will be granted a development opportunity worth 150,000 euros within Audi Sport customer racing’s customer sport program, which has been expanded by including the TCR.

A word from … Mattias Ekström

The two-time DTM Champion after his early win of the 2016 FIA World Rallycross Championship at the Estering.

How does it feel to be a world champion?

I’m overjoyed! Becoming world champion even before the last race is a great feeling. And I’m incredibly proud of my whole EKS squad. I’d also like to thank my employer, Audi Sport. My bosses gave me permission to compete at the Estering in order to maximize my chances of winning the title. That couldn’t be taken for granted and I’m very, very thankful for it. Hopefully, I can put a smile on their faces with my world championship title, too.

How did things go at the Estering from your point of view?

My Audi S1 EKS RX quattro, just like it’s been the whole year, was fantastic again at the Estering. Our goal was to clinch the title early. That’s why I may have been driving a little more conservatively than usual – you could see that in the finale at the start and in turn one. But, fortunately, it worked out anyway because Petter (Solberg) only came in second place and Johan (Kristoffersson) had a puncture in the finale.

Is the world championship title worth more than your two DTM titles?

Becoming world champion is definitely really special – I’ve never been one before in my career. My titles and victories with Audi Sport in the DTM are extremely valuable too. But the special aspect of this world championship title is the fact that we started from scratch three years ago. There was nothing in October 2013. Only few people can imagine what my team, EKS, and I have built in this period of time.

Did you follow the DTM finale at Hockenheim from Estering as well?

Of course! I was in contact with my guys at Hockenheim the whole time. After the DTM race, they immediately sent me a photo with congratulations by WhatsApp. I’m happy that Abt clinched the teams’ championship without me and Audi Sport the manufacturers’ title. It’s a shame that Edo (Mortara) was lacking four points to clinch the drivers’ title in the end. Anyone who saw the way he drove at Hockenheim knows that he would have deserved the title. In any case, he’s champion of the hearts in my book! I love the way he fights.

What’s coming up next?

We’re going to seriously celebrate the world championship title and recharge our batteries a little as well. Then we’re going to prepare our two Audi S1 EKS RX quattro cars for the finale in Argentina and try to become team world champions at Rosario on November 26 and 27 as well.

Coming up next week

19–20/10 Shanghai (CN), races 11 and 12, GT Asia
21–22/10 Estoril (P), round 6, GT3 Le Mans Cup
22/10 Nürburgring (D), round 10, VLN