Audi Sport customers celebrate titles in Thailand and Russia
- B-Quik Racing wins teams’ classification in Thailand Super Series
- Dmitry Bragin champion in TCR Russia
- Four championship runners-up in Germany
On the customer racing map, two nations have enhanced the track record of Audi Sport customer racing. For the first time, the brand has been involved in title successes with the Audi R8 LMS in Thailand and the Audi RS 3 LMS in Russia.
Audi R8 LMS (GT3)
First title win in Thailand: Audi customer team B-Quik Racing has won the teams’ classification in the Thailand Super Series for the first time. Daniel Bilski in the Audi R8 LMS came third in round one of the Super Car GTM Plus class. In round three of the finale, the Australian on a wet track at Buriram clinched his first victory in this category this season. Team director and teammate Henk Kiks from the Netherlands in position four completed this result in another Audi R8 LMS and was pleased about the title win in the teams’ classification.
Two runners-up in ADAC GT Masters: The Audi customer teams achieved two second places in the final classifications at the ADAC GT Masters finale. Team Montaplast by Land-Motorsport took second place in the teams’ standings after having achieved two podium finishes at Hockenheim. Last year’s champions Christopher Mies/Connor De Phillippi as the runners-up in race one only had to admit defeat by 0.834 seconds. Their teammates, Christopher Haase/Jeffrey Schmidt, at the wheel of another Audi R8 LMS took third place in race two. As a result, the Swiss Jeffrey Schmidt is “vice-champion” in the Juniors classification. In the overall standings, Mies/De Phillippi are in position three.
One-two-three results and lead of the standings at Shanghai: The fifth weekend of the Blancpain GT Series Asia at Shanghai was a resounding success for the Audi teams. Marchy Lee and Shaun Thong in the Audi R8 LMS of Team Audi Hong Kong celebrated their second victory this season. The podium in race one was completed by the OD Racing team with Aditya Patel/Mitchell Gilbert and Alex Au/Alex Yoong from the Audi R8 LMS Cup team. In race two, Au/Yoong clinched second place in front of Patel/Gilbert. Before the finale at the Chinese circuit of Zhejiang on October 21 and 22, Marchy Lee and Shaun Thong have taken the lead of the standings with a four-point advantage.
Second place at Vallelunga: Benoît Tréluyer/Vittorio Ghirelli on the sixth race weekend of the Italian GT Championship clinched a podium place for Audi Sport Italia. In race two at Vallelunga near Rome, the Franco-Italian driver combination in the Audi R8 LMS fought back from fifth to second place and crossed the finish line 2.3 seconds behind the winners.
Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)
Title win in Russia: Dmitry Bragin has won the TCR Russia for the second consecutive time. He decided the final race at the Kazanring in Tatarstan in the Audi RS 3 LMS in his favor, winning the title as a result. This is the first title win involving the Audi RS 3 LMS in its debut season. The Russian race driver from Team Taif Motorsport relied on an Audi at four events and was sitting in a Seat in three rounds. In round one at the Kazanring, Irek Minnakhmetov in position two clinched another podium result of an Audi driver.
Victory in the TCR Benelux: Lorenzo Donniacuo at round five of the TCR Benelux won the first sprint race with Team Bas Koeten Racing, achieving a 1.9-second advantage in the Audi RS 3 LMS on the Belgian circuit at Mettet. His teammate, Mika Morien, on coming third in the third sprint race, scored another podium for the Dutch outfit.
Two runners-up in ADAC TCR Germany: In the 2017 season, Audi customer teams with the Audi RS 3 LMS immediately established themselves at the front of the fiercely competitive ADAC TCR Germany’s field of 40 entrants. In the series’ finale at Hockenheim, two Audi privateer drivers, Austrian Max Hofer in second place and his immediate rival, Niels Langeveld, mounted the podium. As a result, Hofer secured the runner-up’s spot in the teams’ classification for the AC 1927 Mayen e.V. im ADAC squad. Austrian Simon Reicher from Certainty Racing Team in another Audi RS 3 LMS took second place in the final classification of the Rookie Challenge.
A trophy in Italy: On the sixth race weekend of the TCR Italy, Massimiliano Mugelli achieved a podium result at Vallelunga. In the Audi RS 3 LMS of Team Pit Lane Competizioni, the Italian came third in race two.
Podium place on the Nordschleife: The driver trio of Håkon Schjærin, Atle Gulbrandsen and Kenneth Ostvold clinched its next trophy in round seven of the VLN Endurance Championship Nürburgring. The three Norwegians in the Audi RS 3 LMS crossed the finish line in position three of the TCR classification. Previously, the Nordic driver squad had scored a victory, a second and a third place at the Nürburgring in the 2017 season.
Dates for next week
30/09–01/10 Barcelona (E), round 5, Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup
30/09 Ruapuna (NZ), round 2, South Island Endurance Series
30/09–01/10 Phillip Island (AUS), round 5, Victorian State Circuit Racing Championships