Third consecutive victory for Audi customer team in 25 Hours of Thunderhill
- Flying Lizard Motorsports achieves hat-trick in California
- Podium result in Asian Le Mans Series
- Audi Sport customer racing presents RS 3 LMS in new markets
Audi’s customer team Flying Lizard Motorsports remained unbeaten on Thunderhill race track in third consecutive year.
Audi R8 LMS GT3
Fourth overall victory in five years: Audi Sport customer racing by means of a privateer customer team achieved another endurance racing victory in the 2017 season. Flying Lizard Motorsports remained unbeaten in the 25 Hours of Thunderhill for the third year in succession. The American driver combination of Tom Haacker/Charly Hayes/Darren Law/Nate Stacy won the club sport race in California in an Audi R8 LMS ultra. The customer team from Sonoma, California, had previously won this competition with the German GT3 sports car in the past two years as well so that Audi Sport customer racing’s tally at Thunderhill now reflects four successes in five calendar years.
Second podium in Asian Le Mans Series: Tianshi Racing Team in round two of the 2017/2018 Asian Le Mans Series clinched another trophy. Liu Peng/Weian Chen/Massimiliano Wiser in an Audi R8 LMS took third place in the GT class on the race track at Fuji, Japan.
Audi RS 3 LMS
Presentation in new markets: Audi Sport customer racing has presented the Audi RS 3 LMS in two new racing series. In preparation for the TCR UK to be held for the first time in 2018, a demo day hosted by the organizers attracted 34 prospects to the British race track at Brands Hatch on November 29. Employees of Audi Sport customer racing and Belgian race driver Frédéric Vervisch provided advice and instructions to the drivers who had the opportunity to do up to 20 laps in the 350-hp touring cars with the four rings. The new TCR Las Americas presented itself to the general public and the teams as well. Audi Sport customer racing took the RS 3 LMS to Autódromo Sunix in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic where several thousand spectators watched the tests in which potential Audi customers tested the touring car for the first time as well.
Audi sport customer racing
Accolades for Audi Sport: At the 50th Essen Motor Show, two special-interest magazines recognized Audi Sport. One of the accolades went to Audi Sport campaigner Markus Winkelhock who was presented with the 24-Hour Man of the Year award by Auto Bild Motorsport magazine. The 37-year-old professional race driver won the Nürburgring 24 Hours with Audi for the third time this year and the Spa 24 Hours for the second time. In addition, he mounted the very top of the podium in the Laguna Seca 8 Hours and won the Intercontinental GT Challenge. In all competitions, he shared an Audi R8 LMS with his teammates which Audi Sport customer racing offers as a customer sport race car for the worldwide GT3 category. A second award went to Audi Sport for a high-performance model. The readers of Auto Bild Sportscars selected the Audi RS 3 Sedan as the overall winner in the class of small and compact car production models (combined fuel consumption RS 3 Sedan/RS 3 Sportback: 8.4–8.3 l/100 km, combined CO2 emissions: 192–188 g/km). Marvin Schwätter, Technical Project Leader for the Audi RS 3, received the accolade on behalf of Audi Sport on the occasion of the Race Night hosted by the publisher. With a 400-hp five-cylinder engine, pioneering efficiency and an even sharper look this model is the first compact Audi sedan to bear the RS label and offers a particularly emotive driving experience.
Dates for the next few weeks
Dec 30–31 Guangdong (CN), rounds 13 to 15 TCR China