• Audi R8 LMS GT3 in front in Germany and Central Europe
  • Victories for the Audi R8 LMS GT4 in Canada, the UK and France
  • Audi RS 3 LMS victorious in Germany, Russia, Canada and China
ADAC GT Masters 2019
Fabian Plentz, Patric Niederhauser, Kelvin van der Linde

All three race cars from the current model range in the customer’s hand came out on top in worldwide motorsport competitions this past racing weekend.

Audi R8 LMS GT3

First victory this season and lead of the standings: The new evolution of the Audi R8 LMS achieved its first victory in the ADAC GT Masters this season. Team HCB-Rutronik Racing, which is just making its debut this season in Germany’s most challenging GT3 racing series, won the first race in the second round at Most. Audi Sport driver Kelvin van der Linde from South Africa and Swiss Patric Niederhauser had started from pole position and went on to score victory with a four-second advantage after one hour of racing. As a result, they also took the lead of the standings, now ranking 17 points ahead of their closest rivals. HCB-Rutronik Racing now leads the teams’ classification as well.

Audi unbeaten in Eset V4 Cup: The Audi R8 LMS remains the measure of all things in the Central European Eset V4 Cup. In round two at the Red Bull Ring, the Pole Mateusz Lisowski from Olimp Racing won both sprint events and achieved second place in the endurance race. The Czech Richard Chlad jr. was unbeatable on the endurance racing distance and clinched second place in the first sprint in the proven Audi R8 LMS ultra.

Second place in challenging competition: Audi Sport Italia contests the GT sprint series at home but now put in a one-off performance at round two of the endurance classification. At Misano, Charles Weerts drove the start in the Audi R8 LMS and advanced from seventh to second position on a wet track. Then the Belgian handed the car over to Norman Nato. The Frenchman lost a position during a pit stop but reclaimed the lost spot on the race track. 18-year-old Charles Weerts took over the GT3 sports car for the final stint, pulled clear of his immediate rival and, after three hours of racing, celebrated a deserved second place together with his teammate, ahead of clearly more experienced entrants such as former Formula One drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Jacques Villeneuve.

First place in China: In the China Endurance Championship season opener at Ningbo, the Audi R8 LMS of the 69 Racing team with drivers Jeffrey Zee, Zhang Zhi Qiang and Wang Han won the GRC class after two separate halves of the race held over a total of 280 minutes.

Audi R8 LMS GT4

Two victories at season opener: The Canadian Touring Car Championship began with two victories of the Audi R8 LMS GT4. On the challenging circuit at Mosport, Parker Thompson from Team Speedstar Motorsport scored overall victory in both races and thus twice in the GT Sport class too.

With compliments from a local restaurateur: In the city race at Pau in Southern France, the Audi R8 LMS GT4 clinched its first two victories this season in the GT4 France racing season. Team IMSA Performance achieved a sensational feat in the process: Michael Blanchemain/Steven Palette started from position 18 on the narrow circuit. Faced with an uncertain weather forecast, they obtained advice from a local restaurateur who had closed his terrace to be on the safe side because he expected heavy rain. Consequently, the team opted for rain tires and drove the Audi R8 LMS GT4 to victory in the race on the late Saturday night. A day later, the title defenders from Saintéloc Racing celebrated their first victory this season. Gregory Guilvert dropped to second position at the start but his teammate, Fabien Michal, subsequently demonstrated all his skills in overtaking previously lapped rivals. With their first victory, Guilvert/Michal took the lead of the standings with an eight-point advantage.

Maiden victory in the British GT: In round two of the British GT at Snetterton, the Steller Performance team celebrated a victory in the GT4 category in their first race with the Audi R8 LMS GT4. The two Britons Richard Williams and Sennan Fielding saw the checkered flag in the first race with a 3.633-second advantage ahead of their closest rivals.

Second place in the Eifel: The Giti Tire Motorsport team achieved a podium finish in the qualification race for the 24-hour race. The Chinese Xiaole and Li Fei shared an Audi R8 LMS GT4 with Sunny Wong and Andy Yan from Hong Kong and crossed the finish line in second place of the SP8 classification.

Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)

Second victory this season: Antti Buri returned from the second race weekend of the ADAC TCR Germany with his second winner’s trophy. On the circuit at Most in the Czech Republic, the Finn in the Audi RS 3 LMS, as previously at Oschersleben, won the second race of the event. The 30-year-old privateer driver prevailed against Honda driver Bradley Burns with a spectacular overtaking maneuver on the last lap.

Two Audi victories in the TCR Russia: In the second round of the TCR Russia at Nizhny Novgorod, the Audi RS 3 LMS was the car to be beaten. In the first race, Klim Gavrilov with the VRC team started from pole position and went on to score his first victory this season. Victory in the second race went to Aleksej Dudukalo from Lukoil Racing Team, who, as a result, is now in second position of the standings. With 20 entrants, the TCR Russia is a particularly strong national TCR racing series. Audi is represented in the field with six RS 3 LMS cars entered by different customers.

Two successes in Canada: The new season of the Canadian Touring Car Championship began with two victories for Audi Sport customer racing. At Mosport, Matthew Taskinen in an Audi RS 3 LMS from M1GT Racing won the TCR classification in the first race. His fellow Audi driver, Travis Hill from TWOth Autosport, completed the podium in third place. In the second race, the Audi RS 3 LMS celebrated a one-two-three success: Matthew Taskinen won again while second place went to Travis Hill ahead of Jean-François Hevey (M1 GT Racing).

One-two in China: Guangdong Racing in the China Endurance Championship season opener at Ningbo scored a one-two result with the Audi RS 3 LMS in the touring car class. Drivers Xie Sen and Wang Jie finished in the top spot ahead of their teammates, Sun Jun Long, Liang Zhi Wie and Zhou Bao Long.

Second place in season opener: The inaugural season of the TCR Japan sprint racing series began with a customer success for Audi Sport. In round one on the circuit at Autopolis, Takuro Shinohara in second place on a wet track had to admit defeat by only one second. His Audi RS 3 LMS is fielded by the long-standing Japanese Audi customer team Hitotsuyama Racing.

Position two at the Nürburgring: The Bonk Motorsport customer team celebrated a success in the qualification race for the Nürburgring 24 Hours. Hermann Bock and Max Partl finished runners-up in the SP3T class. The Audi RS 3 LMS of the squad based in Münster was the fastest front-wheel drive race car in this class.

Podium finish at Misano: Enrico Bettera as the best Audi privateer driver clinched a podium finish in the second round of the TCR Italy. The Italian Gentleman driver as the runner-up in the first race had to admit defeat in his Audi RS 3 LMS by only 1.2 seconds.

First trophy in the TCR Eastern Europe: For the first time this season, a customer of Audi Sport customer racing stood on the podium in the TCR Eastern Europe powered by ESET. In the second event of the season at the Red Bull Ring, Serbian Rudi Pesovic in an Audi RS 3 LMS from AMSK GM Racing in the second sprint clinched third place in the field of ten entrants.

Audi Sport Seyffarth R8 LMS Cup

A visit to Formula One at School: The “Formula One at School” technology competition visited the “Autostadt Wolfsburg” in the middle of May. The event also gave the 11- to 19-year-old participants the opportunity to admire a real race car – the Audi R8 LMS GT4, the car fielded in the Audi Sport Seyffarth R8 LMS Cup. The students themselves had developed miniature race cars on the computer, built and entered them in racing. The best student teams can look forward to a trip to the world championship in Abu Dhabi. Two other promising teams received an invitation in Wolfsburg to visit a race weekend in the Audi Sport Seyffarth R8 LMS Cup.

Coming up next week

24–25/05 Brno (CZ), round 4, 24H Series

24–25/05 Red Bull Ring (A), rounds 5 and 6, DMV GTC

24–26/05 Hockenheim (D), rounds 3 and 4, TCR Europe

24–26/05 Hockenheim (D), rounds 3 and 4, TCR Benelux

25/05 Goiânia (BR), round 2, Endurance Brasil

25–26/05 Hockenheim (D), rounds 3 and 4, International GT Open

25–26/05 Hockenheim (D), rounds 3 and 4, GT Open Cup

25–26/05 Suzuka (J), round 3, Super GT

25–26/05 Alcañiz (E), round 2, Campeonato de España de Resistencia

26/05 Wakefield (AUS), rounds 1 and 2, CAMS NSW Production Sports Car Championship

– End –