Audi Sport TT Cup with prominent guests at Zandvoort

Audi Sport TT Cup

A prince, a racing driver and an actor: From August 18 to 20, three drivers will attract special attention in the Audi Sport TT Cup at Zandvoort. Prince Bernhard van Oranje will be on the grid once again, one year after his debut as a guest driver with Audi. The noble is the second son of Pieter van Vollenhoven and Margriet van Oranje-Nassau, the Princess of the Netherlands. A second local driver also has the best credentials to inspire the fans on the circuit in the dunes: Giedo van der Garde has represented his country in various categories of motorsport up to Formula One, winning the ELMS sports car series last year and is well renowned among the motorsport audience in his homeland. The numerous German fans who traditionally travel to Zandvoort will discover a familiar face from television in the paddock during the fourth race weekend of the Audi Sport TT Cup. Daniel Roesner changes from his role of chief inspector Renner from the RTL series “Alarm für Cobra 11” and gets into a race seat. The 33-year-old actor is well accustomed to action: Daniel Roesner does many of his own stunts during the filming of the television show.

Audi R8 LMS (GT3)

Debut victory in the Eifel: The success in the Sunday race of the ADAC GT Masters at the Nürburgring for Markus Pommer, as well as for the Audi customer team Aust Motorsport, was their first race win in the German sports car series. A very good pit stop allowed Pommer to take the lead ahead of the field. Pommer’s teammate Kelvin van der Linde, who won the 24-hour race at the same venue in an Audi R8 LMS in May, laid the foundation for the debut win. The strong result for Audi in the tenth race of the season was emphasised by the German-Swiss duo of Christopher Haase and Jeffrey Schmidt from Montaplast by Land-Motorsport in third place.

IMSA podium at Road America: The Stevenson Motorsports duo of Andrew Davis and Lawson Aschenbach mounted the GTD class podium once more in the ninth round of the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Road America. Starting from fifth, the driver pairing in their Audi R8 LMS finished third in class, less than four seconds behind the class winners after over 160 minutes of racing. Davis and Aschenbach also hold third place in the GTD class drivers’ standings. 

Victory at Shanghai: The Tianshi Racing Team celebrated an overall and class win during the second race weekend of the GT Masters China at the Shanghai International Circuit. The team’s drivers Max Wiser and Peng Liu piloted their Audi R8 LMS ultra to victory in the second heat, after also having stood on the podium in the first race, wherein they finished third overall. Their teammates Chen Weian and Jiao Peng in an Audi R8 LMS won the GTC class in the first race, ahead of brand colleagues Jeffery Zee and Zhang Zhijiang for an Audi 1-2 in class. Zee and Zhijiang then finished runner-up in class in the second heat.

Podium results Down Under: Audi customers enjoyed podium results in the third race weekend of the Australian GT Trophy Series at Queensland Raceway. Rod Salmon and Steven McLaughlan finished second and third respectively in the first sprint race, both driving Audi R8 LMS ultra cars. Salmon then climbed onto the podium again after finishing third in the second race. McLaughlan leads the drivers’ standings with a total of 518 points after three of five race weekends, ahead of Salmon who has 427 points. 

Another win on the Canary Islands: Luis Monzón Artiles won the “Subida a Barlovento” hillclimb event on the Canary Islands, an event that is part of the Canary Islands Hillclimb Championship. He was behind the wheel of an Audi R8 LMS ultra from Auto-Laca Competición.

Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)

1-2 victory in the Eifel: After the third place in the first ADAC TCR Germany race at the Nürburgring achieved by the Dutchman Niels Langeveld in an Audi RS 3 LMS from the Racing One team, the brand with the four rings was once again in form on Sunday: Antti Buri (LMS Racing) won the second race after moving forward from second place on the grid thanks to a good start, finishing the race on top, for the first time this season. Behind Buri, the 18-year-old South African Sheldon van der Linde (AC 1927 Mayen e.V. im ADAC) finished runner-up, successfully defending against the attacks from his pursuers. 

Three victories in TCR China: The season opener of the new TCR China Series saw the New Faster Team taking a clean sweep. The Audi customer team won the weekend’s first sprint race with Huang Chu Han taking victory in an Audi RS 3 LMS ahead of his teammate Andy Yan in third place. Yan then won the second sprint race and he also took victory in the 60-minute race one day later. 

Podium in Smolensk: At the fifth race weekend of the TCR Russia Series, Irek Minnakhmetov finished third in the second race of the weekend. The Russian was driving an Audi RS 3 LMS from the STK Chingiskhan team. 

Hot laps for charity: The nine-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen took to the streets of Copenhagen behind the wheel of an Audi RS 3 LMS during the Copenhagen Historic Grand Prix. During the two-day event, the Dane took passengers for hot laps in the TCR race car in the “Race for Riget” charity event for the “Rigshospitalet” hospital. The Audi R18 e-tron quattro with which Tom Kristensen won his ninth Le Mans 24 Hours in 2013 was also on display alongside the Audi RS 3 LMS. 

Ten Audi RS 3 LMS for the Adria International Raceway: The Adria International Raceway in Italy has acquired ten Audi RS 3 LMS cars. Mario Altoè, Director of the circuit south of Venice, received the first five TCR racing cars with the four rings on July 19 in Neuburg an der Donau. “We are delighted to deliver race cars for the first time to a track operator who is closely connected to TCR touring car racing and who is planning some exciting projects for the future,” says Chris Reinke, Head of Audi Sport customer racing. At Adria, there is already today a TCR International Academy for junior talents, and on October 28 and 29, the best TCR drivers from the continent will fight for the European crown at the TCR Trophy Europe – a single event on the Adria International Raceway.

Dates for next week

11–13/08 Utah (USA), Pirelli World Challenge SprintX/TC 7th and 8th rounds

11–13/08 Karlskoga (S), TCR Scandinavia 13th to 15th rounds

11–13/08 Karlskoga (S), Swedish GT Championship 5th and 6th rounds