Victory for all three Audi Sport customer racing models

Audi R8 LMS GT3

Perfect showing in the United Kingdom: The second race weekend in the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup went perfectly for the customer teams of Audi Sport at Brands Hatch. Belgian Dries Vanthoor and his British driver colleague Will Stevens won race one in the Audi R8 LMS for Belgian Audi Club Team WRT. Their teammates, Alex Riberas/Christopher Mies, trailed them with a gap of 1.195 seconds in second position. In round two, the Audi R8 MS even achieved a 1-2-3 win, with another British campaigner, Stuart Leonard, claiming victory. He shared the cockpit with Frédéric Vervisch. Half a second later, Riberas/Mies took second place once again. Third position went to Steijn Schothorst/Kelvin van der Linde who four weeks earlier had scored their first win with Team Attempto Racing in the opener at Zolder. Stuart Leonard is leading the standings with a 1.5-point advantage ahead of van der Linde/Schothorst. Riberas/Mies are ranked in position three.

Victory and podium places in Australia: In round two of the Victorian State Circuit Racing Championships on the circuit of Phillip Island, Vince Muriti clinched his first victory this season. The Australian in his Audi R8 LMS ultra won race one in the Australian state of Victoria, achieved second place in round two and, finishing the following competition in third position, secured another trophy. Ryan How as the runner-up in race three was another customer of Audi Sport to finish on podium. 

Audi R8 LMS GT4

To be continued: As previously in the GT4 European Cup season opener, Milan Dontje and Nicolaj Møller Madsen again won a race in the second event at Brands Hatch. Both were promoted from the Audi Sport TT Cup. In race one, the Dutch-Danish pairing prevailed in a field of 46 GT4 entrants in the Audi R8 LMS GT4 of Team Phoenix Racing.

Trophies for three nations: In the inaugural event of the new Audi Sport Seyffarth R8 LMS Cup, a strong international driver trio outperformed the competition. 29-year-old Kris Heidorn from Wunstorf, Germany, won both races ahead of Bartosz Paziewski from Poland. Third place on both occasions was clinched by up-and-coming Hungarian driver Vivien Keszthelyi who was promoted from the Audi Sport TT Cup. 

Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)

Audi RS 3 LMS dominates at Mid-Ohio: Team Compass Racing remains unbeaten in the TCR class of the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge. Following successes at Daytona and Sebring, the squad celebrated its third success in race three of the season at Mid-Ohio. Rodrigo Sales/Kuno Wittmer won ahead of their teammates, Britt Casey Jr./Tom Long. Roy Block/Pierre Kleinubing completed the 1-2-3 win for Karl Thomson’s team. Three other Audi RS 3 LMS cars in the following positions meant a 1-2-3-4-5-6 result for the entry-level touring car with the four rings.

Two trophies at Smolenskring: Customer teams of Audi Sport clinched two trophies in Russia. Last year’s champion Dmitry Bragin on the second race weekend of the TCR Russia won race one in the Audi RS 3 LMS of Team Taif Motorsport. In race two, Aleksey Dudukalo from Lukoil Racing Team placed third, so taking the lead of the standings in the Audi RS 3 LMS. 

Podium for Jean-Karl Vernay: Leopard Lukoil Team has returned from the opening round of the TCR Europe at Le Castellet with a trophy. Frenchman Jean-Karl Vernay in a field of 25 entrants clinched second place in his Audi RS 3 LMS. After 46 minutes of racing on the high-speed track in Southern France, he had to admit defeat in race two by only one second. 

Longest track on the calendar: Round three of the season is coming up for the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup. As part of the supporting program of the 24-hour race at the Nürnburgring the drivers will contest three races on the 25.378-kilometer track in the Eifel. In addition to the three Audi Sport campaigners Gordon Shedden, Jean-Karl Vernay and Frédéric Vervisch, Nathanaël Berthon, Denis Dupont and Aurélien Panis are relying on the Audi RS 3 LMS. A guest entrant has been attracting plenty of attention even before the race: DTM Champion René Rast is switching to the Audi RS 3 LMS for one event. Like Frédéric Vervisch he is facing an intensive weekend as both, in addition to three touring car sprints, will be contesting the 24-hour race in an Audi R8 LMS as well.

Coming up next week

10–13/05 Nürburgring (D), Nürburgring 24 Hours

10–12/05 Nürburgring (D), rounds 7 to 9, WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup

11–12/05 Nürburgring (D), rounds 3 and 4, Audi Sport R8 LMS Cup

12–13/05 Sandown (AUS), round 3, Australian GT Championship

12–13/05 Buriram (THA), rounds 3 and 4, Blancpain GT Series Asia

12–13/05 Le Castellet (F), rounds 3 and 4, Italian GT Championship

12–13/05 Le Castellet (F), rounds 3 and 4, TCR Italy

11–13/05 Oschersleben (D), rounds 3 and 4, Spezial Tourenwagen Trophy

11–13/05 Pau (F), rounds 3 and 4, GT4 France

11–13/05 Zhuhai (CN), rounds 1 and 2, GT China

12/05 Sandown Park (AUS), round 2, Australian GT Trophy Series

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