Successful weekend for the Audi customer teams in Germany and Belgium: In the DMV GTC, the Audi customer team HCB Rutronik celebrated its second victory in succession. In the 24-hour race at Spa, in which the Audi R8 LMS clinched two podium places, Audi welcomed prominent guests.
Audi customer team wins in DMV GTC
Strong performance in the DMV GTC: At the end of the fifth round of the season at the Hockenheimring, Fabian Plentz and Tommy Tulpe in the Audi R8 LMS ultra won the 60-minute race. For the duo from Team HCB Group, this was the second consecutive victory. When the flag fell, the number 29 sports car had a comfortable advantage of 36.463 seconds. In class, André Krumbach and Dietmar Haggenmüller from Team Spirit Racing managed the leap onto the podium in third place. In each of the two previous sprint races, ‘Maximilian Stein’ took second place in class.
To the racetrack with the Audi Sport Racing Bike
Christian Mamerow thoroughly enjoyed himself on the Audi Sport Racing Bike at the Spa 24 Hours, where he cycles from his hotel to the racetrack. With a weight of only 5.8 kilograms, the extremely lightweight carbon-bicycle is a very practical travel companion. “I am a very enthusiastic cyclist,” says Mamerow, who is participating in the endurance classic with an Audi R8 LMS entered by Audi Sport Team Phoenix. “Not only do I train by cycling, but I also use my bike for my daily commute in the city.”
Nicolaj Møller Madsen meets Audi’s Danish Spa 24 Hours duo
Nicolaj Møller Madsen continues to lead the social buzz ranking of the Audi Sport TT Cup. As an acknowledgement, Audi has invited the Dane to visit the Spa 24 Hours. There, the leader of the Audi Sport TT Cup met up with his fellow countrymen Nicki Thiim and Benny Simonsen. Thiim contested the Spa 24 Hours in the Audi R8 LMS of Audi Sport Team Phoenix while Simonsen raced in an R8 LMS ultra for Team Parker Racing.
Belgian celebrities visit Spa
Audi Sport Team WRT had some special female guests during the 24 Hours of Spa. Former tennis player and current TV host Marlène de Wouters and Alizée Poulicek, Miss Belgium 2008, visited the pits of the Belgian team during the race. Charles-Henri Bonnet, the chairman of the Belgian Audi Club, offered the Belgians an exclusive look behind the scenes during the long distance classic.
High demands on Audi Sport customer racing
Rarely before did the Audi Sport customer racing staff have to perform so many tasks as at the Spa 24 Hours. Apart from the sheer number of race cars, the task list was also increasingly complex. In addition to the six previous generation R8 LMS ultra cars, four new Audi R8 LMS cars had to be cared for as well. A total of 10 GT3 race cars run by five teams were looked after by 14 employees of Audi Sport customer racing in the areas of parts logistics and customer racing consultancy. Three semitrailers were loaded with 5,000 different parts in the respective quantities. Each truck transported around tens tons of spare parts – from screws to bodywork. In addition, mechanics, engineers and other staff were on site. The employees in charge of customer relations also welcomed clients from Asia and Australia at Spa, including race drivers Steven McLaughlan and Marc Cini.
Timo Scheider in the spotlight
A week before the DTM round at Spielberg, Austria, Timo Scheider contested an unusual race. In gorgeous weather and in front of a full house at the ‘ZDF Fernsehgarten’ TV show, the two-time DTM Champion raced three laps in an Audi RS 5 DTM across the studio complex against his DTM rival Maximilian Götz. The kicker of the show was that both DTM drivers had prominent passengers who had to peel as many hard-boiled eggs as possible during their speedy ride. The passenger in Scheider’s Audi RS 5 DTM, which sported a special livery on the occasion of Audi Sport’s first participation in the DTM 25 years ago, was pop singer Linda Hesse. Everyone had plenty of reason to be happy after the fun race: the Audi factory driver was the first to cross the finish line and the competition presented the larger number of peeled eggs.
Tom Kristensen at British Senior Open golf tournament
Le Mans record winner Tom Kristensen was a guest at the British Senior Open golf tournament in the UK. In Sunningdale southwest of London, he participated in the ProAm competition before the Major tournament alongside the Swedish golf pro Jesper Parnevik. The ProAm competition featured high-caliber golfers such as Bernhard Langer, Gary Player, Sir Nick Faldo and many others. During the event, the American sports commentator Jim Nantz welcomed the former tennis players Rod Laver and Tim Henman, as well as Tom Kristensen, to an interview session.