Audi R8 LMS GT2
Customers gain further experience in Zhuhai: Audi Sport customer racing Asia continued its tour of China with the Audi R8 LMS GT2 on the Zhuhai circuit. The long-standing customer teams TSRT and Zun Motorsport used the opportunity on the southern Chinese circuit to familiarize potential customers with Audi Sport customer racing’s most powerful sports car. Audi Sport Asia driver Chen Weian from China was on hand to collect data on reference laps and to personally introduce the interested drivers to the GT2 sports car.
Audi R8 LMS GT4
Second victory of the season in America: Team CarBahn with Peregrine Racing celebrated its second victory of the season in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. The reigning champions Tyler McQuarrie/Jeff Westphal, who won a race in the Audi R8 LMS GT4 for the first time this season at Sebring in July, were once again at the top of the podium at the ninth event at Laguna Seca. Westphal managed a photo finish after a catch-up race: 25 minutes before the end of the race, the 34-year-old American was still in fourth place. Then he overtook two of the front runners on the Californian circuit. On the last lap of the two-hour race, he fought a battle over several corners at centimeter intervals with the previously leading Aston Martin and won by 0.757 seconds. McQuarrie/Westphal are second in the championship before the final race at Sebring in two weeks time, 15 points behind.
Amateur title success: Two second places at the finale in Barcelona were enough for Daniel Díaz-Varela and Manel Cerqueda to win the amateur classification in the GT Cup Open Europe for the first time in the Audi R8 LMS GT4. They finished in front of ten other drivers in the standings and were second in the overall classification. The Spaniard and the Andorran have been driving the Audi R8 LMS GT4 of the Spanish team Baporo Motorsport since last year. This year, they achieved one victory, six second places and one third position in the European racing series.
Second place in the Lausitz: In the ADAC GT4 Germany, the T3-HRT-Motorsport team achieved a podium result with the Audi R8 LMS GT4 on the fifth race weekend. With two red flags and a safety car, the conditions at the Lausitzring were challenging as the track dried up and twilight fell on Sunday. William Tregurtha/Hugo Sasse had started the race in sixth place. The British-German driver combination improved to second place in the one-hour competition. After finishing third at the Sachsenring at the beginning of October, the driver team thus achieved its best result to date with the Audi R8 LMS GT4.
Two victories in club racing: Sophie Hofmann achieved two victories in the Audi R8 LMS GT4 in the Norddeutscher ADAC Börde Tourenwagen Cup. In the first sprint at Oschersleben, she won her class and finished fourth overall, and in the second sprint she even took overall victory.
Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)
Class title in the FIA WTCR: Team Comtoyou Racing celebrated an early title win in the FIA WTCR. The Belgian Gilles Magnus in the Audi RS 3 LMS is uncatchable in the rookie classification after five of six events. In 13 individual races since September, the talent has won the class for young drivers ten times and built up a 130-point lead before the finale in Adria. He celebrated three of his class victories on November 1 at the fifth race weekend in Aragón. There, with third place overall in the first race, he also achieved the best result of the four Audi privateers competing in Spain. Magnus also won the TAG Heuer Best Lap Trophy for the fastest lap of the weekend. With five young drivers, almost a quarter of all FIA WTCR starters is participating in the rookie classification this year. For the Audi RS 3 LMS it is already the sixth class title in the current season and the 31st success of its kind overall. Gilles Magnus is 21 years old and in December 2018 he won a selection competition organized by the Belgian automobile club RACB in cooperation with Audi Sport in Neuburg. After a season in TCR Europe, he has been promoted to the FIA WTCR this year. In the FIA WTCR Trophy classification for private drivers, Magnus holds second place before the finale, followed by his teammates Nathanaël Berthon and Tom Coronel.
Second victory of the season in Japan: The private Audi team Waimarama Kizuna Racing won the TCR class in the third round of the Super Taikyu Series in Japan. Having already won the season opener, the team fought a close battle with Honda Team Floral Racing on the third race weekend in Okayama. One element of success was the first pit stop, during which the Audi customer team used a safety car phase to minimize the time loss. After three hours of racing, Kizuna/Katsumasa Chiyo/Hironobu Yasuda/Riki Okusa in the Audi RS 3 LMS won by 4.099 seconds. This increased their lead in the standings from five points to eight at the halfway point of the season. Third place went to another team that relies on the RS 3 LMS: Audi Team Mars was on the podium with Taketoshi Matsui/Masanobu Kato/Masato Shimoyama/Yousuke Yamazaki.
Second place at Laguna Seca: Gavin Ernstone and Jon Morley finished second in the ninth round of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge in the USA. After two hours of racing they were 9.3 seconds behind at Laguna Seca. The two drivers share an Audi RS 3 LMS from the Road Shagger Racing team and, as the best Audi team before the finale, are third in the standings.
Coming up next week
06–08/11 Austin (USA), round 6, Trans Am
06–08/11 Oschersleben (D), rounds 13 and 14, ADAC GT Masters
06–08/11 Oschersleben (D), rounds 11 and 12, ADAC GT4 Germany
06–08/11 Hockenheim (D), rounds 5 and 6, GTC Race
06–08/11 Hockenheim (D), rounds 11 and 12, DTM Trophy
06–08/11 Jarama (E), rounds 11 and 12, TCR Europe
06–08/11 Lédenon (F), rounds 9 and 10, GT4 France
06–08/11 Monza (I), rounds 9 and 10, TCR Italy
06–08/11 Monza (I), round 4, Campionato Italiano GT Endurance
07/11 Highlands (NZ), New Zealand Endurance Championship
07/11 Zwartkops (ZA), rounds 5 and 6, G&H Transport Extreme Supercars
07–08/11 Motegi (J), round 7, Super GT
07–08/11 Barcelona (E), round 4, Campeonato de España Resistencia
07–08/11 Silverstone (GB), round 6, British GT
