Audi R8 LMS GT2
Excitement in the title fight: After their fourth victory of the season, Peter Guelinckx/Stienes Longin are back in full title contention ahead of the GT2 European Series finale. Just like their main opponents in the Pro-Am classification – the championship leaders Anthony Beltoise and Henry Hassid – they are relying on an Audi R8 LMS GT2. On the fifth race weekend at Valencia, Beltoise/Hassid initially found the better rhythm. The Audi of the Italian team LP Racing pulled away from its pursuers from pole position and led for 14 laps. After the mandatory pit stop, Beltoise/Hassid were second and maintained their position until the finish. Meanwhile, Peter Guelinckx slid into the gravel on an opponent’s oil at the start but was able to continue his drive. In the end, the PK Carsport Audi recorded fifth place. In the second race, Peter Guelinckx/Stienes Longin were not fazed by a red flag, a safety car or the slippery track surface and won by one second. Although the Audi had crossed the finish line in third place, the Mercedes-AMG in first place and the Audi of LP Racing in second place were retroactively imposed compensation times. The reason: race control had to interrupt the action with the red flag during the pit stops of these two competitors because a competitor had come to a halt in a dangerous position after spinning. Beltoise/Hassid lead the Pro-Am standings before the finale at Le Castellet by just two points ahead of Guelinckx/Longin.
Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)
Spectacular success in America: Team Unitronic/JDC Miller MotorSports celebrated a last-minute victory in the tenth round of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. South African Mikey Taylor overtook Robert Wickens’ Hyundai in the Audi RS 3 LMS in a daring maneuver on the outside of Turn 7 of the Indianapolis circuit shortly before the end of the 4-hour race. As a result, Taylor, who shares the Audi with Chris Miller, won by 1.1 seconds. After their second consecutive win of the season and their third in total, Miller/Taylor are second in the TCR standings before the finale at Road Atlanta, just 20 points behind Wickens and Harry Gottsacker, with the series awarding 350 points for a win. In the manufacturers standings, Audi is best of four brands.
Class victory at the 24-hour race: The Wolf-Power Racing team celebrated victory in the TCR category at the finale of the 24H Series powered by Hankook European Series. Miklas Born/Roberto Ferri/Jasmin Preisig/Ivars Vallers managed their first victory with the Audi RS 3 LMS over this distance at the Barcelona 24 Hours. At the finish they were four laps ahead. While Jasmin Preisig thus won the Ladies Cup of the TCE standings, the Swiss Wolf-Power Racing team finished the TCR annual standings in second place.
Podium results in Italy: Franco Girolami crossed the finish line in first place in the turbulent first race at Monza on the fourth race weekend of the TCR Italy. However, after a penalty for overtaking under yellow flags the Argentinean in the Audi RS 3 LMS of Aikoa Racing dropped back to ninth position. The best driver of an Audi was thus Felice Jelmini from the PMA Motorsport team in second place. In the second race, Girolami improved from eighth to second place. He was just 1.4 seconds behind the winning Honda driver Niels Langeveld, who now leads the standings with a seven-point advantage over Girolami. In the DSG classification of the race series for race cars with dual-clutch transmissions, Audi recorded one one-two-three win and one one-two win in which Vedat Ali Dalokay from Bitci Racing Team AMS was the best driver in each case. The race driver from Turkey leads the DSG standings in his Audi RS 3 LMS with a 92-point advantage.
Two top results in Denmark: Mike Halder in the Audi RS 3 LMS enjoyed a good sixth race weekend in TCR Denmark. The German won the second race at Padborg from pole position with an advantage of 2.4 seconds. In the third race, which was held under floodlights, Halder initially lost a place to Hyundai driver Martin Andersen at the start but made up for it. With a gap of just half a second, Halder finished second for Team TPR Motorsport. Before the finale at Jyllandsringen, Halder is second in the standings, 39 points behind Honda driver Kasper Jensen.
Podium in club racing: At the fifth round of the British Endurance Championship, Sheard Autosport recorded a podium result in its class. Jonathan Beeson and George Heler steered their Audi RS 3 LMS to second place in their class over the course of two hours of racing at Snetterton.
Two trophies in the Netherlands: Two Audi customer teams were on the podium at the sixth round of the Supercar Challenge. The Technova College Racing team finished second in the second race at Zandvoort with Laurens de Wit’s Audi RS 3 LMS. Certainty Racing with Paul Meijer and Tim Schulte in another Audi RS 3 LMS followed three tenths of a second behind.
Winning streak continued: Glenn Nirwan remains top in Indonesia. The race driver of the BRM Motorsport team won the European classification of the Indonesian Sentul Series of Motorsport at Sentul in an Audi RS 3 LMS with a lead of 18.2 seconds. In the Indonesia Touring Car Race at the same event, he beat his best rival by 7.772 seconds.
Coming up next week
22–23/09 Teretonga (NZ), round 4, New Zealand Endurance Championship
22–23/09 Nürburgring (D), round 8, Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie
22–23/09 Spa (B), round 5, Le Mans Cup
22–24/09 Red Bull Ring (A), round 7, DTM
22–24/09 Red Bull Ring (A), round 5, ADAC GT Masters
22–24/09 Lédenon (F), round 5, GT4 France
22–24/09 Sepang (MAL), round 6, GT World Challenge Asia
22–24/09 Monza (I), round 6, TCR Europe
23–24/09 Valencia (E), round 4, Campeonato de España Resistencia
23–24/09 Monza (I), round 6, International GT Open
23–24/09 Santa Cruz do Sul (BR), round 8, TCR South America
23–24/09 Oschersleben (D), round 4, Belcar Endurance Championship
