Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)
Double success in Canada: Audi driver Justin Di Benedetto celebrated two TCR class wins in the Sports Car Championship Canada powered by Michelin. After finishing second in the first race at the Trois-Rivières circuit, the Canadian prevailed in the second race by 7.3 seconds. It was the second win of the season for the privateer from Team Di Benedetto Racing. Second place went to Richard Boake, driving a Blanchet Motorsports Audi. In the third race, Di Benedetto managed another victory from the first grid position with a lead of just two tenths of a second. At times Honda driver Gary Kwok had led, but he fell back behind Di Benedetto on the penultimate lap. Third position was secured by Dean Baker in a Baker Racing Audi, who thus also remains the leader of the standings. He has a 48-point lead over Audi brand colleague Di Benedetto. Richard Boake follows in third place with a gap of three points. The title will be decided at the finale at Bowmanville on the first weekend in September.
Two victories in the Czech Republic: Team Aditis Racing returns from the joint TCR Eastern Europe and Eset Cup race weekend in Most with two winners trophies. In the one-hour Eset Endurance race, Czech Radim Adámek and Pole Bartosz Groszek prevailed in the Audi RS 3 LMS with a one-lap lead in the TCX class. In the subsequent first race of the TCR Eastern Europe, the team achieved its first victory of the season in this sprint race series. Petr Fulín won from pole position with a 2.1 second lead on his first start for the team. In the second race, Giacomo Ghermandini secured third place as the best of four Audi privateers in the field. The Italian drove an Audi RS 3 LMS of the Lema Racing team.
Making up ground in America: Mikey Taylor and Chris Miller in the Audi RS 3 LMS fought a thrilling battle for victory with an Alfa Romeo team in the eighth round of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. Starting from third place, Miller took the lead after the start at Road America, but later dropped back to fourth position during the pit stop. Mikey Taylor regained two positions in the final 34 minutes of the two-hour race. The duel with Team KMW Motorsports’ Alfa kept the crowd on its toes. In the end, several competitors had to conserve their fuel supply to avoid another pit stop, including the Unitronic/JDC Miller MotorSports Audi team. Taylor secured second place, 8.2 seconds behind, while several competitors stopped without fuel. As a result, Miller/Taylor and their team moved up to second place in the drivers and teams standings after eight of eleven rounds, while Audi is second in the manufacturers standings.
Podium finish at city race: TCR Denmark hosted its fourth event at the Copenhagen Grand Prix. Best Audi privateer in the three sprints on the street circuit, which were marked by accidents and caution periods, was Mike Halder. The German finished third in the first race in the Audi RS 3 LMS fielded by TPR Motorsport.
Coming up next week
11–13/08 Queensland (AUS), round 4, TCR Australia
11–13/08 Queensland (AUS), round 5, GT World Challenge Australia
11–13/08 Assen (NL), round 5, Supercar Challenge
