Debut victory for the Audi R8 LMS in Italy Audi R8 LMS wins finale in France Podium missed by 0.038 seconds

First championship title for the Audi R8 LMSADAC GT Masters: The new GT3 racing sportscar produced by AUDI AG has won one of the most important championships for GT3 cars at the first attempt in its debut year: Christian Abt secured the ADAC GT Masters title with the team Abt Sportsline Audi R8 LMS at the finale at Oschersleben. Fourth place in a wet first race was sufficient for the long-serving Audi "factory" driver to clinch the title with one race to spare. Frank Kechele and Kuba Giermaziak (Argo Racing) scored the best result for an Audi R8 LMS at Oschersleben with third place in the first race. Debut victory for the Audi R8 LMS in ItalyItalian GT Championship: Team Audi Sport Italia recorded the first Audi R8 LMS victory in the Italian GT3 Championship finale at Monza. Dindo Capello and his Portuguese team mate Filipe Albuquerque triumphed in the first race from third on the grid. They finished the second race in second position.Audi R8 LMS wins finale in France French GT Championship: Stéphane Ortelli and Yvan Lebon won the French GT3 Championship finale at Lédenon on Sunday. It was the third victory in total for the Audi R8 LMS in France. In Saturday’s opening race the Oreca team duo occupied third place.

Podium missed by 0.038 seconds VLN: Frank Biela, Frank Stippler and Hans-Joachim Stuck missed another podium finish by a mere 0.038 seconds in the Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS at the penultimate round of the BFGoodrich Endurance Championship. The correct tire choice was crucial due to the unsettled weather conditions at the Nordschleife. Frank Stippler took grooved slicks for the final stint and was almost able to catch the third placed Porsche. The second Phoenix R8 retired following accident three laps before the end of the race.Results and points standingsOschersleben (D), October 17, ADAC GT Masters round 131 Hürtgen/Martin (BMW Alpina) 34 laps in 1h 01m 33.192s2 Wirth/Klingmann (BMW Alpina) + 18.248s3 Kechele/Giermaziak (Audi R8 LMS) + 35.260s4 Abt/Mies (Audi R8 LMS) + 42.032s5 Terting/Gruber (Audi R8 LMS) + 42.653s... 9 Moser/Haase (Audi R8 LMS) + 1m 19.587s10 Campanico/Armindo (Audi R8 LMS) + 1m 22.347s14 Yamamoto/Bonifacio (Audi R8 LMS) - 1 lapOschersleben (D), October 18, ADAC GT Masters round 141 Martin/Hürtgen (BMW Alpina) 39 laps in 1h 01m 6.222s2 Alessi/Lunardi (Corvette) + 3.665s3 Ludwig/Hennerici (Corvette) + 28.736s4 Armindo/Campanico (Audi R8 LMS) + 30.931s5 Stuck/Westbrook (Porsche) + 43.792s6 Giermaziak/Kechele (Audi R8 LMS) + 43.887s7 Mies/Abt (Audi R8 LMS) + 44.193s... 9 Haase/Moser (Audi R8 LMS) + 1m 13.109s10 Gruber/Terting (Audi R8 LMS) + 1m 15.587s12 Bonifacio/Yamamoto (Audi R8 LMS) + 1m 35.261sFinal positions after 14 rounds: 1 Abt, 79 points; 2 Hennerici/Ludwig, 67; 3 Moser, 64; 4 Seiler/Hohenadel, 57; ... 5 Seyffarth, 54; 6 Armindo/Campanico, 53; 8 Kechele, 41; 9 Haase, 40; 11 Giermaziak, 35; 12 Outzen, 34; 13 Mies, 33; 19 Terting/Gruber, 10; 21 Verbergt, 6; 26 Williams, 2.Monza (I), October 18, Italian GT3 Championship round 131 Albuquerque/Capello (Audi R8 LMS) 26 laps in 50m 52.499s2 Livio/Bontempelli (Ferrari) + 1m 09.996s3 Garofano/Bartocci (Lamborghini) + 1m 17.036s4 Mancini/Aghini (Ferrari) + 1m 17.444s5 de Pasquale/Sangiuolo (Dodge) - 1 lapMonza (I), October 18, Italian GT3 Championship round 141 Livio/Bontempelli (Ferrari) 26 laps in 50m 40.676s2 Albuquerque/Capello (Audi R8 LMS) + 26.810s3 Borghi/de Lorenzi (Porsche) + 33.549s4 Caccia/Casazza (Ferrari) + 47.395s5 Mancini/Aghini (Ferrari) + 59.267sFinal positions after 14 rounds: 1 Livio/Bontempelli, 149 points; 2 de Lorenzi/Borghi, 124; 3 Capello, 112; 4 Grassotto, 107; 5 Sanna, 91.Lédenon (F), October 17, French GT3 Championship round 131 Gaillard/Parisy (Lamborghini) 42 laps in 1h 01m 4.763s2 Peyroles/Thevenin (Lamborghini) + 2.797s3 Lebon/Ortelli (Audi R8 LMS) + 13.880s4 Dubreuil/Amado (Lamborghini) + 14.365s5 Lamic/Moullin (Dodge) + 28.834sLédenon (F), October 18, French GT3 Championship round 141 Lebon/Ortelli (Audi R8 LMS) 42 laps in 1h 20.678s2 Dubreuil/Amado (Lamborghini) + 7.673s3 Snobeck/Makowiecki (Ferrari) + 30.560s4 Gaillard/Parisy (Lamborghini ) + 37.603s5 Peyroles/Thevenin (Lamborghini) + 38.226sNürburgring (D), October 17, BFGoodrich Endurance Championship round 91 Mamerow/Werner (Porsche) 27 laps in 4h 07m 14.854s2 Müller/Priaulx (BMW) + 48.230s3 Alzen/Schwager/Menzel (Porsche) + 2m 40.031s4 Biela/Stippler/Stuck (Audi R8 LMS) + 2m 40.069s5 Schmitz/Abbelen (Porsche) + 4m 20.661s

Coming up next weekFIA GT3 European Championship finale at Zolder (Saturday/Sunday) ... Belgian GT3 Championship finale at Zolder (Saturday/Sunday) ... DTM finale at Hockenheim (Sunday).