Audi customer teams clinch podium positionsAudi customer team G-Drive Racing finished second overall James Sofronas keeps the title race openTom Kristensen: "We travel to Brazil with a clear goal"

The Audi customer team G-Drive Racing by Phoenix and Phoenix Racing clinch two podium positions in the highlight of the VLN season. James Sofronas keeps the title race open in the Pirelli World Challenge. Tom Kristensen can barely wait for the WEC race at Interlagos..

The Audi customer team G-Drive Racing by Phoenix produced a strong performance in round 5 of the endurance championship VLN at the Nürburgring. The drivers Frank Stippler, Marc Basseng and Roman Rusinov finished second overall in the highlight of the VLN season, which ran for six hours in changing weather conditions. Beforehand, the trio clinched pole position in the Audi R8 LMS ultra. Stippler, who competed in a second car at this event, also finished on the podium with his second squad. The 38-year old driver finished third with Christopher Haase and Harold Primat for the Audi customer team Phoenix Racing.

Podium finish sees Sofronas edge closer to title victory

The Audi customer team GMG Racing had double the reason for joy in the penultimate race of the Pirelli World Challenge season. At the eighth round of the season in Sonoma, USA, the team clinched two podium finishes. Duncan Ende in an Audi R8 LMS ultra finished second ahead of his team mate and GMG Racing owner James Sofronas. After his third place finish, Sofronas remains second overall in the Pirelli World Challenge standings within striking distance of the championship leader. The championship will be decided at the Houston Grand Prix at the beginning of October.

A word from … Tom Kristensen

The FIA World Endurance Championship WEC season enters its second half with the race in Sao Paulo on September 1. What do you expect in Brazil? The Autódromo José Carlos Pace is a driver’s track with great challenges. It has a lot on offer: fast and slow corners, some of which drop away or are slightly banked, you can’t see some of the corners so you approach ‘blind’. The same goes for the respective braking zones beforehand. It’s a real challenge to drive here. We drivers like this track a lot.” Motorsport has a great tradition in Brazil and is extremely popular …… that’s right. The people are incredibly enthusiastic, which makes every race here something special. The circuit at Interlagos is classic Autodrome, which was developed into a modern track. It has, however, retained its original character. Our Team Boss Reinhold Joest showed us last year how the circuit layout was when he was still driving. It was very impressive. We are delighted that we are guests here for a second time with the WEC. To be perfectly honest, I can hardly wait for the race weekend to begin. Audi is still unbeaten in this WEC season. As a result, the target for Brazil is already set, isn’t it? Last year we had to accept the first defeat of the season in Sao Paulo. A whole series of corners before uphill sections are taken at less than 120 km/h. At these points, the regulations restrict our Audi R18 e-tron quattro from using its hybrid system. This is a challenge. After our strong start to the season, I really hope that we will be at the front in Brazil as well. Toyota will of course be a strong rival again, but we will do everything possible to be victorious in Interlagos too. We travel to Brazil with the clear goal of winning this race also for Audi. You accomplished a big task at the KMD Challenge Copenhagen on August 18 as part of your personal fitness preparations. For the first time I wasn’t sitting on a bicycle for a marathon, but in fact assumed the role of runner in our team. It was great fun and was for a good cause, because our team ‘Who is number One’ with tri-athlete Allan Stehen Olesen and Brian Dåsbjerg from the Danish Sport Academy competed for a campaign about cancer illnesses. We want to improve the public’s perception of their health.

Coming up next week

31/08Sepang (MAL), round 4, Audi R8 LMS Cup

31/08Motorland Aragon (E), round 5, VdeV Endurances Series

31/0824 hours Zolder (B)

01/09Lausitzring (D), round 6, ADAC GT Masters

01/09Imola (I), round 5, Italian GT Championship

01/09 Portimão (P), round 4, Portuguese GT Championship

01/09 Sao Paulo (BR), round 4, FIA World Endurance Championship WEC

01/09 Donington (GB), round 6, GT Sprint