Audi Motorsport Weekend Review

Audi R8 LMS successful in China, Australia and BelgiumProminent racers meet at Arosa ClassicCarA word from Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich

Successful race weekend for Audi customer teams around the globe: the Audi R8 LMS celebrated victories and podium places in Australia, China and Belgium.

DMV GTC: Two victories for the Audi R8 LMS

On the sixth race weekend of the DMV GTC at Zolder, Belgium, Audi customer teams celebrated two victories and three other podium places. In race one, “Ronny C’Rock” in the Audi R8 LMS of Land-Motorsport achieved a lights-to-flag victory and third place went to Tommy Tulpe (HCB-Rutronik Racing). In the second heat, “Ronny C’Rock” set the fastest race lap and took second place in front of his brand colleague Fabian Plentz. In the final “Dunlop 60” race, Tommy Tulpe and Fabian Plentz jointly clinched victory in the Audi R8 LMS of HCB-Rutronik Racing.

Overall and class victory in China

On the third weekend of the Chinese GT Championship, Team TSRT Shangxi Tian Shi with drivers Massimiliano Wiser and Wei’an Chen in the Audi R8 LMS ultra clinched overall victory in race one. In the GTC class, Team Ling Rui 300+ achieved a class win by David Zhu and Risheng Wang.

Steven McLaughlan celebrates three victories in Australia

Successful weekend for Steven McLaughlan in the Victorian State Circuit Racing Championships (VSCRC) at Winton Motor Raceway: The Australian dominated in the Audi R8 LMS of Team Jamec Pem Racing in qualifying and won all three races. Ross Lilley in an Audi R8 LMS ultra finished as the runner-up twice.

Audi racers at Arosa ClassicCar

Grand stage for current and former Audi race drivers at the Arosa ClassicCar: at the popular historic hillclimb race in Switzerland, Audi DTM drivers Timo Scheider and Nico Müller, Audi Sport ambassadors Frank Biela and Marco Werner as well as Rahel Frey, Edward Sandström, Yves Meyer and Harald Demuth thrilled their passengers in race taxi rides in various Audi models. On the 7.8-kilometer distance from Langwies to Arosa, the passengers experienced pure motorsport feeling in 66 corners and a difference in altitude of 422 meters.

A word from ... Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich

Halfway through the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season in Mexico Audi demonstrated good speed once more, but failed to reap the expected reward. How do you rate the team’s performance?

There were performances that were simply sensational. Pole position was a good beginning and all five drivers were really strong in the race – in the duels, in lapping on the narrow track and, finally, the rain made for difficult conditions. The team, too, did a top-class job and made a bold tire choice in changeable weather conditions that paid off. So, there are plenty of reasons for praise, as well as for self-criticism. We deprived ourselves of better results in Mexico because our reliability simply wasn’t right.

What does the result mean for the championship?

Lucas di Grassi, Loïc Duval and Oliver Jarvis continue to be our best-placed drivers. However, they dropped from second to third place and are now trailing the best Toyota drivers by two and a half points. 43.5 points separate them from the top of the standings. In the remaining four rounds, 104 points are yet to be awarded. In second place of the manufacturers’ championship, we’re short 43 points of the top spot, with 176 points yet to be awarded. The championship continues to be our goal.

Your aims for the next races?

At Austin, we’ve won twice since 2013. We’d like to build on that. It’s also great that, following Le Mans, we’ve been seeing extremely thrilling battles. We’re going to leave no stone unturned to keep it that way, to continue to extend our potential and to regain our reliability.

Coming up next week

08–11/09 Bira (THA), races 5 and 6, Thailand Super Series09–11/09 Nürburgring (D), races 13 and 14, DTM09–11/09 Vallelunga (I), races 9 and 10, Italian GT Championship09–11/09 Phillip Island (AUS), round 5, Australian GT Trophy Series10–11/09 Red Bull Ring (A), races 9 and 10, GT Open10–11/09 Ordino-Arcalís (AND), round 7, Spanish Hillclimb Championship10–11/09 Donington (GB), round 9, British GT Championship10–11/09 Silverstone (GB), round 7, GT Cup Championship


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