Audi Motorsport Blog

Blancpain Sprint Series: Christopher Mies and WRT Audi take pole position at Portimao

2015-09-05T12:45:00.003+02:00

Blancpain GT Series Press Release

Christopher Mies proved to be quickest in the qualifying session of the Algarve round of the 2015 Blancpain Sprint Series. With his #2 Audi Sport Team WRT R8, the German was almost four tenths quicker than Vincent Abril in the #84 Bentley Team HTP Continental, with Series leader Laurens Vanthoor in the #1 Audi Sport Team WRT car only four hundredths of a second behind the Frenchman.

All through qualifying lap times were cancelled for not respecting track limits. That nearly caused the #88 Reiter Lamborghini - one of the fastest cars in free practice - to drop out of the top-8 going to Q3, but Nick Catsburg just managed to go through. In the decisive part, the Dutchman had to settle for eighth due to problems with the engine.

With five Audi's in the top-8, there was not much room for other cars in Q3. Beside Abril's Bentley and Catsburg's Gallardo only Craig Dolby got his Nissan into the final part, eventually qualifying in sixth.

Just outside the decisive part was the #333 Rinaldi Ferrari and both the Brazilian BMW's. Max Van Splunteren set the fastest time in the Silver Cup with the #83 Bentley Team HTP car, while Marko Asmer took pole in Pro-Am, driving the #71 GT Russian Mercedes.

The Qualifying Race of the fifth round of the Blancpain Sprint Series starts this afternoon, at 14:15 local time.

Christopher Mies (#2 Audi Sport Team WRT Audi): "We had a hard time to get a good time in Q2, but after small adjustments all fell into place for Q3. Now we're on the grid with the Series leader right behind us, and one of the contenders next to us on the front row. This is a very competitive Series, so it will not be easy to keep that first position, but we will certainly try our best."

Photo credit: Blancpain GT Series / W Racing Team

World RX: A record number of seven Audi Rallycross racers heading to Loheac

2015-09-03T13:45:00.000+02:00

By Tarek Ramchani

The FIA World Rallycross Championship is moving to France this weekend. The challenging Loheac circuit will play host to the ninth round of the 2015 season. The French event will feature no less than seven Audi Rallycross racers. Six will compete in the upper Supercar class and one in the Super 1600 one.

EKS will field once again a pair of Audi S1 quattros. Team owner Mattias Ekström had an unlucky World RX meeting in Norway, he will try to bounce back and fight for the overall event victory. This is will be the first time for Eki in France.

The second EKS entry will be in the hands of Anton Marklund. The young Swedish driver will be behind the wheel of the #92 Audi S1 and will be eager to perform well.

ALL-INKL Münnich Motorsport will enter the French event with two Audi S3. Team owner René Münnich will drive the #77 car. His team-mate Alx Danielsson will drive the sister #55 Audi. In Norway the ALL-INKL Münnich Motorsport performed very well with Alx Danielsson reaching the big final for the first time.

Robin Larsson will race Larsson Jernberg Racing Audi Supercar entry. The 2014 European Rallycross champion will drive the #4 Audi A1. Larsson will try to shine again after a sensational overall podium in Hell.

Another Audi A1 Supercar will take part in Loheac RX. Tamas Karai from Hungary will be behind the wheel of the #102 Audi A1 from team Racing-Com KFT.

Yvonnick Jagu a regular Audi driver in the French Rallycross Championship will enter the #31 Audi A1. He will compete in the Super 1600 class.

Loheac RX Entry List

As usual in FIA World Rallycross Championship, the action will start on Saturday with the open practice followed by Heat 1 and Heat 2. Heat 3, Heat 4, the Semi-Finals and the big Final wil be held on Sunday.

Photo credit: World RX

Bathurst 12 Hour: Five Audi R8 LMS cars on provisional entry list

2015-09-03T06:28:00.004+02:00

By Tarek Ramchani

Bathurst 12 Hour organizers have published today the provisional entry list for the famous Mount Panorama enduracne event. The Audi Sport customer racing squad is represented by five cars.

For the 2016 race, five Audi R8 LMS and ultra cars will challenge for the ovrall victory entering the demanding Class A against strong rivals representing a great selection of brands.

Three cars are coming from local Australian teams, Melbourne Perfomance Centre, Hallmarc / Network and Wall Racing. International Motorsport from New Zealand will enter one Audi R8 LMS ultra. Phoenix Racing will have a brand new Audi R8 LMS in the challenging Australian endurance event.

The Audi brand won Bathurst 12 hour twice, in 2011 with Audi race experience Team Joest and a year later with Phoenix Racing.

Bathurst 12 Hour 2016 provisional entry list can be seen here.

Photo credit: Phoenix Racing

Blancpain Sprint Series: Six Audi R8 LMS ultras ready for the Portimao round

2015-09-01T08:35:00.000+02:00

By Tarek Ramchani

Portimao will play host to the fifth round of the 2015 Blancpain Sprint Series. Following an unlucky Russian round at the Moscow Raceway, the Audi teams will be eager to take victories and big points in the Algarve.

Belgian Audi Club Team WRT will fied a total of the four cars in Portugal. Laurens Vanthoor and Robin Frijns will share the #1 Audi R8 LMS ultra. The two drivers are leading the overall standing with 109 points each. Christopher Mies and Enzo Ide will drive the #2 Audi. Stéphane Richelmi and Stéphane Ortelli will share the #3 R8 LMS ultra. James Nash and Frank Stippler will be behind the wheel of the #4 machine.

Phoenix Racing from Germany is fielding a single Audi. The #6 car will be Niki Mayr-Melnhof and Markus Winkelhock will share the #6 R8 LMS ultra. Last time out in Russia the team performed very well with Markus Winkelhock the only driver behind the wheel.

The ISR Racing Team from the Czech Republic will enter one car at Portimao. The #75 Audi R8 LMS ultra will be driven by Filip Salaquarda and Marco Bonanomi. The two drivers will hunt some strong results in the sprint series after some unlucky rounds this year.

Portimao Entry List

Blancpain Sprint Series action will start on Friday with two practice sessions. the three qualifying sessions and the qualifying race will be held on Saturday. The warm-up and the main race will be held on Sunday.

Photo credit: Blancpain GT Series

Pirelli World Challenge: Positive debut for Compass360 Racing Audi TT RS at Sonoma

2015-09-01T08:17:00.000+02:00

By Tarek Ramchani

Compass360 Racing debuted with the Audi TT RS in the Pirelli World Challenged at Sonoma Raceway last weekend. The car competed in the GTS class showing some positive performances.

The #78 Audi TT RS was driven by team's regular Paul Holton. He ended Satruday's opening race in twenty-second place overall. On Sunday he improved and finished the 50-minute sprint race in seventeenth place.

Compass360 Racing and the Audi TT RS will be back for Pirelli World Challenge season finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Photo credit: Pirelli World Challenge

DTM: Antonio Giovinazzi delighted with strong DTM debut in Moscow

2015-09-01T07:57:00.002+02:00

By Tarek Ramchani

Antonio Giovinazzi debuted last weekend in the demanding Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters at the Moscow Raceway. The Italian driver replaced Timo Scheider behind the wheel of the Audi Sport Team Phoenix run Audi RS 5 DTM.

Antonio Giovinazzi who leads the competitive FIA Formula 3 European Championship performed very well in the Russian round of the DTM. He was fast and impressive in the practice and qualifying sessions and battled very well in the two races.

The talented Italian driver was delighted by his performances first time out in the DTM

“An exciting weekend. Thanks to the tremendous support by the team and by Audi I managed to improve session by session in my DTM debut.”

“On Sunday, I was only lacking three tenths from the pole position of my team-mate Mike (Rockenfeller). Unfortunately, in the race itself I was hit early by a rival and lost a lot of ground. Afterwards, I had a lonely race. My lap times were good and I learned a lot.”

“It was a great experience, ‘thanks’ to everyone for this opportunity. Now I’m going to concentrate on the battle for the title in Formula 3 again.”

Photo credit: Audi Media

FIA WEC: Audi takes third and fourth in a thrilling 6 Hours of the Nürburgring

2015-08-30T18:55:00.000+02:00

By Tarek Ramchani

Audi Sport Team Joest finished the 6 Hours of the Nürburgring in positions three and four. The two factory Audi R18 e-tron quattro cars battled very well against the strong Porsche Team in front of a great crowd.

Outright race victory went to the #17 Porsche 919 Hybrid shared by Mark Webber, Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley ahead of the sister #18 car of Marc Lieb, Neel Jani and Romain Dumas.

Best of the Audis was the #7 Audi R18 e-tron quattro driven by André Lotterer, Benoit Tréluyer and Marcel Fassler. The three drivers finished the German event in third place overall behind the two works Porsches.

Loic Duval, Lucas di Grassi and Oliver Jarvis ended the event in fourth place overall with the #8 Audi R18 e-tron quattro.

The Nürburgring race was highlighted by an amazing threeway battle for the second place at the final hour mark. The #7 Audi, the #8 Audi and the #18 Porsche battled each other in the middle of GTE and LMP2 traffic. Fans on site and across the world enjoyed a thrilling and fierce fight between the three hybrid LMP1 racers.

The FIA World Endurance Championship will leave Europe and head to North America and the beautiful COTA in Texas next month.

Photo credit: Audi Media

DTM: Dominant race 2 victory for Mike Rockenfeller in Moscow Raceway

2015-08-30T16:13:00.001+02:00

By Tarek Ramchani

Mike Rockenfeller clinched a dominant DTM race 2 victory at the Moscow Raceway. It was a perfect Sunday for the Audi Sport Team Phoenix driver with pole position in a win.

Rocky started the 1-hour race from pole position and never been challenged for the lead. The 2013 DTM champion won at the Russian track in that same year and he did it again today. He ended the race ahead of the second placed BMW's Bruno Spengeler.

A great result for Mike Rockenfeller and the whole Audi Sport Team Phoenix after some unlucky rounds all season long.

Mattias Ekström (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline) had a very solid race and took a fully deserved podium. The double DTM champion put a great pressure on the third placed BMW M4 DTM of Maxime Martin. Eki made the decisive move with 10 minutes to go passing the Belgian in the last corner. A third place and big points enough to retake the overall lead in the drivers' standing.

Jaime Green (Audi Sport Team Rosberg) managed to enter the top-five overall with a fine fifth place. The Briton performed well and challenged Mattias Ekström for position four.

Edoardo Mortara (Audi Sport Team Abt) was eighth. Nico Mueller (Audi Sport Team Rosberg) was ninth. Miguel Molina (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline) was fourteenth. Adrien Tambay (Audi Sport Team Abt) was seventeenth. Antonio Giovinazzi (Audi Sport Team Phoenix) was twenty-first.

Photo credit: Audi Media

DTM: Sensational pole position for Mike Rockenfeller in Moscow qualifying 2

2015-08-30T12:54:00.003+02:00

By Tarek Ramchani

The Audi brand had an amazing second DTM qualifying session at the Moscow Raceway. Mike Rockenfeller took a sensational pole position with his #99 Audi RS 5 DTM.

The Audi Sport Team Phoenix ace set the fastest time in the session with a quick 1:28.540 . A fully deserved result for Rocky after some ups and downs this year in the demanding Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.

Mattias Ekström (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline) was second fastest in the session. However following a grid penalty Eki will have to start from position five on the grid. The double DTM champion set a personal best time of 1:28.578.

Jaime Green (Audi Sport Team Rosberg) was fifth fastest overall but will start the race from position four ahead of Mattias Ekström.

Nico Mueller (Audi Sport Team Rosberg) had a solid qualifying session with the sixth fastest time.

The other Audi drivers were outside the top-ten. Edoardo Mortara (Audi Sport Team Abt) was thirteenth. Antonio Giovinazzi (Audi Sport Team Phoenix) was sixteenth. Miguel Molina (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline) was ninteenth. Adrien Tambay (Audi Sport Team Abt) was twentieth.

The second race will follow next, a 1-hour + 1 lap event with featuring a mandatory pit-stop.

Photo credit: Audi Media

Super GT: Top 5 finish for Audi team Hitotsuyama at Suzuka 1000km

2015-08-30T11:27:00.000+02:00

By Tarek Ramchani

Audi team Hitotsuyama took a solid fifth place at the Suzuka 1000km endurance race. The famous Honda owned track played host to the fifth round of the 2015 Super GT.

The Japanese team performed very well in the stellar event of the series against very strong rivals representing a great selection of Japanese and European brands.

The #21 Audi R8 LMS ultra shared by Richard Lyons and Tomonobu Fujii was the among the fastest in the field all race long. This is a great result for the Audi Japan backed team after some unlucky rounds in Super GT.

The second Audi entry from Audi Team Racing Tech had an unlucky race. Their #86 Audi R8 LMS ultra finished in seventeenth place within the GT300 class. The car was driven by Christian Mamerow, Shinya Hosokawa and Masanobu Kato.

GT300 victory went to the #10 Nissan GT-R GT3 from GAINER TANAX GT-R. The #7 BMW Z4 GT3 from BMW Team Studie was second. The podium was completed by the factory #61 Subaru BRZ.

The next round for the Super GT series will be at Sugo, September 19th and 20th.

Photo credit: Hitotsuyama Racing / Racing Tech

Pirelli World Challenge: Podium for Mike Skeen Audi in Sonoma race 1

2015-08-29T23:00:00.000+02:00

By Tarek Ramchani

Mike Skeen clinched a strong podium in the opening Pirelli World Challenge race at Sonoma, California. The driver of the #2 Audi R8 LMS ultra from CRP Racing had a solid race.

The 2014 Pirelli World Challenge runner-up was among the fastest in a very demanding GT field. Mike Skeen finished the 50-minute event behind race winner Kevin Estre (McLaren 650S GT3) and second placed Renger van der Zande (Porsche 997 GT3 R).

The second Audi entry in the race driven by Drew Regitz finished in twenty-third place overall. The Cameron Racing run #19 Audi R8 LMS ultra competed in the GTA class.

Sonoma Race 1 Results

Pirelli World Challenge race 2 will be held on Sunday.

Photo credit: Pirelli World Challenge

DTM: Fourth place for Jamie Green in a chaotic Moscow Raceway race 1

2015-08-29T16:42:00.001+02:00

By Tarek Ramchani

Audi driver Jamie Green narrowly missed the podium in the first DTM race of the weekend at the Moscow Raceway. It was an action packed and chaotic race 1 won by Mercedes-Benz's Pascal Wehrlein at the Russian track.

Right from the start, Miguel Molina (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline) was forced to retire after a big crash with the Mercedes-Benz of Christian Vietoris. The Saftey Car was deployed for more than 10 minutes.

Back to green there were some big fights for track positions between the drivers of all three brands. In the mid-race there was a contact between the Audi of Mattias Ekstrom and the BMW of Timo Glock. Both drivers were taken out of the race with the Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline driver losing big points. The Safety Car was deployed for the second time.

In the closing stages of the race, Jamie Green was running in third place tried to overtake the second placed BMW M4 DTM of Marco Wittmann. Unfortunately the British driver lost a position for BMW's Spengler in the very last corner and ended the race in fourth place.

Edoardo Mortra (Audi Sport Team Abt) had a solide race 1. The Italian driver was among the fastest in the field and ended the race in a strong fifth place.

Top-ten finish for two other drivers, Nico Mueller (Audi Sport Team Rosberg) was ninth and Mike Rockenfeller (Audi Sport Team Phoenix) was tenth.

Antonio Giovinazzi (Audi Sport team Phoenix) was ninteenth. Adrien Tambay (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline) did not finish the race.

The second qualifying session and the second race will be held tomorrow.

Photo credit: Audi Media

FIA WEC: Audi will start from the second row at the Nürburgring

2015-08-29T14:53:00.002+02:00

By Tarek Ramchani

Audi Sport Team Joest will start the 6 Hours of the Nürburgring - round four of the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship - from the second row of the grid. The two factory Audi R18 e-tron quattro performed well.

The best ranked car was the #8 Audi R18 e-tron quattro shared by Loic Duval, Lucas di Grassi and Oliver Jarvis. They were third fastest and ended right behind the two works Porsche 919 Hybrids. The three drivers set an average time of 1:37.476.

The sister #7 Audi R18 e-tron quattro shared by André Lotterer, Benoit Tréluyer and Marcel Fassler was fourth fastest. Their average time was 1:37.783.

Toyota Racing locked the third row with their Toyota TS040 Hybrid cars. The privateer Rebellion Racing R-One AERs qualified in seventh and eighth places. Team ByKolles was ninth fastest with their CLM P1/01 AER.

The 6 Hours of the Nürburgring endurance race will be held on Sunday.

Photo credit: Audi Media

DTM: Jamie Green third fastest in Moscow Raceway qualifying 1

2015-08-29T12:33:00.001+02:00

By Tarek Ramchani

Jamie Green qualified in a strong third place in the first DTM qualifying session at the Moscow Raceway. Unlike in the second practice session earlier today, weather and track conditions were perfect.

Jamie Green (Audi Sport Team Rosberg) set a personal best time of 1:28.985. The British driver was right behind BMW's Marco Wittmann and Mercedes-Benz's Pascal Wehrlein.

Mattias Ekström (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline) was sixth fastest. The Swedish ace set at personal best time of 1:29.085.

Miguel Molina (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline) was eighth fastest. Nico Mueller (Audi Sport Team Rosberg) was tenth.

The other Audi drivers were outside the top-ten overall. Adrien Tambay (Audi Sport Team Abt) was eleventh. Edoardo Mortara (Audi Sport Team Abt) was twelfth.Mike Rockenfeller (Audi Sport Team Phoenix) was fourteenth. New comer Antonio Giovinazzi (Audi Sport team Phoenix) was ninteenth.

The first race will follow next. A 40-minute + 1 lap race without mandatory pit-stop.

Photo credit: Audi Media

FIA WEC: Audi third and fourth fastest in the Nürburgring FP3

2015-08-29T10:39:00.001+02:00

By Tarek Ramchani

FIA WEC action resumed this morning at the Nürburgring with the third practice session. Audi Sport Team Joest was the fastest in yesterday's two practice sessions, that was not the case in today's final one.

Best of the two factory Audis was the #8 R18 e-tron quattro in thrid place overall. The car in the hands of Lucas di Grassi, Loic Duval and Oliver Jarvis set a best time of 1:37.035. They were behind the two works Porsche 919 Hybrid cars.

Their team-mates André Lotterer, Benoit Tréluyer and Marcel Fassler were a position behind. The drivers of the #7 Audi R18 e-tron quattro were fourth fastest with a best time of 1:37.109.

The two Toyota TS040 Hybrid cars were fifth and sixth. The two privateer Rebellion R-One AER cars were seventh and eighth. Team ByKolles was ninth within the LMP1 class.

The qualifying session is coming up next. A fierce battle is expected for pole position between Audi and Porsche.

Photo credit: Audi Media

DTM: Miguel Molina second fastest in Moscow Raceway FP2

2015-08-29T10:39:00.000+02:00

By Tarek Ramchani

The Moscow Raceway played host to a very wet DTM second practice session this morning. Miguel Molina (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline) was the fastest Audi driver.

The Spanish driver set a personal best time of 1:40.386. Miguel Molina was 0.566 behind the quickest time in the session set by BMW's Bruno Spengler.

Mattias Ekström (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline) who was the fastest yesterday ended the session in fifth place overall. The double DTM champion set a personal best time of 1:41.946.

Another Audi driver managed to enter the top-ten overall, Jamie Green. The Audi Sport Team Rosberg driver was seventh fastest with a personal best time of 1:42.773.

Antonio Giovinazzi (Audi Sport team Phoenix) narrowly missed the top-ten, he was eleventh fastest. Edoardo Mortara (Audi Sport Team Abt) was twelfth. Nico Mueller (Audi Sport Team Rosberg) was thirteenth. Adrien Tambay (Audi Sport Team Abt) was twentieth. Mike Rockenfeller (Audi Sport Team Phoenix) was twenty-first.

The first qualifying session is coming up next.

Photo credit: Audi Media

ADAC GT Masters: Audi dominated the Sachsenring practice sessions

2015-08-29T08:15:00.001+02:00

ADAC GT Masters Press Release

Christer Jöns in an Abt Audi sets the fastest time in the second session. The Schütz Porsche stops the Abt Audis making it a one-two-three.

The Audis once again proved unbeatable in the second free practice at the Sachsenring. In a rain-affected session, the fastest time went to an R8 LMS ultra entered by the team belonging to former ADAC GT Masters champions Christian Abt, just as it had in the morning. Christer Jöns and Andreas Weishaupt set the fastest time, but only by the narrowest of margins. The Audi duo in the car bearing the number #3 were only 0.001 seconds ahead of their team-mates Stefan Wackerbauer and Kelvin van Linde who had led the timesheets in the morning.

Klaus Bachler and Martin Ragginger in the GW IT Racing-Schütz Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R prevented an Abt Audi triple lockout by edging Jordan Lee Pepper and Nicki Thiim for third place. Current championship leaders Luca Ludwig and Sebastian Asch in the Team Zakspeed Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 acquitted themselves well as fifth fastest, while Dominik Baumann and Jens Klingmann in a BMW Z4 GT3 entered by BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert finished the day in sixth.

Fabian Hamprecht and Clemens Schmid drove the fastest of the Bentley Continental GT3s (Bentley Team HTP) to take seventh place ahead of the two Audi R8 LMS ultras of kfzteile24 MS RACING driven by Daniel Dobitsch and Edward Sandström, fresh from their victory at the Nürburgring, and by Florian Stoll and Marc Basseng. Free practice was temporarily suspended for five minutes after Stoll and Basseng skidded off the track. Andreas Wirth and Daniel Keilwitz (Callaway Competition) completed the Top Ten in the fastest of the Corvette Z06.R GT3s.

Qualifying for Race 1 will take place on Saturday at 08:00 CEST and for Race 2 on Sunday likewise at 08:00 CEST. Both races will be shown live on SPORT1, with coverage on Saturday and Sunday commencing at 13:00 CEST.

Photo credit: ADAC GT Masters

FIA WEC: Audi on the top again in the Nürburgring FP2

2015-08-28T18:42:00.000+02:00

By Tarek Ramchani

As was the case in the opening practice session, the Audi Sport Team Joest set the fastest time in the second practice session of the day at the Nürburgring. The session was highlighted by a thrilling duel between the factory Audis and Porsches.

André Lotterer, Benoit Tréluyer and Marcel Fassler were the quickest again in a very competitve LMP1 field. The drivers of the #7 Audi R18 e-tron quattro set the best time of the session with 1:37.862.

The FIA WEC leaders were followed by two Porsche 919 Hybrid cars in second and third places.

The #8 Audi R18 e-tron quattro was fourth fastest overall. Loic Duval, Lucas di Grassi and Oliver Jarvis set a best time of 1:38.886. They were 1.024s behind the fastest time of the sister #7 Audi.

Toyota Racing ended the session in position five and sixth. The two privateer Rebellion R-One were seventh and eighth. The lone CLM P1/01 - AER from Team ByKolles was ninth fastest.

Nürburgring Second Practice Results

FIA WEC teams and drivers will be back on track tomorrow for the third practice session followed by qualifying.

Photo credit: Audi Media

DTM: Mattias Ekström second fastest in the Moscow Raceway FP1

2015-08-28T17:13:00.001+02:00

By Tarek Ramchani

Audi ace Mattias Ekström was second fastest in the opening DTM practice session at the Moscow Raceway. The Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline driver set a personal best time of 1:29.340. Eki was right behind the leading BMW of Marco Wittmann.

Edoardo Mortara ended the session in a strong fourth place overall. The Audi Sport Team Abt driver set a personal time of 1:29.498.

Eki's team-mate Miguel Molina (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline) was seventh fastest

The remaining Audi drivers were outside the top-ten. Adrien Tambay (Audi Sport Team Abt) was thirteenth. Mike Rockenfeller (Audi Sport Team Phoenix) was fourteenth. Jamie Green (Audi Sport Team Rosberg) was fifteenth. Nico Mueller (Audi Sport Team Rosberg) was twenty-second.

New comer to Audi in the DTM, Antonio Giovinazzi was twenty-third fastest. The Italian driver is replacing Timo Scheider this weekend at Audi Sport Team Phoenix.

Action will resume tomorrow with the second practice session, the first qualifying session and the race.

Photo credit: Audi Media

FIA WEC: Audi quickest in the opening practice session at the Nürburgring

2015-08-28T13:30:00.001+02:00

By Tarek Ramchani

The FIA World Endurance Championship action has started at the Nürburgring with the first of three practice sessions. Audi Sport Team Joest performed well with the two factory Audi R18 e-tron quattro LMP1 cars.

FIA WEC points leaders André Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler were the quickest in the opening session. The three drivers of the #7 Audi R18 e-tron quattro set the best time with 1:39.201.

Third place went to the sister #8 Audi R18 e-tron quattro behind the second placed #18 Porsche 919 Hybrid. The car in the hands of Loic Duval, Lucas di Grassi and Oliver Jarvis set a best time of 1:39.910. They were only 0.709s behind their team-mates with the sister #7 Audi.

The second factory #17 Porsche 919 Hybrid was fourth fastest. Toyota Racing took positions five and sixth with the TS040 Hybrids.

First Practice LMP1 results:

P1 #7 Audi R18 e-tron quattro - 1:39.201
P2 #18 Porsche 919 Hybrid - 1:39.277
P3 #8 Audi R18 e-tron quattro - 1:39.910
P4 #17 Porsche 919 Hybrid - 1:39.915
P5 #2 Toyota TS040 Hybrid - 1:41.812
P6 #1 Toyota TS040 Hybrid - 1:42.541
P7 #12 Rebellion R-One AER - 1:47.433
P8 #13 Rebellion R-One AER - 11:49.171
P9 #4 CLM P1/01 - AER - 1:49.242

The second practice session will follow next.

Photo credit: Audi Media

DTM: Antonio Giovinazzi joins Audi Sport Team Phoenix in Moscow Raceway

2015-08-28T09:33:00.003+02:00

Audi Press Release

Audi is again giving a promising junior driver an opportunity in the DTM. The 21-year-old Italian Antonio Giovinazzi will be contesting the two DTM races at Moscow Raceway (Russia) for Audi Sport Team Phoenix.
The leader of the European Formula 3 Championship will be competing in the AUTO TEST Audi RS 5 DTM that is normally driven by Timo Scheider (D). The 2008 and 2009 DTM Champion has been excluded from the DTM event at Moscow by the sports court of the German Motorsport Association (DMSB).

Matching his year of birth, 1993, Giovinazzi, who hails from Martina Franca in southern Italy, will be driving car number ’93.’ The Italian had left a strong impression in an Audi Sport DTM evaluation of young drivers at the end of the past season and confirmed it in DTM tests at the Lausitzring in June.

For the DTM’s Russian round this weekend, Giovinazzi had been scheduled as the driver of an Audi RS 5 DTM race taxi for the first time. Now, the Italian is making his debut in the internationally popular touring car racing series that will start with the rollout on Friday at 12.00, local time (11.00 CEST).

The first of the two races at Moscow Raceway will start on Saturday at 16.33 (from approx. 15.20, CEST, live on ‘Das Erste’), the second race on Sunday at 16.13 (from 15.00, CEST, live on ‘Das Erste’).

Photo credit: Audi Media

Super GT: Richard Lyons ready for Suzuka 1000km

2015-08-28T06:52:00.002+02:00

Richard Lyons Press Release

This year in Super GT sees the 44th running of the 1000KM race at Suzuka Circuit in Mie prefecture, Japan.

Suzuka International Circuit built in 1962 is Japans jewel in the crown, a track that hosts F1 and is openly rated by drivers as one of the best circuits in the world is sure to come up trumps in Japans punishing summer heat with another hard fought and exciting Super GT race.

Richard Lyons: 

“Rd5 marks the second half of the season and with that comes my strongest and most favourable circuits. 

Past experience recently has not given us any advantage of late but maybe the best way to look at things is that this is certainly not a disadvantage. 

Suzuka Rd 5 is Super GT’s biggest and longest race of the year being a brutal 1000km race in summer heat, with extra points on the table compared to the normal 300KM races it certainly ups the ante.  

Suzuka is traditionally the Japanese equivalent of Spa Francorchamps in Belgium, it has everything that a driver could possibly demand. However, our weak area has been straight-line speed (Regulated by each Championship) and this is highlighted with the extremely high ambient temperatures (35oC + June through September) in Japan which makes our Audi R8 V10 run on the limit.

Our goal for the weekend has to be solid points and if theres chances to pick up extra points then we have to be in a prime position to take advantage. 

It’s going to be a hot weekend, not only for the car but for the drivers, let’s see how it all plays out.

Photo credit: Hitotsuyama Racing

NPCC: Audi S4 quattro racers off to coastal challenge again

2015-08-27T09:53:00.002+02:00

Audi South Africa Press Release

For the fourth time this season, the National Production Car Championship (NPCC) racers will tackle a coastal event. For round six of the 2015 series though, it will be at a circuit that has not seen them in action before.

With just three rounds left for the year, the Extreme Festival moves to Dezzi's Raceway in KwaZulu-Natal where the 2.5 km track lies in wait for the national competitors. Racing at this circuit so late in the season could result in an unexpected shake-up to the season.

With three Audi S4 quattro racers at the top of the leaderboard, it looks more and more like the NPCC title will go to one of these three competitors this season. At the top of the log is Hennie Groenewald (8 – Audi Sasolracing) who is currently nine points in the lead.

Second spot is held by Michael Stephen (12 – Engen Xtreme) while Gennaro Bonafede (32 – Audi Sasolracing) is in third place – with a three-point gap between them.

This thin 12 point spread between the top three racers will certainly prove to be the catalyst for some exciting racing in the remaining rounds – and with the Audi S4 quattro racers 26 points ahead of the fourth-placed competitor, their dominance in this series is hard to challenge.

For Simon Moss (38 – Engen Xtreme) the Dezzi's Raceway event presents an opportunity to focus on his race results. Moss has made great strides with his qualifying results, appearing on the front row of the starting grid twice recently.

A round of the championship at a new circuit creates the possibility that his pace will prove more valuable than the experience the other racers have at the regular circuits, and a good result could see him claim the three points he needs to break into being amongst the top five competitors this season.

Another round, a new circuit and four very determined Audi S4 quattro racers is an opportunity to see some fast-paced and exciting national circuit racing in NPCC. The challenge might result in some of the toughest on-track battles seen yet in the 2015 season.

Photo credit: MotorPress.co.za (Morne Condon)

DTM: Audi faces ‘heavy’ task in Russia

2015-08-27T09:42:00.003+02:00

Audi Press Release

Audi driver Mattias Ekström is aiming for the top step of the podium in the DTM races at Moscow: With a victory at the Red Bull Ring, the Swede had taken the lead in the Championship at the end of July. Now, the Russian round of the internationally popular touring car racing series is on the agenda.
In the DTM’s Russian premiere at Moscow Raceway, the Swede, in second place, completed a commanding Audi one-two win in the 2013 season. Last year, Ekström was on podium again at Moscow, having advanced to third place after starting from position eleven on the grid. “So, actually, the only thing that’s still missing is a victory,” the leader of the DTM standings feels – knowing full well that this will be no mean feat because the Audi RS 5 DTM cars, following their success at Spielberg, will be the heaviest cars in the field yet again this season.

Mattias Ekström is expecting to have chances at the 3.931-kilometer Moscow Raceway in spite of the high weight. “I had the heaviest car in the field at Spielberg too and actually shouldn’t have been able to win there,” he says. “We simply need to do the best job again. In that case, anything’s possible. Every point counts. This year, the title will be clinched by the driver that manages to score good results even with a lot of weight.”

“This will be a really tough nut to crack,” Dieter Gass believes. The Head of DTM at Audi Sport was absent due to illness most recently at Spielberg and is returning to the command post in Russia. “We’ve won at Moscow Raceway before but experienced a pretty difficult race last year. Our aim is another victory.”

Two other Audi drivers – Edoardo Mortara (Italy) and Jamie Green (Great Britain) – are in the top four of the drivers’ classification, which gives them good prospects in the battle for the title. Mortara clinched 40 of 50 possible points at Spielberg and would like to continue his performance at Moscow Raceway. Green most recently went home without points five consecutive times and is set on finally ending his string of misfortune.

Between Spielberg and Moscow, the activities of the three candidates for the title differed a lot from each other. Mattias Ekström competed in two rounds of the World Rallycross Championship in Canada and Norway with his own team. Edoardo Mortara had the opportunity to ride on a Red Bull stunt plane in Austria which meant fulfilling a dream of his. Jamie Green honed his German language skills in an intensive course at the Audi Academy in Ingolstadt.

Next weekend, they will meet again in Moscow. While the drivers will be conveniently traveling by air, the trucks of the teams had to cover the near-2,500-kilometer distance as a convoy – which put an extreme strain on the people and equipment as some of the roads were rough to travel on.

Moscow Raceway is about an hour and a half’s drive from Moscow’s city center. A long straight before the start and finish on which the drivers reach speeds of more than 240 km/h before braking is one of the special characteristics of the track. This is where most of the overtaking maneuvers normally take place.

Photo credit: Audi Media

World RX: Podium for Robin Larsson Audi in Norway's Hell RX

2015-08-23T17:32:00.001+02:00

By Tarek Ramchani

As was the case yesterday, the Audi drivers performed very well again in the FIA World Rallycross Championship action today in Hell.

No less than four Audi drivers took part in Semi-Finals, two of them made it to the big Final with a strong podium in the end.

Robin Larsson ended Hell RX in a strong third place overall. The 2014 FIA European Rallycross champion took the final spot of the podium in the big final after a thrilling battle with another Audi driver, Alx Danielsson. The Swedish driver was delighted with this result with a fully privateer #4 Audi A1 Supercar after two rounds without scoring points.

Alex Danielsson finished the event in fourth place behind the wheel of his #55 Audi S3 Supercar. His best result ever in FIA World Rallycross Championship. The ALL-INKL Münnich Motorsport driver moved to Semi-Final for the first time today and did better by qualifying to the big Final. This is was the right reward for Alex Danielsson who faced a lot of bad luck this season.

EKS faced two frustrating semi-finals with drivers Mattias Ekstrom and Anton Marlkund. The two Swedish drivers were very fast all day long and could have reached the big final without an unbelievable bad luck.

Anton Marlkund ended in fifth place in Semi-Final one with his #92 Audi S1 Supercar. Team-owner Mattias Ekstrom was fourth in Semi-Final 2 with his #10 Audi S1 Supercar.

ALL-INKL Münnich Motorsport team-owner René Münnich concluded Hell RX in twenty-first place overall with his #77 Audi S3 Supercar.

Overall victory in Norway went to Peugeot Hansen's Timmy Hansen ahead of his team-mate David Jeanney.

The next round in FIA World Rallycross Championship will be held in France at the popular Loheac circuit.

Photo credit: World RX / EKS / ALL-INKL Münnich Motorsport