In Australian GT3 racing, a local customer team continues its winning streak with the Audi R8 LMS. The GT3 sports car also guaranteed trophies in European club racing and in South Africa on the last weekend in April. In TCR Europe, Comtoyou Racing started its title defense with a 1-2-3 and a 1-2 victory.
Audi R8 LMS GT3
Third win of the season in Australia: Liam Talbot and Audi Sport driver Max Hofer managed to clinch their third joint victory this year at the second event of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS. On the Wanneroo circuit near Perth in the west of Australia, the Australian-Austrian driver duo had secured pole position. Talbot led for ten laps in the first race but then lost a position to his Audi brand colleague Geoff Emery. After a collision with an opponent on lap 20 Talbot had to retire.
The best Audi at the finish was number 75 from Team Jamec Racing: Emery and Audi Sport driver Christopher Mies finished third in the Audi R8 LMS. In the second race, Hofer built up a lead from the start. At the pit stop, Liam Talbot took over the GT3 sports car from Team Shannons Insurance and crossed the finish line with a 28-second lead after one hour. Geoff Emery and Christopher Mies completed Audi’s success for the one-two win. Talbot and Hofer now lead the Pro-Am drivers standings with an eight-point advantage over a Porsche driver duo. Geoff Emery follows another four points behind.
Five trophies at Hockenheim: The season opener of the German GTC Race club racing series went perfectly for Audi’s customer teams. In the GT60 powered by Pirelli endurance race, Car Collection Motorsport with Julian Hanses/Tim Vogler clinched second place in the Audi R8 LMS at Hockenheim. Third place went to équipe vitesse with Florian Blatter and Audi Sport driver Markus Winkelhock. In the first sprint race, Car Collection Motorsport with Tim Vogler again recorded a second place. In the final second sprint, the customers celebrated a one-two: Julian Hanses won for Car Collection Motorsport with an 8.7-second advantage over Moritz Wiskirchen from équipe vitesse.
Unbeaten in Hungary: Filip Salaquarda competed in three races on the second weekend of the Eset Cup and was always faster than the competition. In the first 25-minute sprint of the Eastern European race series, the Czech finished 1.2 seconds ahead of BMW Junior Neil Verhagen. In the one-hour Endurance race, the Audi privateer in the R8 LMS even built up a one-minute lead over a rival in the Mercedes-AMG over the course of 32 laps. Team ISR Racing remained unbeaten in the second sprint as well: Salaquarda was 3.9 seconds faster than the Ligier LMP3 sports car of his best pursuer.
Podium at season opener: Team Eastalent started the new International GT Open season with a podium result. At the Portimão circuit in the south of Portugal, Simon Reicher clinched third place in the Audi R8 LMS together with Audi Sport driver Christopher Haase in the second race. With 32 GT3 sports cars, the race series held across Europe has a strong field this year.
Top results in British club racing: Team Cook Racing was among the leading outfits in a field of more than 20 sports and touring cars at the second round of the British club racing series GT Cup Championship with the Audi R8 LMS. Sacha Kakad and Hugo Cook recorded third place in the second race at Brands Hatch. The British driver duo won the third race by 1.8 seconds. In the final fourth race, the team scored another trophy with second position.
Two trophies in the P9 Challenge: The season in the P9 club racing series started for Team Bliss Autosport with two results on the podium. Marco Reinbold scored third place in the second sprint race in the Audi R8 LMS. Together with fellow driver Paul Hochberger, he finished third in the subsequent one-hour endurance race to take another podium place.
Successes in South Africa: At the second race weekend of the South African GT Championship, Michael Stephen was the best customer in an Audi R8 LMS. At Redstar Raceway, the South African won the first race after 60 minutes with a one-lap advantage. In the second race, he clinched second place.
Audi R8 LMS GT4
Class victory in South Africa: Team MJR Motorsport won its class with the Audi R8 LMS GT4 at the second round of the South African Endurance Championship. Joseph Ellerine and Leyton Fourie completed 66 laps with the production-based sports car over the course of three hours of racing at Redstar Raceway.
Success in the Ultimate Cup Series: Frenchman Julien Goujat returns from Spain with two trophies. At the second round of the Ultimate Cup Series in Navarra, he recorded second place in his class in both the first and second race in Team Speedcar’s Audi R8 LMS GT4.
Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)
Strong start in TCR Europe: Team Comtoyou Racing started the new season in the TCR Europe with a stunning result. The defending champions from Belgium celebrated a one-two-three with the Audi RS 3 LMS in the first sprint at Portimão. John Filippi overtook his teammates Kobe Pauwels and Tom Coronel on the fifth lap. In the end, the Frenchman won with a five-second advantage over the Belgian with the Dutchman another 1.3 seconds behind. In the second race, Tom Coronel prevailed, while Filippi saw the checkered flag in second place. Third place was secured by Ruben Fernández from the RC2 Racing Team, another privateer driver with an Audi RS 3 LMS. In the standings, Filippi and Coronel at the top now each have 80 points to their credit.
Successful start of the Kumho TCR World Tour: The new worldwide Kumho TCR World Tour race series kicked off in Portugal with two podium results for Audi Sport Team Comtoyou. In the first race at Portimão, the former World Touring Car champion Rob Huff finished third in the Audi RS 3 LMS, 1.7 seconds behind the winner, ahead of teammate Frédéric Vervisch. The Belgian Audi Sport driver Vervisch clinched a trophy as well in third place in the second race with a gap of just one second to the winner.
Class victory in Hungary: In the second round of the Eset Endurance Cup at the Hungaroring, an Audi customer team came out on top in the D4 TCX class. The Czech Radim Adámek and his Polish teammate Bartosz Groszek won their class in the Audi RS 3 LMS fielded by Team Aditis Racing with a one-lap advantage.
First twice at Hockenheim: Max Gruhn prevailed in both races in his class at the opening round of the Spezial Tourenwagen Trophy at Hockenheim. The privateer won Class 4 in the Audi RS 3 LMS in both 40-minute races.
