- Audi R8 LMS with numerous global successes
- Audi RS 3 LMS at the forefront of Italian touring car racing
- Dakar Rally: New movie from Universal Documentaries and Red Bull Studios
Audi’s customer teams once again collected numerous trophies in overall and class rankings in worldwide competitions with their GT sports cars and touring cars in the first half of May. Fans of off-road sport will get their money’s worth in a new documentary film about the Dakar Rally.
Audi R8 LMS GT3
Successful start to the season in Italy: Two Audi customer teams had every reason to celebrate at the season opener of the Campionato Italiano GT Endurance. Team Tresor Attempto Racing, which started from pole position, crossed the finish line in Misano as winners with the Audi R8 LMS after three hours of racing. Riccardo Cazzaniga/Rocco Mazzola/Fabio Rauer won the first of four endurance races on the circuit on the Adriatic coast by 1.2 seconds. Italian Riccardo Cazzaniga led in the early stages, after the driver change to his German teammate Fabio Rauer the Audi was in second place. Rocco Mazzola then took the lead, as did his compatriot Cazzaniga at the start, and never relinquished it.
Third place overall went to Team Haas RT. Ramez Azzam/Omar Jackson/Axcil Jefferies made up a total of 13 positions from 16th on the grid and won the Pro-Am classification in the team’s Audi R8 LMS ahead of ten other participants. Audi Sport Italia also had one eye on a podium result: Until lap 45, Alessandro Bracalente/Andy Cantu/Nano López were in third place and second in the Pro-Am classification when their Audi R8 LMS slid into the gravel on a sudden oil patch. At the second event of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS, Audi’s customer teams once again took home several trophies. Wolfbrook Team MPC achieved the best result on the Sydney circuit. Ryan Wood/Steve Brooks achieved second place in the second race in the Audi R8 LMS.
They were followed by Broc Feeney/Brad Schumacher from Kelso Electrical Team MPC with a gap of just under eight seconds. This private driver pairing in an Audi R8 LMS remains second in the standings. Renee Gracie drew attention to herself in qualifying: second place overall and thus the front row of the grid in the first race was the solo driver’s personal best performance to date in the Audi R8 LMS. She won the amateur classification in both races, while brothers James and Theo Koundouris took third and second place in this category.
Matt Stoupas/Gary Higgon won the Trophy classification in the second race in another Audi. In the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup, Audi’s customer teams recorded four class podium results with the R8 LMS. At the season opener at Brands Hatch, the Dane Sebastian Øgaard and the Italian Leonardo Moncini together finished third in the Gold Cup for Tresor Attempto Racing in the two one-hour sprint races. The second race in the Silver Cup was particularly exciting: their teammates Alex Aka/Ezequiel Perez Companc missed out on class victory by just 0.676 seconds in second place after 37 laps. Lorens Lecertua/Ivan Klymenko followed around 1.1 seconds behind in third place in the Saintéloc Racing Audi. Audi’s customers also returned with trophies from the second event of the GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS.
At Mandalika in Indonesia, the FAW Audi Sport Asia Team Phantom achieved third place in the Silver category in the first race with Cheng Congfu/Yu Kuai. They had started from pole position thanks to a very good qualifying performance by Cheng Congfu. However, their Audi R8 LMS had to make strategic compromises in two full-course yellow phases in the race. In addition, they had to adhere to a five-second longer pit stop time enforced by the regulations following their previous success. In the second race, second place in this classification went to the Uno Racing Team with the driver pairing of Rio/Shaun Thong in another Audi R8 LMS. They made up twelve places in the race compared to their starting position.
The Spezial Tourenwagen Trophy began its new season in Hockenheim. Team Up2Race finished third in the first race with its Audi R8 LMS driven by Pierre Lemmerz/Alexander Kroker. They were just 23 hundredths of a second off second place after a thrilling final phase. In the second race, Stefan Wieninger in an Audi R8 LMS from Land-Motorsport was the best Audi privateer driver in second place, while Lemmerz/Kroker again finished third. Team équipe vitesse won the SP9 Am class in the third round of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie. Michael Heimrich/Arno Klasen/Eric Ullström in their Audi R8 LMS had a two-lap lead over their pursuers in the Lamborghini at the finish.
Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)
Domination in Italy: Audi’s customer teams had the opening weekend of the TCR Italy firmly in their hands. With eleven RS 3 LMS cars in a field of 20 entrants, Audi was not only the strongest brand numerically, but also celebrated a 1-2-3-4 victory in the first race. Last year’s champion Nicolas Taylor won the first race in Misano from pole position with a lead of 6.1 seconds for PMA Motorsport. Second place went to Matteo Poloni from Gear Works, followed by Pietro Alessi from the BF Motorsport team and Nicola Baldan from Aikoa Racing. Taylor was also the best driver in the Under 25 age classification ahead of Alessi.
At the same time, Denis Babuin from Planet Motorsport lost third place overall due to a ten-second penalty for a false start, but still won the Master class ahead of Sandro Pelatti from PMA Motorsport and Francesco Cardone from Aikoa Racing. All three of them also drove an Audi RS 3 LMS. Carlo Alberto Bocca from BF Motorsport rounded off the results with victory in the rookie classification, while Zekai Özen from the Texaco team finished third in this class in another Audi. In the second race, Nicola Baldan benefited from the reversed grid, which helped him to pole position. The Venetian remained in the lead in his Audi for 18 laps and crossed the finish line half a second ahead of a Hyundai driver. Pietro Alessio once again secured third place and thus also won the Under 25 classification ahead of Nicolas Taylor, while Denis Babuin celebrated his second victory in the Master category.
Bocca scored another success in the rookie classification and Özen finished third again. Taylor is four points ahead of Baldan in the standings after the first of six events. The TCR Italy DSG for racing cars with dual-clutch transmissions also held its first round at Misano. Gustavo Sandrucci was the best Audi driver in the first race, finishing third overall for Casals Motorsport. As a result, he won the Master classification in the Audi RS 3 LMS ahead of Alessandro Berton from Planet Motorsport in an identical car. Mattia Lancelotti from Planet Motorsport finished third in the Under-25 class. In the second race, Lancelotti was the best of eight Audi customers in the field in second place overall and in the Under-25 classification.
His teammate Alessandro Berton finished the race as the second-best Master driver. In the women’s classification, Carlotta Fedeli from RC Motorsport prevailed in both sprints against Audi brand colleague Seda Kaçan from the Texaco team. Turkish-born Seda Kaçan was also the second-best rookie of all participants in the first race and won this category in the second sprint. The Audi customer teams were also successful on the second weekend of the Coppa Italia Turismo racing series. In Mugello, Fulvio Ferri from BF Motorsport won the first sprint with a 12.5-second lead over Adriano Visdomini. Both were driving an Audi RS 3 LMS. In the DSG class, Giacomo Orioli from Planet Motorsport drove another Audi to victory, with Temel Camlidag from BF Motorsport coming third. In the second sprint, overall victory went to Adriano Visdomini, while BF Motorsport’s Ramazan Kaya finished third in an Audi.
Kamil Cat secured the DSG classification in the Audi of H2K Motorsport Italia, while Temel Camlidag finished third. In the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie, the Norwegian team Møller Bil Motorsport was once again successful in the TCR class. Anders Lindstad/Kenneth Østvold/Håkon Schjærin in the Audi RS 3 LMS had a two-lap lead over the Cupra of their pursuers after four hours of racing in the third round of the series. Team Zesati Racing VP Garage 34 recorded two victories in the third round of TCR Mexico. Carlo Zesati won the first and third races in the Audi RS 3 LMS on the race track in Mexico City.
At the second round of the TCR China Championship in Ningbo, the 326 Racing Team achieved third place in the Am classification with Lai Jingwen in the first race. In the second race, the Chinese driver improved to second place in the Audi RS 3 LMS. In the TCR China Challenge on the same circuit, Chang Chien Shang won the first race in an Audi RS 3 LMS. The Delta Artek Racing Team managed third place in the Cup class with the Audi RS 3 LMS and Liu Chao. In the second sprint, Liu Zichen drove to overall victory for the 326 Racing Team in another Audi. Third place in the Cup class went to the 326 Racing Team and its driver Qiu Yiheng. A total of eleven Audi RS 3 LMS cars were on the grid in the various competitions in Ningbo.
Audi R8 LMS GT4
Trophies in club racing: Team Up2Race recorded two podium results with the Audi R8 LMS GT4 at the start of the Spezial Tourenwagen Trophy season. Jürgen Hemker finished second in class in the first race at Hockenheim. In the second 40-minute competition of the club racing series, the private driver from Betzdorf won Class 3.
Dakar Rally
Audi in a movie: Universal Documentaries and Red Bull Studios have collaborated on a documentary film project. Under the name “Dakar: Race Against The Desert”, director Jalil Lespert has made an impressive film about the 2023 Dakar Rally, which focuses on the commitment, teamwork and determination of various participants. The film’s protagonists include former Audi factory driver Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard, four-time winner of the desert classic, was present at the screening at the Cine Capitol in Madrid, as was his former rally car, the Audi RS Q e-tron. Since its release, fans have been able to experience the film for a fee on various digital platforms.
Coming up in the next weeks
16–17/05 Spa (B), round 2, TCR Europe
16–18/05 Zolder (B), round 1, Belcar Endurance Championship
16–18/05 Shanghai (CHN), round 2, GT China Cup
16–18/05 Zandvoort (NL), round 2, GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup
16–18/05 Sebring (USA), round 4, GT America
16–18/05 Zandvoort (NL), round 2, GT4 European Series powered by Rafa Racing Club
16–18/05 Spa (B), round 2, International GT Open
17–18/05 Silverstone (GB), round 3, TCR UK
17–18/05 Brands Hatch (GB), round 2, GT Cup Championship
23–24/05 Misano (I), round 3, 24H Series European Series
23–25/05 Lausitzring (D), round 2, DTM
23–25/05 Lausitzring (D), round 1, ADAC GT Masters
23–25/05 Vallelunga (I), round 1, Campionato Italiano GT Sprint
23–25/05 Buriram (THA), round 1, Thailand Super Series
23–25/05 Vallelunga (I), round 2, TCR Italy
24–25/05 Nürburgring (D), Nürburgring 24h Qualifiers
