The teams from Audi Sport customer racing ended the month of September with strong performances. Four victories of the Audi R8 LMS and three of the Audi RS 3 LMS shaped a successful race weekend on three continents.
Audi R8 LMS GT3
Fourth victory of the season and Juniors’ title for Audi Sport customer racing: Audi Sport customers ended the 2019 season in the ADAC GT Masters with several top performances. Following the early confirmation of Kelvin van der Linde/Patric Niederhauser with the HCB-Rutronik Racing team as champions, they also scored a lights-to-flag victory in the final race at the Sachsenring. It was their third win. In total, Audi drivers celebrated four victories in the high-caliber GT3 championship with the Audi R8 LMS this year. Montaplast by Land-Motorsport was another Audi Sport customer team that had reason to celebrate. Max Hofer/Christopher Mies in race one achieved second position and third in race two. As a result, the Austrian Max Hofer won the fiercely competitive Juniors’ classification in front of 22 other drivers. In addition, the HCB-Rutronik Racing squad is leading the teams’ classification. However, due to an ongoing appeal proceeding, the final standings are provisional.
Second victory of the season in the Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia: Martin Rump and Weiron Tan in the finale of the racing series on the Shanghai circuit won the first race with a 3.5-second advantage. For Estonian Rump and his teammate from Malaysia, who were sharing an Audi R8 LMS of Audi Sport Asia Team Absolute Racing, this marked the second victory this season following their success at Fuji in July. Rump had achieved an advantage of 7.1 seconds in the first part of the race, Tan took over the cockpit at the pit stop and ultimately crossed the finish line with a 3.5-second advantage.
Two victories in Australia: In round four of the GT-1 Australia club sport racing series, three Audi drivers clinched four trophies in total with their R8 LMS. Vince Muriti won the first sprint race at Sydney while Nick Kelly took the third spot. In the second race, Nick Kelly was faster than all competitors and Matt Stoupas saw the checkered flag in position three.
Two strong driver teams in the title race: In the battle for the sixth title in the Intercontinental GT Challenge in the finale at Kyalami from November 21 to 23, Audi Sport customer racing relies on two well-balanced driver combinations. Kelvin van der Linde/Dries Vanthoor/Frédéric Vervisch, who most recently won the fourth of five rounds in this only worldwide GT3 racing series, will be on the grid again for Audi Sport Team WRT in South Africa. The second squad of Audi Sport drivers will be the same as the one at Suzuka: Christopher Haase, Christopher Mies and Markus Winkelhock are sharing another Audi R8 LMS to be fielded this time by Audi Sport Team Land. The Belgian Frédéric Vervisch in third position of the standings with a deficit of only six points is the Audi Sport driver with the greatest prospects of clinching the drivers’ title. From a purely mathematical standpoint, the top twelve drivers in the standings will still be able to fight for the title in the finale, including two other Audi Sport drivers, Dries Vanthoor and Christopher Haase.
Coming up next week
03–06/10 Spa (B), TCR 500
04–05/10 Mantorp Park (S), rounds 13 and 14, TCR Scandinavia
04–05/10 Mantorp Park (S), rounds 11 and 12, GT4 Scandinavia
04–06/10 Hockenheim (D), rounds 13 and 14, Audi Sport Seyffarth R8 LMS Cup
04–06/10 Monza (I), rounds 7 and 8, Campionato Italiano GT Sprint
04–06/10 Monza (I), rounds 13 and 14, TCR Italy
04–06/10 Mugello (I), round 6, TCR DSG Endurance
05–06/10 Skopje (NMK), round 16, FIA CEZ
05/10 Highlands (NZ), round 2, South Island Endurance Series