By Johan Laubscher
1. The Weekend
Focussing this week on the weekend of 11 - 12 May 2013
2. The Events
- ADAC GT Masters
- BRCC
- GT Asia
- GT Open / Spanish GT
- Race Trophy Austria
- FIA Hillclimb
- Kyalami Extreme Festival
- Cup und Tourenwagen
- Norsk GT
2.1. ADAC GT Masters
Round two of the ADAC GT Masters took place at Spa in Belgium this weekend. The six regular Audi R8 LMS ultra entries took part in the event, entered by MS RACING, Prosperia C.ABT Racing and YACO Racing. Qualifying again proved to be difficult as only one R8 LMS ultra placed within the top ten in both sessions. Race one saw two Audis finish in fifth and sixth, both from Prosperia C.ABT Racing. Race two had a similar result with only one Audi in the top ten, achieving seventh place. The second race also had a very bad crash for Rene Rast, we wish Rene a speedy recovery and best wishes.
2.2. BRCC
The Belgian Racing Car Championship (BRCC) held round two in France this weekend. One Audi team was entered for the event at Dijon, that of PK Carsport. The team was victorious in the endurance event at Zolder, round one of the championship. The team performed very well this weekend.
2.3. GT Asia
The GT Asia series got underway at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan this weekend. A total of five Audi R8 LMS ultra cars took part. Three 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra cars were entered by Absolute Racing, as well as one 2013 car from Dilango Racing and one older R8 LMS from Hitotsuyama Racing. The Audis showed good pace during the sessions. The top placed and only Audi within the top ten in race one was in fifth. The second race saw three Audis enter the top ten, with the highest position again being fifth place.
2.4. GT Open / Spanish GT
Team Novadriver competed in the Spanish IBER GT Championship this weekend. Round one of the Spanish GT was run together with round two of the International GT Open at Portimao. The team was fast in the sessions and qualified on the GTS (GT3 class) pole for race one. Novadriver took victory in the GTS class for both the Spanish GT and GT Open in race one, also achieving third place overall. The team unfortunately suffered a difficult race two with a DNF and a twenty-third place finish.
2.5. Race Trophy Austria
The Race Trophy Austria series held round two at the Red Bull Ring this weekend. Lechner Racing competed at the event with an older Audi R8 LMS. The car was driven to victory in the one-hour endurance race by drivers Philip König and Niki Mayr-Melnhof. The team has previously won the 2010 Hungary 12 Hours with their R8 LMS.
2.6. FIA Hillclimb
The Rampa da Falperra Hillclimb took place in Portugal. The event was part of a number of European and national Hillclimb Championships, most notably the FIA European Hillclimb and the Spanish series. A number of Audi competitors take part in these championships and this weekend saw two DTM machines take part: The Audi A4 DTM R13 of Jose Antonio Lopez-Fombona and the ABT-Audi TT-R of Vláďa Vitver.
2.7. Kyalami Extreme Festival
The Extreme Festivals are motorsport events held in the northern region (Gauteng) of South Africa. The events are organised by Zwartkops and an event was held at Kyalami this weekend. Audi cars competed in two of the categories: Audi A3 cars were in the SuperHatch category and the ex-Terry Moss Racing Audi A4 B7, driven by Jonathan Du Toit, was in the Extreme Supercars.
2.8. Cup und Tourenwagen
The Cup und Tourenwagen series held round two at Spa this weekend, as a support event for the ADAC GT Masters. A number of Audis took part in this series during 2013, but as was the case at round one, there was only one Audi entry this weekend. The Mk1 Audi TT driven by Franz-Josef Fischer.
2.9. Norsk GT
The Norwegian GT Championship got underway at Våler this weekend. A number of Audi cars have taken part in this series, including a very interesting Audi A5 TDI race car. Three Audis were present at the event his weekend, an Audi 80, Audi A5 TDI and an Audi A4 DTM R13 (B7).
2.10. Other Audi News
A special test day was offered at the Nürburgring on Wednesday. The test day was aimed at the GT teams to provide more track time for testing ahead of the Nürburgring 24 Hours next weekend. Most of the entered Audi R8 LMS ultra teams were at the test.
A special Iron Man 3 livery was seen on the Audi RS 5 DTM of Adrien Tambay at Hockenheim, and now a second special livery will be seen at the next DTM round at Brands Hatch. The red Audi RS 5 DTM of Miguel Molina will be racing with a red Audi Cup livery at round two.
Audi Sport had been testing at Paul Ricard recently, as part of their Le Mans preparations. A press video was released this week featuring footage from the test, with one all-black carbon fiber Audi R18 e-tron quattro “long-tail”. The video can be seen HERE.
A video featuring Allan McNish introducing the new Audi R18 e-tron quattro was also released this week. The video shows McNish taking the viewers for a brief tour around and inside the new car. The video can be seen HERE.
An Audi R13 has been entered in the 2013 Spanish Hillclimb Championship. Jose Antonio Lopez-Fombona, a multiple Hillclimb champion and long-time Audi A4 STW driver, has purchased the vehicle for the Spanish series. He successfully debuted his new car at the end of April. The Audi R13 is the 2007 Audi A4 DTM (B7) car, the same type of version which took Mattias Ekström to the 2007 DTM driver’s title. More can be read HERE.
The liveries and driver line-ups for the eight Nürburgring 24 Hours Audi R8 LMS ultra teams were confirmed this week. Audi Sport released an official pre-event press release which detailed the eight teams and their liveries. The press release can be read HERE.
Audi Sport Communication / Media
The new Audi TT ultra quattro is a concept car which was revealed at Wörthersee. A video featuring the TT ultra and two-time Le Mans winner, Andre Lotterer, was released this week.
Audi TT ultra quattro video link
The Istook Motorsport livery was revealed this weekend. The team have worked hard to prepare their two Audi TT RS race cars for this season's SCCA World Challenge. The next round of the series takes place at the Circuit of The Americas next weekend.
Istook TT RS FB page
The Caribbean Motor Racing Championship (CMRC) gets underway at the end of May. Two Audis are competing this year, one part of Team Barbados and the second part of Team Jamaica. Doug Gore will be competing for the Jamaican team with his modified ATL Automotive ABT-Audi TT-R. Long-time CMRC competitor, Doug Maloney, will again be using his extensively modified and turbocharged Audi A4 STW for Team Barbados.
Jamaican Tuner / D_MONTii Motography
Another new Audi R8 LMS ultra team competed for the first this weekend. Dilango Racing, who normally competed with Lamborghini, have acquired an Audi R8 LMS ultra. The car was entered in round one of the GT Asia this weekend, driven by Dilantha Malagamuwa. The team was originally listed as Nova Engineering on the entry list, but it was later updated to Dilango Racing. Another great additional to the growing Audi Sport customer racing family in Asia.
AFOS FB page
3. Next Weekend’s events (18-19/05/2013)
- DTM
- Nürburgring 24 Hours
- ELMS
- Superstars
- Superstars GT Sprint
- French GT-Tour
- Super GT
- SCCA World Challenge
- SVRA
- DMV TCC
- RCN
All photos are hosted at their respective website which are listed within the Weekend Round Up
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