GT Tour: Belgian Audi Club Team WRT may join the series at Spa

By Tarek Ramchani

The second round of the French GT Tour Series will be in Belgium, at Spa-Francorchamps. Belgian Audi Club Team WRT is planning to join the event with two Audi R8 LMS ultra.

WRT is no stranger to the French series, they managed the official Team Audi France entry for the last couple of years, with Stéphane Ortelli and David Hallyday as their drivers. In 2011 Team Audi France and WRT come very close to the title. Last season, at the finale of Paul Ricard, WRT entered a car on their own under the Belgian Audi Club banner.

Vincent Vosse, WRT team manager, spoke with our friends at Endurance-Info and said that racing at Spa will help the team prepare for the big Spa 24 Hours.

For now nothing is official yet, as the drivers line-ups are still to be announced, but it will be great to see the Belgian Audi team racing on home soil.

Photo credit: GT Tour

WRT at Paul Ricard's 2012 GT Tour finale: Team Audi France and Belgian Audi Club

GT Tour: Fourth place for Sainteloc Racing Audi in race 1 at Le Mans

By Tarek Ramchani

Le Mans is hosting the first round of the French GT Tour this weekend. Four Audi R8 LMS ultra cars have entered the event, from Sainteloc Racing and Team Speed Car. Race 1 was held today with a fourth place finish as the best result for the Audi squad.

The #42 Audi R8 LMS ultra of Sainteloc Racing shared by Gregory Guilvert and David Hallyday finished in a strong fourth place. After very close battles in the 1-hour sprint race at the Bugatti track, the two Audi drivers were less than three seconds behind the race winning McLaren MP4-12C from Sebatien Loeb Racing. All three the other R8 LMS ultra cars had a very hard event, they finished respectively in the 21st, 22nd and 26th places. Race 1 results are here.

Race 2 is set for tomorrow. Again another 1-hour sprint race,  we hope that both Guilvert and Hallyday will be able to fight for the victory.

Photo credit: Endurance-Info

BR-Racing with an Audi R8 LMS ultra in French GT Tour

By Tarek Ramchani

JWS Racing returns to the French GT Tour with Audi and some major changes. The Audi Sport customer racing team has recently changed its name and now becomes BR-Racing.

The team will field a single Audi R8 LMS ultra in the main "Championnat de France GT". The car will be a 2013 spec R16. The BR-Racing machine will be in the hands of drivers Mathieu Jaminet and Jean-Marc Quintois. As in 2012, the GT Tour effort will have technical support from Sainteloc Racing, who are now the leading Audi squad in French GT.

In addition to the GT Tour program, the BR-Racing team is also set to compete at the Spa 24 Hours this July. This will mark their first attempt at the Belgian endurance classic and stellar event of the Blancpain Endurance Series. The French R8 is expected to be in the Pro-Am Cup class.

Photo credit:
GT Tour
BR-Racing official Facebook

Team Speed Car joins French GT Tour with an Audi R8 LMS ultra

By Tarek Ramchani

A new Audi team is joining the French GT Tour series this year. Team Speed Car will enter three GT3 cars for the full 2013 season. One of their cars is a brand new Audi R8 LMS ultra. The car will be shared by drivers Vincent Abril and Sébastien Cabirou. They will be racing in the main "Championnat de France GT" category. The team will also have two old Aston Martin DBRS9 cars in the "Coupe de France GT", a class for older generation cars. Team Speed Car will join the already confirmed, and Audi regulars, from Sainteloc Racing who are expected to field multiple R8 LMS and ultra cars.

The car looks great with its dominant chrome paint scheme. The French R16 livery was designed by our friends at Berzerkdesign from Germany.

The team recently tested the car at the Ledenon circuit. These photos were taken on site by our friend Sylvain Kukulka. Team Speed Car will debut with the Audi R8 LMS ultra at Le Mans, on the short Bugatti circuit, the season opener of the 2013 GT Tour series. We wish the best of luck to the whole team with the car in a very competitive and challenging field.

Sainteloc Racing back to French GT Tour with Audi

By Tarek Ramchani

Team Sainteloc Racing, a French privateer Audi team, is set to come back to the French GT Tour series. They will be racing for their fourth straight year with the Audi brand and the R8 LMS in GT3 racing. The Saint-Etienne based team is expected to field multiple R8 LMS cars this year. During 2012 Sainteloc Racing fielded three cars and also supported the JWS Racing Audi entry.

The first driver to be confirmed is Grégory Guilvert, who scored two wins in GT Tour with the team last year. With the official Team Audi France shutting down their racing program with the R8 LMS, Sainteloc Racing will now be the top Audi team in the series and among the teams fighting for the title.

In addition to a full season in the GT Tour series, Sainteloc Racing is expected to return to the Blancpain Endurance Series as well.

Photo credit: GT Tour

Team Audi France ends GT Tour efforts

By Tarek Ramchani

Very sad news from France today. Team Audi France have ended their efforts in the FFSA GT Tour series. The official French Audi dealer team has been racing with the WRT team the last couple of years. Team Audi France entered a single new spec Audi R8 LMS ultra in 2012. It was a very mixed year as bad luck hit the team at various rounds. By the end of the season the French squad improved a lot as the #32 Audi of Stéphane Ortelli and David Hallyday won the finale at Paul Ricard.

Before the WRT years, Audi France supported Team ORECA with their Audi R8 LMS cars between 2009 and 2010. Audi France will really be missed in the paddock and by the fans. However the GT Tour will again have multiple Audi R8 LMS cars on their grid. The cars will come from the privateer teams which include:  Sainteloc Racing, JWS Racing and the new comers from Speed Car.

Photo credit: GT Tour

Team Audi France won GT Tour season finale

By Tarek Ramchani

The Paul Ricard track in southern France hosted the finale of the FFSA GT Tour Series. No less than seven Audi R8 LMS and ultra cars were there, and they did really well this weekend.

Team Audi France, the official national dealer team had a mixed 2012 season in the French series. They were always fast with their #32 Audi R8 LMS ultra shared by Stéphane Ortelli and David Hallyday, yet they had a lot of bad luck in many rounds. At Paul Ricard the team added a second car, the #31 for Audi DTM works driver, Adrien Tambay and rookie Karim Doguet. The team achieved a storming pole position for Race 1, but was only able to finish in fifth place after a chaotic start and a long period behind the safety car.

Things turned out to be a lot better during Race 2 on Sunday. Both Ortelli and Hallyday fought very hard on track, including a fair battle against the sister WRT car of the Belgian Audi Club driven by Laurens Vanthoor. After the mandatory pit stops the #32 Audi was able to improve and pass some of its rivals. In the closing stages the two leading Ferraris made mistakes at the same time, thus allowing Hallyday to take race lead and he later crossed the finish line victorious. The other Audis finished in sixth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth.

2012 was a hard year for Audi in the French GT series, however the finale was a very positive weekend. Team Audi France ended the year off very well after chasing race wins all season long. Credits also go to both Sainteloc Racing and JWS Racing, two privateer efforts who did well this year.

Photo credit: Patrick Hecq / W Racing Team