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

BES: Fourth place for Belgian Audi Club Team WRT at Monza

By Tarek Ramchani

The season opener of the Blancpain Endurance Series was held today. A great field of 60 GT3 cars hit the track at the "Temple of Speed" Monza. The Audi squad did quite well on a very penalizing track for the R8 LMS ultra. Three cars finished within the top 10.

Belgian Audi Club Team WRT entered three Audi R8 LMS ultra cars, all of them in the top Pro-Cup class. The #13 car shared by Edward Sandström, Frank Stippler and Christopher Mies finished in a very strong fourth overall. Sandström had a very heroic stint resisting, with an "inferior" car, multiple charges from a much faster McLaren MP4-12C. Unfortunately he lost the podium place at the finish line, by a mere 0.028 seconds. The other cars from the team had a much harder race. #1 car of Stéphane Oretlli, Laurens Vanthoor and René Rast was out of race winning contention after a very early puncture, and were classified in twelfth. The third car had to race through the field starting from back of the pack, Rahel Frey, Matt Halliday and Mayr Melnhof finished in seventeenth.

The Phoenix Racing cars had very positive performances. #16 Audi R8 LMS ultra of Enzo Ide, Anthony Kumpen and Markus Winckhock was sixth. The sister #6 car of Oliver Jarvis, Christopher Haase and Harold Primat ended in ninth. It was a much harder race for Sainteloc Racing, their cars were classified in 44th with car #42, 51st with car #41 and 60th with car #40.

The next round of the Blancpain Endurance Series will be at Silverstone.

Photo credit: Blancpain Endurance Series

BES: Eight Audi R8 LMS ultra for round 1 at Monza

By Tarek Ramchani

The 2013 Blanpcain Endurance Series will kick off at Monza this weekend. The Audi squad will be represented by eight R8 LMS ultra cars from three different teams. No less than six cars will fight in the top Pro-Cup class, in what is now the largest and best GT series in Europe.

Belgian Audi Club Team WRT

Belgian Audi Club Team WRT are the 2011 and 2012 series champions. The Belgian team will field three cars this year, all of them in the Pro-Cup class, and with very strong driver lineups. The team is welcoming Rahel Frey, the Swiss Audi factory drivers who spent the last two years in the DTM.

#1 Audi R8 LMS ultra (Pro-Cup): Stéphane Ortelli - Laurens Vanthoor- RenéRast
#2 Audi R8 LMS ultra (Pro-Cup): Edward Sandström - Frank Stippler - Christopher Mies
#13 Audi R8 LMS ultra (Pro-Cup): Rahel Frey- Niki Mayr Melnhof - Matt Halliday

Phoenix Racing

Phoenix Racing will debut in the Blancpain Endurance Series as full season competitors. Last year the German team won the stellar event of the series, the Spa 24 Hours with an Audi R8 LMS ultra, as well entering the Nurburgring round. Two cars will be entered in the Pro Cup class.

#6 Audi R8 LMS ultra (Pro-Cup): Oliver Jarvis - Christopher Haase - Harold Primat
#16 Audi R8 LMS ultra (Pro-Cup): Enzo Ide- Anthony Kumpen - Markus Winkelhock

Sainteloc Racing

The French privateer Audi team is returning to the series. Sainteloc will field three cars, one in each of the three classes: Pro-Cup, Pro-Am Cup and the Gentlemen Trophy

#40 Audi R8 LMS ultra (Pro-Cup): Grégory Guilvert -
#41 Audi R8 LMS ultra (Gentlemen Trophy): Pierre Hirschi- Marc Sourd - Claude-Yves Gosselin
#42 Audi R8 LMS ultra (Pro-Am Cup): Ronnie Latinne Latinne - David Hallyday - Romain Monti

The three hour race is set for Sunday afternoon, a live stream for the event will be available on the official Blancpain Endurance Series website.

Photo credit: Blanpcain Endurance Series / Berzerkdesign.de

BES: Sainteloc Racing back to the series with three Audi R8 LMS

By Tarek Ramchani

Sainteloc Racing have confirmed their plans for the 2013 Blanpcain Endurance Series. The French Audi Sport customer racing team will field no less than three Audi R8 LMS and ultra cars.

The Saint-Etienne based team will have a single car in each of the three series classes. One in the top Pro-Cup class, one in the Pro-Am class and the final entry will run in the Gentlemen Trophy, open for amateurs. Last year Sainteloc Racing won the teams title in the Gentlemen Trophy and the drivers title with Pierre Hirschi and Robert Hissom.

For the moment only the Pro-Am Cup Audi R8 LMS ultra driver line-up has been unveiled  The car will be shared by Frenchmen David Hallyday and Romain Monti, the third driver is Ronnie Latinne from Belgium. The star of the car will no doubt be David Hallyday. The popular French singer is no stranger to the Audi R8 LMS ultra, as he raced with Audi France in the French GT series for many years.

In addition to the Blancpain Endurance Series, Sainteloc Racing will also be back in French GT tour with multiple Audi R8 LMS ultra cars.

Photo credit: Blancpain Endurance Series

Audi teams at the Blancpain Endurance Series test days

By Johan Laubscher 

In its third season the Blancpain Endurance Championship continues to grow and is now the largest GT3 championship in Europe. Three Audi teams will be competing in the series with no less than seven 2013 specification Audi R8 LMS ultra cars. Three cars from Belgian Audi Club Team WRT and two each from Phoenix Racing and Saintéloc Racing. 

The official BES test days were held this week. Paul Ricard hosted the first two days of testing on Tuesday and Wednesday. A huge field of GT3 cars took part at the test, with over sixty cars on site. Among the cars present were all seven of the Audis. Following the Paul Ricard test many of the teams travelled to Monza for two further days of testing on Thursday and Friday. The Monza test days were comprised of Blancpain and WTCC competitors. WRT and Phoenix Racing also took part in the testing held at Monza. 

The teams will now head home to continue preparations for the opening round of the season. The season opener is set for April 15 at Monza. It will be another great year for Audi fans in the BES with seven cars to support, not to mention the fact that WRT will be aiming for their third successive BES championship title. 

Photo credit: Mr Monza - Stefano Ciabattoni

Six Audi R8 LMS ultra at Blancpain Endurance Series Paul Ricard test

By Tarek Ramchani

The Blancpain Endurance Series is one of the fastest growing sportscar series in Europe. In 2013 the SRO managed series will be entering its third year of competition. Audi has already won the 2011 and 2012 editions with Belgian Audi Club Team WRT, winning both the team and driver titles each time.

The 2013 season will start at Monza, but before that two test days are planned at Paul Ricard next week. An impressive field of 60 GT3 cars will show up at the HTTT track in southern France. Audi Sport customer racing is very well represented with no less than six R8 LMS ultra and front running teams.

Three teams will be on site with Belgian Audi Club Team WRT, Phoenix Racing and Sainteloc Racing from France. Each team will field two cars. The first of the two Phoenix cars will be shared by Anthony Kumpen, Enzo Ide and Markus Winkelhock. The other five Audi R8 LMS ultra driver line-ups are yet to be announced.

Photo credit: SRO/Blancpain Endurace Series

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

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 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