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

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.