Audi R8 LMS top in Europe and Australia

May 14, 2021 / Audi Motorsport

In the two regional championships of the Promoter SRO’s GT World Challenge, two teams from Audi Sport Customer Racing celebrated victories and topped the championship with the GT3 version of the Audi R8 LMS. The GT4 as well as the Audi RS 3 LMS also contributed many successes to the sporty and geographically spacious balance sheet at the weekend.

Audi R8 LMS GT3

Live in the new season: Audi Sport drivers Dries Vantor and Charles Weiertes started the company to defend their title in the AWS Sprint Cup-backed Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe with great success. After Charles Virts – 20-year-old Audi Sport’s youngest driver – scored the fastest time in qualifiers in Magny Corps, he and his Belgian compatriot won their first race in the dark on Saturday by 6.4 seconds. The fastest race stopping point by Team WRT and the fastest race lap by Vanthoor after a driver changeover in the second half of the race confirmed the team’s strong performance. In the second 60-minute race on Sunday, last year’s champions Vantor and Werts finished second to stay top of the standings. After the first five races, they lead twelve points in the drivers’ standings. WRT leads the team’s eleven-team ranking by 7.5 points.

Third place in the qualifying race: Phoenix Racing achieved the podium result in the qualifying race in preparation for the 24 Hours of Nürburgring. In a very level playing field, Audi Sport driver Frank Stebler and colleagues Michelle Beretta, Nikki Thiem and Vincent Kolb drove Ernst Moser’s Audi R8 LMS to third after six hours of racing.

Victory in Norway: The Audi R8 LMS competed for the first time in the Norwegian GT racing series. Local race driver Wiggo Dalmo won their first sprint at Vålerbanen in the opening event by ten seconds ahead. In the second race he took second place.

Two successes in New Zealand: At the start of the North Island Endurance Series in New Zealand, Audi customer teams won two awards. In the one o’clock category, Anthony Legg drove his Audi R8 LMS to third place overall in Pukekohe. The long-running customer team IMS finished the three-hour race with Neil Foster / Johnny Reed in second place with an Audi R8 LMS.

Three awards in China: The Audi YC Racing customer team started the new GT Super Sprint Challenge series in Shanghai with a measurable score. Ray Wu of China improved in the team’s Audi R8 LMS from fourth on the grid to second in the Am Masters category in the first race. In the second race, Xing Yanbin beat his compatriot on the last lap in another Audi R8 LMS. So he reached second place in the Am Masters category ahead of Wu.

Audi R8 LMS GT4

Audi Saintéloc Racing customer team is front in GT4 FranceIn the second weekend of the GT4 France race, the Audi R8 LMS GT4 remained unbeaten. Last year’s champion, Gregory Gilvert / Fabian Michel, won the first one-hour race in Magny-Cours from seventh on the grid by 4.1 seconds. In the second race, teammates Olivier Estevez / Anthony Beltois, who started in first place, won by 6.6 seconds, while Gilfert / Michel finished third.

Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)

Table leader in TCR Europe: Comtoyou Racing made a strong start to the 2021 season after winning the TCR Europe Championship last year, with Tom Coronel finishing first in the Audi RS 3 LMS in the Slovak circuit, but losing one place at the start. Later, the Dutchman dropped three more jobs. Belgian Nicholas Burt, who started from third, beat Coronel on the fourth lap in another Comtoyou Racing Audi RS 3 LMS. The champion of the previous year did not give up second place until the end. As the best of nine teams, Comtoyou Racing amassed a total of 113 qualifiers and in both races, giving them a nine-point lead.

Total victory in South America: IMPA Motors Racing won the start of the Campeonato Gaúcho de Super Turismo at Autódromo de Guaporé in Brazil. In a mixed field of 30 touring cars, GT models and prototypes, Arthur Caleffi / Junior Victorette in the Audi RS 3 LMS achieved a 0.473 second lead over the two hours of the race.

TCR victory over Slovakiaring: In the second round of the Eset Cup, BTC Maszyny from Poland won the TCR Ranking in the Endurance Race. Bartosz Groszek is behind the wheel of the Audi RS 3 LMS.

From the seventh on the network to the podiumOn the second weekend of the Italian clubport racing series Coppa Italia Turismo, Carlotta Fedeli catches up in the first race. The 29-year-old started at seventh place in RC Motorsport’s Audi RS 3 LMS in Imola. In just 25 minutes of the race, the Romanian woman rose to second place in a strong field of 17 participants.

Third place at the beginning of the season: At the start of TCR China, Huffsport TM was the best of the three Audi customer teams in Shanghai. Yang Shi led the second sprint race as the best amateur driver in the Audi RS 3 LMS to the penultimate lap. Only on the last lap did two professional drivers overtake him, but the Chinese won the Am-class for third place overall.

Dates for next week

May 14-15 Hockenheim (D), second round of the European GT2 Series

14.–16.05. Mid-Ohio (USA), 3. Lauf IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar

14.–16.05. Mid-Ohio (USA), 3. Lauf IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge

14-16 May Oschersleben (D), ADAC GT Masters first round

May 14-16 Oschersleben (D), first round ADAC GT4 Germany

14-16 May Oschersleben (D), first round ADAC TCR Germany

14-16 May Riga (LV), BaTCC first round

15.05. Phakisa (ZA), running G&H Extreme Supercars for the second time

15. – 16.05. Smolenskring (RUS), 1. Lauf TCR Russia

15. – 16.05. Le Castellet (F), 1. Lauf GT Cup Open Europe

15. – 16.05. Autopolis (J), 2. Lauf TCR Japan

15-16 May Le Castellet (F), GT Open International Tour

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