Audi 1-2 Win in Thailand Super Series

Audi R8 LMS GT3

1-2 victory in Malaysia: Audi customers celebrated a first and a second place at the Thailand Super Series’ race on the Sepang circuit in Malaysia. Vicente Floirendo, who shared the Audi R8 LMS of the B-Quik Absolute Racing team with Audi Sport driver Markus Winkelhock, started the first race from grid position five. In a hectic early phase, the privateer driver from the Philippines initially lost two positions but Winkelhock started a race to catch up after the driver change. As early as lap 15, the Audi Sport driver was in second place behind the Audi of his team-mate Akash Nandy from Malaysia. After a caution period Winkelhock put pressure on the car in front of him and both Audi cars fought a thrilling battle. In the end, Winkelhock prevailed, took the lead on lap 22 and won by 8.2 seconds ahead of the Audi of Adisak Tangphuncharoen/Akash Nandy. Following this success, the winning Audi driver squad received the 15 seconds extra time for the pit stop in the second race as stipulated in the regulations. While Winkelhock dropped back in the early-phase scrum, Akash Nandy initially took the lead but fell back after opposing attacks on lap 6. Eshan Pieris had started fifth in another Audi R8 LMS with fellow driver and team boss Henk Kiks. After the driver change, Kiks overtook Chinese Vincent Lin, who was also driving an Audi, and was fourth. After a mistake by an opponent, Kiks moved up to third position on lap 23 and maintained it until the finish.

Two wins in South Africa: Audi privateer Michael Stephen experienced a perfect sixth race weekend in the G&H Transport Extreme Supercars Series. On the Kyalami circuit, the privateer steered the Audi R8 LMS of Team Ultimate Outlaws to two victories. Stephen won the first race by 1.5 seconds from Arnold Neveling, who was piloting a Stradale Motorsport Audi. In the second race, Stephen crossed the finish line half a second ahead of Porsche driver Franco Scribante.

Audi R8 LMS GT4

Series of successes in South Africa: Joseph Ellerine had every reason to celebrate at the sixth round of the G&H Transport Extreme Supercars Series. The South African won his class in the Audi R8 LMS GT4 fielded by Team MJR in both sprints at Kyalami. In the first race he had an eleven-second lead, in the second even a full lap.

Two trophies at the Lausitzring: Sophie Hofmann was on the podium in both sprints at the fourth round of the DMV Super Touring & GT Cup. In the first race, the junior driver in the Audi R8 LMS GT4 won her category by 6.5 seconds. In the second race, she finished third in the class classification of the club racing series.

Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)

Victory and lead of the standings in America: The Audi customer team Unitronic/JDC Miller MotorSports celebrated its second victory of the season in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge at the ninth event in Virginia. After Mikey Taylor and Chris Miller had already won the sixth weekend in Canada, they now secured a 6.9-second advantage in the Audi RS 3 LMS. In the end, a caution period made the two-hour race even more exciting: With eight minutes to go, all rivals behind the safety car moved close to the leading Audi but Taylor didn’t let himself be fazed and won when the race was released for a final lap. Miller and Taylor remain second in the standings but reduced their gap from 80 to 50 points with two rounds to go. Audi took the lead in the manufacturers standings with a ten-point advantage over Hyundai by clinching its third victory of the season overall.

Two trophies in South America: Rob Huff returns from Argentina with two trophies from the sixth race weekend of the TCR World Tour. The Briton had started the first race in fourth place in the Audi RS 3 LMS on the La Pedrera circuit on a damp track and moved into the lead after the start. After two safety car periods, race control released the race for the twelfth and final lap in which Huff made a mistake and dropped back to third place. In the second race, the Audi Sport Team Comtoyou driver started seventh. Once again he made a strong start, immediately gaining four positions. In the end, Huff again crossed the finish line in third place. The Briton thus moved up from fourth to third place in the standings. The remaining three rounds of the TCR World Tour are spread over three consecutive weekends in November with a total of six individual races in Australia and Macau.

Second place in grassroots racing: At the fourth round of the German grassroots series DMV NES 500, two Danish Audi customers were on the podium. Jesper Henriksen/Frederik Vodder brought their Audi RS 3 LMS to the finish line at the Lausitzring in second place in their class after three hours of racing.

Coming up next week

01–03/09 Ningbo (CN), round 3, China Endurance Championship
02–03/09 Assen (NL), round 5, Spezial Tourenwagen Trophy
02–03/09 Hockenheim (D), round 3, GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup
02–03/09 Motegi (J), round 5, Super Taikyu Series
02–03/09 Mosport (CDN), round 4, Sports Car Championship Canada presented by Michelin