- Audi RS 3 LMS unbeaten three times in Toronto
- Audi R8 LMS GT4 wins at Vila Real, Portugal
- Best result of the season for Comtoyou Racing with Audi R8 LMS GT3
Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)
Audi remains unbeaten in Canada: After the second race weekend of the Sports Car Championship Canada powered by Michelin, the Audi RS 3 LMS remains at the top. The touring car with the four rings has won each of the six individual races of the season so far. Following the successes of Justin Di Benedetto and Dean Baker at the season opener, Richard Boake now made his mark on the street race in Toronto. The privateer driver for Team Blanchet Motorsports wisely held back at the start of the first race. He benefited from an accident involving Dean Baker and VW driver Louis-Philippe Montour at the front and then overtook Baker to win the TCR classification by half a second. Marc Cirone completed an Audi one-two-three. In the second race, Boake initially lined up behind Montour. Then Boake passed him on the seventh lap to win by two and a half seconds over Dean Baker. In the third race, a duel broke out between the two Audi cars of Boake and Baker, which Boake won by 2.6 seconds. Marco Cirone completed the result to an Audi 1-2-3 victory. In the standings, Audi privateer Baker increased his lead from ten to 40 points. The new runner-up is Boake, who moved up two places in the ranking.
Two podiums in Indonesia: Team BRM Motorsport scored two successes in the Indonesian Sentul Series of Motorsport with its various sub-categories. Glenn Nirwan won the second round of the Euro Touring Car Championship at the Sentul circuit in an Audi RS 3 LMS ahead of 21 competitors. In the national Indonesia Touring Car Race competition held at the same event, he scored second place.
Audi R8 LMS GT4
Victory in the streets of Vila Real: The Iberian Supercars Endurance racing series visited the Portuguese city of Vila Real for an invitational race after two regular championship rounds. Team Veloso Motorsport managed an impressive second race on the narrow and spectacular street circuit. The Portuguese Jorge Rodrigues and Patrick Cunha had started from pole position in the Audi R8 LMS GT4 and were unchallenged at the front for 20 laps. As Bronze-rated drivers, they eventually won by 2.7 seconds ahead of a Pro driver pairing in a Mercedes-AMG and 14 other contenders. Rodrigues/Cunha lead the championship’s bronze classification at the season’s halfway point and are third overall.
Two podium results for Team Speedcar: At the fourth round of the GT4 European Series powered by Rafa Racing Club, Robert Consani/Benjamin Lariche were the fastest driver pairing from among the Audi customer teams. On the Misano circuit, they led the first race in Team Speedcar’s Audi R8 LMS GT4 for a long time and only had to concede defeat to the BMW driver duo Gabriele Piana/Michael Schrey by 2.8 seconds on the final lap. In the second race, a close three-way battle broke out between Consani/Lariche and two BMW teams with multiple lead changes. After one hour of racing, the Audi privateer pairing finished third, just 1.1 seconds behind the winner. While Consani/Lariche are third in the Silver Cup standings, Grégory Guilvert/Christophe Hamon now lead the Pro-Am standings in the Audi R8 LMS GT4 of Saintéloc Racing with a 61-point advantage after their fifth class victory of the season.
Audi R8 LMS GT3
Best result of the season for Comtoyou Racing: At the second round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup, the Comtoyou Racing team managed to make it onto the podium for the first time. At the Misano circuit on Italy’s Adriatic coast, Audi Sport driver Christopher Haase and Swiss Lucas Légeret started Sunday’s second race in fifth place. Haase gained a place as early as on the first lap and remained fourth until the mandatory pit stops started and he handed his R8 LMS over to his teammate on lap 16. After the end of all stops, Légeret was in second place and eventually crossed the finish line 4.2 seconds behind winner Valentino Rossi. For Jean-Michel Baert’s Audi customer team, which is contesting its first season in GT3 racing, it was the best result with the Audi R8 LMS so far.
Coming up next week
21–22/07 Lime Rock (USA), round 7, IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge
21–22/07 East London (ZA), round 5, G&H Transport Extreme Supercars Series
21–23/07 Motegi (J), round 4, GT World Challenge Asia
21–23/07 Le Castellet (F), round 5, TCR Europe
22/07 Donington (GB), Invitational race British Endurance Championship
22/07 Misano (I), round 2, Coppa Italia Turismo Endurance
22–23/07 Portimão (P), round 4, GT2 European Series
22–23/07 Knockhill (GB), round 4, TCR UK
22–23/07 Le Castellet (F), round 4, International GT Open
22–23/07 Rivera (ROU), round 5, TCR South America
