- Audi RS 3 LMS records 19 podium places including six victories
- Championship lead for customer teams with the Audi R8 LMS in GT3 and GT4 racing
- Former soccer pro Thomas Helmer enjoys race taxi ride at the Norisring
[source: Audi AG]
The Audi RS 3 LMS has clinched six victories and 13 additional podium finishes in Europe and North America in a single race weekend. In addition, Audi customer teams are at the top of the standings ahead of the European finale of the 24H Series and after four of six rounds of GT4 France.
Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)
Winning weekend in Italy: The Audi customer teams convinced with strong results at Mugello at the halfway point of the TCR Italy season. In the first race, Franco Girolami in the Audi RS 3 LMS of the Aikoa Racing team gained five places from position nine already at the start. By the finish of the first sprint, he improved by another position after a penalty for an opponent. In third place, he was the best of 15 Audi drivers. In the second race, Cupra driver Aurélien Comte had crossed the finish line in first place but received five penalty seconds for exceeding the track limits when overtaking. As a result, victory went to Audi privateer Felice Jelmini from Team PMA. A 1-2 victory for Audi customers was completed by Spaniard Rubén Fernández from Team Auto Club RC2 Valles. It was the second success of the season for the Audi RS 3 LMS after Franco Girolami’s victory in the season opener at Imola. The Argentine Girolami remains the leader of the standings at the season’s halfway point, while Felice Jelmini has moved to within five points of him as the new runner-up. The Audi RS 3 LMS was also leading in the TCR Italy DSG competitions for race cars with dual clutch transmissions: Vedat Ali Dalokay from Turkey won the first race with Bitci Racing Team AMS ahead of Luigi Gallo and Carlotta Fedeli. Their two Audi cars were fielded by Team RC Motorsport. Gallo triumphed in the second race in a 1-2-3-4 Audi victory ahead of Dalokay, Filippo Barberi and Paolo Palanti. Vedat Ali Dalokay now has a ten-point lead over Carlotta Fedeli in the DSG standings.
Second win of the season in Denmark: Following victory at the season opener, the third event of the TCR Denmark produced another success for Audi’s customer teams. At the Danish racing series’ guest race at Falkenberg, Sweden, Mike Halder won the second sprint race. The German drove an Audi RS 3 LMS from TPR Motorsport. The Swede Kevin Engman from the Auto Lounge Racing team followed Halder in another Audi with a gap of just 1.2 seconds, thus ensuring an Audi one-two. In the third race, Mike Halder was again the best Audi driver in third place ahead of Engman. After three of seven events, Halder has moved to within eight points of former Formula 1 driver and Cupra driver Jan Magnussen in the standings as the new runner-up. Engman is only four points behind Halder.
Victory and lead of the standings in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge: After the opening victory of an Audi customer team at Daytona in January, the Unitronic/JDC-Miller MotorSports team now achieved success at round six. In the two-hour race at Bowmanville in Canada, Mikey Taylor/Chris Miller prevailed for the first time this season in the Audi RS 3 LMS. The South African Taylor turned a 20-second deficit at the halfway point into a one-lap lead thanks to a good strategy and tough driving in a duel with the Hyundai of Robert Wickens. While Miller/Taylor are third in the standings, Audi now leads the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge manufacturers standings ahead of Hyundai, Alfa Romeo and Honda.
Fourth victory of the season on the Nordschleife: Since the second of five races so far, the Audi RS 3 LMS has been unbeaten in its class in the 2023 Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie. Team Møller Bil Motorsport dominated for the third time in a row. In the six-hour race, the three Norwegians Anders Lindstad, Kenneth Østvold and Håkon Schjærin won the TCR classification. Team Møller Bil Motorsport thus leads the TCR standings in the Nimex Team Trophy by 17 points after five of nine rounds.
Three podiums in France: Team Espace Racing by CDRS returned from the fourth race weekend of the Championnat de France FFSA Tourisme series with three trophies. Christian Philippon secured second place in the second sprint at Val de Vienne, teammate Franck Labescat drove the Audi RS 3 LMS to second place in the third sprint. In the fourth sprint, Philippon recorded third place in the TCR classification in the mixed touring car racing series.
Podium results at Zolder: Bas Koeten Racing was among the best teams in its class with the Audi RS 3 LMS at the fourth round of the Supercar Challenge. In both 60-minute races at Zolder, Laurens de Wit finished second in the Supersport 1 Division.
Audi R8 LMS GT3
Two podium results in Portugal: At the fourth round of the 24H Series powered by Hankook European Series, two Audi customer teams stood on the podium in different competitions. Team Haas RT finished the six-hour qualifying race in Estoril in third place with its R8 LMS. The team from Antigua even had chances to finish second but a puncture and a penalty for excessive speed in a Code 60 phase threw the driver team with Audi Sport driver Frédéric Vervisch, Mathieu Detry and Gregory Servais back to third position. In the 12-hour main race, Scherer Sport PHX improved from sixth to second place with the Audi R8 LMS. In the process, Audi Sport driver Pierre Kaffer and his teammates Michael Doppelmayr, Elia Erhart and Christer Jöns even made up a lap shortly before the end and finished 90 seconds behind. After five of six rounds in the European standings of the racing series, Scherer Sport PHX is leading the GT3 Pro-Am standings, at the same time Erhart and Kaffer are at the top of the Pro-Am drivers standings. Despite a retirement in the main race, Team Haas RT is the overall leader in the GT3 standings, and Mathieu Detry also maintains a narrow lead in the GT3 Drivers Championship.
Audi R8 LMS GT4
Premieres in France: For the first time, the Championnat de France FFSA GT competed at the Val de Vienne race track. There, the driver duo Gaël Castelli/Rodolphe Wallgren won the Pro-Am classification for the first time in the first race in an Audi R8 LMS GT4 fielded by the CSA Racing team. They scored third overall in a field of 31 entries. Two other Audi privateers remain championship leaders after the fourth of six rounds: Grégory Guilvert and Christophe Hamon are nine points ahead of their pursuers in the Pro-Am standings. Their entrant Saintéloc Racing, as the best of 13 Pro-Am teams, also has a nine-point lead at the top of the team standings.
Audi R8 LMS GT2
Celebrity guest in the race taxi at the Norisring: At the third round of the DTM at the Norisring, Thomas Helmer, a well-known sportsman from a different discipline, experienced the track from the cockpit perspective. The former professional soccer player and European Champion was a guest on the co-driver’s seat in the Audi R8 LMS GT2. Audi Sport driver Markus Winkelhock chauffeured the Schaeffler innovation taxi with the steer-by-wire steering system around the famous street circuit in Nuremberg. The event attracted 102,000 spectators to the track over the weekend.
Coming up next week
14–15/07 Le Castellet (F), round 3, Le Mans Cup
14–16/07 Suzuka (J), round 3, GT World Challenge Asia
14–16/07 Misano (I), round 4, GT4 European Series
14–16/07 Nürburgring (D), round 3, ADAC GT Masters
14–16/07 Vila Real (P), Invitational race 24H Series
14–16/07 Vila Real (P), Invitational race Supercars Endurance
15–16/07 Misano (I), round 2, GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup
15–17/07 Toronto (CDN), round 2, Sports Car Championship Canada presented by Michelin
