Most of the motorsport world was focused on the 100th anniversary of the LeMans 24-hour race in France this past weekend, a race that Audi has dominated in the past. With no official participation in this year’s endurance races, Audi had to settle for customer victories in other series instead. Rob Huff scored the first victory for Audi Sport Team Comtoyou in the new Kumho TCR World Tour race series. Meanwhile, the Audi R8 LMS remains unbeaten in the 24H Series powered by Hankook European Series this year after a success by Scherer Sport PHX.
Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)
First triumph in the Kumho TCR World Tour: For the first time, Audi Sport Team Comtoyou managed a victory in the currently highest–ranking TCR race series. The Kumho TCR World Tour, which has been held since this year, hosted its third round at Vallelunga near Rome. Rob Huff in the Audi RS 3 LMS started the second sprint from fifth place on the grid. The Briton behaved tactically smart in a chaotic early scenario and improved to second position behind Lynk&Co driver Ma Qin Hua, whom he overtook on the third lap. After a safety car period Huff extendedhis gap and crossed the finish line with a 4.6–second advantage after 16 laps.
Audi Sport driver Frédéric Vervisch, who started from position seven, overtook an opponent as early as on the first lap and improved to third position on lap four. In the standings, Rob Huff is in third place behind Norbert Michelisz and Yann Ehrlacher after three of nine events.
On the third weekend of the TCR UK, two Audi privateer drivers achieved podium results at Oulton Park. Jac Constable had started the first race in third place for Rob Boston Racing in the Audi RS 3 LMS. On the last lap, he overtook Hyundai driver Alex Ley to finish second, two tenths of a second ahead of his rival. In the second race, Brad Hutchison was the best Audi privateer. The Briton from the Bond it with MPHR team, who started fourth, brought his RS 3 LMS home in third position.
The third race weekend of TCR Australia at Winton yielded three trophies for the Audi customer teams. Zac Soutar from Team Soutar Motorsport finished third in the Audi RS 3 LMS in the first race. In the second race, Clay Richards put in a good showing, piloting a TCR race car for the first time. He managed second place in a field of 13 competitors at the first attempt in the Audi entered by Shannons Insurance Penrite Oil. In the third sprint, Zac Soutar repeated his podium result from the first race, but in a dramatic final lap. He had been in third place since the start when Cupra driver Michael Clemente overtook him on the 15th of 18 laps. After Clemente then collided with the car in front of him and immediately went off the gas, Soutar ran up and touched his rival’s car, which slid into the guardrails. In the end, Soutar finished third.
The Audi customer teams continue the winning streak of the Audi R8 LMS in the 24H Series powered by Hankook European Series. After Team Haas RT won the Mugello 12 Hours at the season opener and the Saintéloc Junior Team won the Spa 12 Hours at the second round, Team Scherer Sport PHX was now victorious at the Monza 12 Hours. The Audi privateer team fought a thrilling battle with the Porsche team Herberth Motorsport with lead changes until the very end. Audi Sport driver Pierre Kaffer shared the cockpit with gentleman drivers Elia Erhart and Michael Doppelmayr. In the end, the victory of last year’s European champions was decided by two so–called Code 60 zones in which the cars had to be driven slowly for safety reasons.
