AUSTIN TX – On May 17-19th, Audi Club Lone Star (ACLS) returned to the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) to support the Audi Sport Customer Racing teams. Six Audis took to the field to contest the fourth and fifth rounds of the Pirelli World Challenge (PWC). The GMG Racing team, led by James Sofronas, brought a record five Audi R8 LMS cars while JCR Motorsports entered an R8 GRAND-AM. This represented the most Audis ever on a grid at COTA. The Audis showed a good performance over the weekend in the GT class with four finishing in the top ten on Saturday and five top ten finishes on Sunday. James Sofronas stood on the podium at the end of both races piloting his #14 Audi R8 LMS to second and first place, respectively.
ACLS members and guests enjoyed several exclusive opportunities while attending the Pirelli World Challenge including access to the premium grandstand at Turn 15, access to the VIP-only V8 Supercars pit walk and autograph session, PWC autograph session, PWC starting grid walk, private tours of the team paddock areas, and giveaways from teams and vendors.
On Saturday, ACLS members met with Sofronas, who made himself available for a Q&A session fresh off his second place finish. Drivers Alex Welch and Duncan Ende as well as various crew members also spent some time with the club. Members were permitted to tour their state-of-the-art trailer, roam the GMG Racing paddock where the crew repaired the #32 car and prepared the other cars for the Sunday race, and welcomed the #14 car as it returned from post-race inspection.
ACLS also paid a visit to fellow club member, Don Istook’s The Arc Audi Racing Team, who was there with a VW GTI to contest in the TC class. Istook took time to meet and greet attendees, answer questions, and provide a wealth of Audi and racing knowledge.
At Turn 15, club members cheered on the Audis and watched, first hand, as Sofronas passed Pilgrim for the lead in the second race of the weekend. All-in-all it was a great weekend of racing with a strong Audi presence with both the brand with the four rings and Audi Club Lone Star well represented.
Keep up with all our ACLS events and stay tuned for upcoming COTA packages from Audi Club Lone Star.