Audi Club Lone Star hosts car corral at 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas and watch Audi Sport’s historic win.
Audi Car Corral:
Audi Club Lone Star hosted the Audi Car Corral for the 2013 International Sports Car Racing weekend at Circuit of the Americas. The event marked only the second and last time the R18 e-tron quattros would touch U.S. soil in the 2013 calendar year. Audi fans from all over Texas and beyond came to support Audi Sport Team Joest in securing victory in the 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas, more popularly known as the 6 Hours of Austin.
Events for the weekend started on Wednesday with some members invited to meet Andre Lotterer and Luic Duval at a meet and greet event hosted by Audi South Austin. The drivers of the #1 and #2 cars reviewed the vehicles technologies and the discussed the challenges that they face in endurance racing and the Circuit of the Americas.
On Thursday COTA hosted a special panel on Green Engineering focusing on green technology developed on the track with the goal of bringing such technology to production cars. Dr. Ulrich was in attendance as a panelist and provided insight regarding Audi’s focus on green engineering both on and off the track. After the event, club members were able to meet Dr. Ullrich.
On Friday morning, in full wet conditions, the ACLS Car Corral festivities began. Audi Club Lone Star hosted over 50 cars and more than 60 guests in Lot C near the Grand Plaza entrance. The club sat together at Turn 15 situated at the south side of the 12-16 S turns with a view of the back straight. From this vantage point attendees could watch the R18s flying down the back straight before heavy breaking into Turn 12.
Friday held ALMS/WEC practice sessions. The R-18s put on a good show, making full use of quattro on the wet track. Rain was on and off all day inviting huge rooster tails to follow the R-18s through the wet track. ACLS members were invited to an exclusive pit tour and many got a rare opportunity to participate in a hot lap around the track with a professional race car driver in a 2013 Audi A4, provided by Silvercar™. The hot laps were conducted during the height of the rain and proved to be an exciting few minutes as the drivers took advantage of the quattro system, powering the A4s through the wet track and pushing the boundaries of grip. One lucky member was given a hot lap in an Audi Sport Customer Racing R8 provided by the Audi Motorsports Experience. The rain did not let up the rest of the day and Audi Sport chose not to bring the R18s out for the afternoon practice session. After an intense day at the track, members of the ACLS Car Corral had dinner together at Stubs in Austin.
As it often can be in Texas, Saturday’s weather was the polar opposite of Friday with clear skies perfect for racing. The R18s participated in early morning practice and afternoon qualifying. ACLS members were able to enjoy the sights and sounds of the track and visit the Audi Fan Zone where the 2013 24 Hours of Daytona winning R8 and the original 2000 R8 prototype cars greeted fans. Race updates were also periodically provide at the Fan Zone with guests such as Allen McNish and Emmanuelle Pirro! Audi ended the day qualifying first (#2) and second (#1) with the Toyota a close third.
Sunday started early, with corral members gathering at 8 a.m. to enter the WEC pits. In the pits club members were able to get close to the Audi Sport garages before finally getting to meet the drivers during the autograph session. Some members of the club also had an opportunity to walk the grid before the start of the race and rub elbows with the drivers, engineers, and Dr. Ullrich as they prepared for the 6 Hours of Austin. The grid was cleared and after a formation lap the race was underway.
The #1 car was involved in early position battles leading to some mechanical issues with the rear diffuser and later an electrical fuse loosened, hampering the electrical gearbox leading to another pit stop. After a drive-through penalty for crossing the track border the #1 car could not catch up to the lead car and had to settle for third.
The lead changed a few times during pit stops and the Toyota kept it interesting finishing only 23 seconds behind the #2 R18. Audi Sport, however, maintained their dominance with their fifth straight win, taking another step towards securing the 2013 championship and completing a historic 100th win for Audi Sport.
ACLS members (and non-Texas ACNA members) enthusiastically cheered on Audi Sport Team Joest from the Turn 15 Grandstands waving Audi flags throughout the six-hour race.
When victory had been secure and the podium cleared, club members left Circuit of the Americas for home knowing Audi Sport and Audi Club Lone Star had been part of a historic day for Audi.