source: Audi AG
- Saintéloc Racing first leader of the Asian Le Mans Series standings with Audi
- Title success for Audi R8 LMS in China Endurance Championship
- Class title for Audi RS 3 LMS in Chinese endurance racing
For the Audi Sport customer racing teams, the first weekend in December was marked by fine racing successes in Malaysia and title wins in China. Podium results in Spain rounded off the results.
Audi R8 LMS GT3
One-two-three victory and championship lead in Asia: Two Audi customer teams have made a convincing start to the new Asian Le Mans Series season. At the opening race in Sepang, Saintéloc Racing prevailed in the GT class with the Audi R8 LMS. Bronze driver Alban Varutti made a strong start from pole position. The two Audi Sport drivers Christopher Haase and Gilles Magnus then also delivered flawless work in the cockpit of the number 42 car and celebrated their first victory of the season with Varutti. When a storm hit the race track in Malaysia, race control stopped the four-hour competition a quarter of an hour before the scheduled end. With Attempto Racing and the driver pairing of Alex Aka/Andrey Mukovoz/Dylan Pereira, another Audi customer team took second place. Behind them, Audi Sport driver Dennis Marschall rounded off the success with his Saintéloc teammates Paul Evrard and Zhou Bihuang to complete an Audi one-two-three. One day later, Haase/Magnus/Varutti were beaten by a Porsche driver team by just 0.9 seconds in the second four-hour race. After this second place, Haase, Magnus and Varutti lead the GT standings by eleven points ahead of the second round in Dubai in February.
Another title success in China: The FAW Audi Racing Team has won the China Endurance Championship. Cheng Congfu, who is already in his tenth season for Audi Sport customer racing Asia, prevailed in the Pro-Am classification after four races ahead of his teammate Chris Chia. However, after an accident in the early stages on the Chengdu circuit, the number 1 Audi R8 LMS had to come into the pits for repairs. As a result, Cheng Congfu and teammate Hu Bo crossed the finish line in sixth place after two and a half hours of racing, six laps down. However, Cheng clinched the title. The race win went to Team Winhere by HAR with its driver pairing of Deng Yi and Xu Zheyu in the Audi R8 LMS. Team Climax Racing secured second place in another Audi with Liu Hangcheng/Li Chao/Lv Wei. As a result, Climax Racing won the team title. Following Hu Bo’s victory in the GT Super Sprint Challenge (GTSSC) in September, this is the second title won by an Audi customer team in China this season and the 14th GT3 title worldwide.
Audi R8 LMS GT2
Podium at the finale: Team Club Deportivo Dago ended the season in the Campeonato de España Resistencia with the second-best result of the season. Daniel Carretero/Pablo Yeregui finished second in their class in the Audi R8 LMS GT2 at the sixth event in Barcelona. After two hours of racing, they crossed the finish line just 1.1 seconds behind the winners. After the team had decided not to start the fifth race, it finished its debut season with the Audi R8 LMS GT2 and the driver pairing Carretero/Yeregui in third place in the GPX class.
Audi R8 LMS GT4
A good end to the season in China: Audi customer team PAR300+ Racing recorded a podium result in its class at the finale of the China Endurance Championship. Jiang Peihong/Zhang Dasheng/Zhang Yameng drove the Audi R8 LMS GT4 to second place in the GT4 classification in the two-and-a-half-hour race in Chengdu.
Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)
Title success at the finale: 326 Racing team ended the season in the China Endurance Championship with a class win. The driver trio of Zhao Di/Zhu Shengdong/Lai Jingwen finished second in their class in the Audi RS 3 LMS after two and a half hours of racing. The three Chinese amateur racing drivers thus won the TCE title in this endurance racing series.
Victory and runner-up in the finale: Alvaro García won the final race of the 2023 TCR Spain season in an Audi RS 3 LMS. The driver from the Comtoyou team prevailed in the second sprint on the fourth race weekend at the circuit in Barcelona. García had started from seventh place. He improved to third place on the very first lap, benefiting from Nicolas Baert’s bad start, among other things. On lap two, García overtook Honda driver Philip Lindberg, and on the fourth lap he snatched the lead from Felipe Fernandez, who was driving another of the twelve Audi cars in the field. After 15 laps, Alvaro García celebrated his second win of the season with a lead of 0.6 seconds. García finished second in the standings behind Cupra driver Enric Bordás.
Coming up next week
06–08/12 Kuwait (KWT), round 1, Middle East Trophy powered by Hankook UAE National Championship
08–10/12 Abu Dhabi (UAE), round 5, Intercontinental GT Challenge
