Audi customer racing drivers at the top on three continents

Audi R8 LMS GT3

Strong performance in Asia: The Audi customer teams in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS also presented themselves in strong form at the second event. After the victory of Congfu Cheng/Adderly Fong in the season opener, Ruo Han Huang/Markus Winkelhock were unbeatable in the second round in the first of two races in Thailand. The Chinese-German driver combination won the one-hour race in Buriram in an Audi R8 LMS with a lead of 5.9 seconds. Second place went to Yu Kuai/Akash Nandy, their teammates in Audi Sport Asia Team Absolute and winners of the Silver classification. Winkelhock had taken the lead from Nandy with 14 minutes to go. Congfu Cheng/Adderly Fong from the FAW Audi Sport Asia Racing Team completed the one-two-three. Audi Sport customer racing Asia thus achieved a convincing result in a field of 33 GT3 sports cars from eight manufacturers. Cheng/Fong are second in the overall standings after the first third of the season and lead the Silver Cup on equal points with Kuai/Nandy. In addition, The Spirit of FFF Racing team won the Am classification in the first race with Japanese drivers Hiroshi Hamaguchi/Mineki Okura. In the International GT Open, last year’s championship-winning team Eastalent Racing celebrated its first win of the season at the second event. Christopher Haase and Simon Reicher won Sunday’s race in Hockenheim from pole position with a commanding 15.9-second lead. Saintéloc Racing achieved a remarkable third place with the Audi R8 LMS at the third round of the 24H Series powered by Hankook despite a clutch problem. Philippe Chatelet/Michael Doppelmayr/Elia Erhart/Swen Herberger/Pierre Kaffer shared the cockpit at the Portimão 24 Hours. Land-Motorsport returned from the GTC Race season opener in Oschersleben with three trophies. The two Ukrainians Konstantin Gutsul/Ivan Peklin finished third together in the GT60 endurance race in the Audi R8 LMS. Each of them then crossed the finish line in third place in one of the two solo sprints. Gutsul won the Am class. In the Spezial Tourenwagen Trophy, Berthold Gruhn in an Audi R8 LMS achieved class victory in both races in the 2a classification at the season opener in Oschersleben.

Audi R8 LMS GT4

Clear lead in the standings in France: Team CSA Racing increased its lead in the GT4 France on the second of six race weekends. The driver pairing of Gaël Castelli/Rodolphe Wallgren in the Audi R8 LMS GT4 finished third in the first race at Lédenon and second a day later. This puts the two Frenchmen 30 points ahead of their pursuers from Alpine in the Pro-Am standings. Seyffarth Motorsport achieved several podium finishes in the Norddeutscher ADAC Börde Tourenwagen-Cup at Oschersleben. Max Zschuppe won his class at the third event in the first race ahead of teammate Bernd Schaible. In the second sprint, the class victory went to Tobias Erdmann. In the one-hour endurance race, Erdmann/Schaible celebrated overall victory together.

Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)

Third win in a row in America: American Chris Miller and South African Mikey Taylor remain unbeaten in the 2024 season of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. Following their victories at Daytona and Sebring, the two Unitronic/JDC-Miller MotorSports drivers also prevailed at Laguna Seca and extended their lead in the standings to 180 points. Mikey Taylor overtook two Hyundai drivers in the Audi RS 3 LMS in the final 21 minutes of the two-hour race. In the end, the Audi privateer pairing won by 1.2 seconds. In TCR Spain, Enric Bordas started the new season with a victory. The privateer from the Auto Club RC2 Vallés team was the best of seven drivers in an Audi RS 3 LMS with a 0.8-second lead in the first race in Jarama. The Spaniard is now leader of the standings. The TCR China has such a large number of entries this year that it is holding separate championship races for professionals and challenge races for amateurs. A total of twelve Audi RS 3 LMS cars were spread across both categories at the season opener in Zhuzhou. Second place for Wu Yifan in the first race was the best result for the 326 Racing Team in the Championship category. In the Challenge category, the team won both races with Liu Zichen. Second place in the first competition went to his team colleague Zhu Yan, third place to Poon Tak Chun from Teamwork Motorsport. In the Coppa Italia Turismo, Demir Eröge won the TCR classification for Aikoa Racing in both races at the second event in Varano. Ramazan Kaya from BF Motorsport finished second in the first sprint to secure a one-two Audi victory. In the DSG category, Francesco Miotto won the first race ahead of his Audi brand colleagues Francesco Cardone and Ternel Camlidag. In the second race, the order was Cardone ahead of Miotto and Camlidag. On the second weekend of the Championnat de France FFSA Tourisme, the Clairet Sport team recorded three podium results in the TCR classification. Sébastien Thome won the first two races in the Audi RS 3 LMS and was second in the third sprint.

Audi Sport 

Ambitious goal at the end of his career: Bert Longin has announced the end of his career at the end of the 2024 season. The 58-year-old Belgian has enjoyed an exceptional career in motorsport in his home country. He has already won the Zolder 24 Hours seven times and the Belcar racing series eight times. He has clinched three of his titles with Audi – in 2013 at the wheel of an Audi R8 LMS GT3 and in the past two years with the GT2 version of the sports car. This year, Longin will once again contest the Belcar Endurance Championship in an Audi R8 LMS GT2 of Anthony Kumpen’s PK Carsport team. His teammates are once again his son Stienes and Peter Guelinckx. Bert Longin’s declared goal: his eighth victory in the 24-hour race and ninth in the Belcar series, which begins next weekend in Zolder.

Coming up next week

17–18/05 Zolder (B), round 1, Belcar Endurance Championship
17–19/05 Misano (I), round 2, Fanatec GT Sprint Cup
17–19/05 Misano (I), round 2, Fanatec GT2 European Series
17–19/05 Misano (I), round 2, GT4 European Series
17–19/05 Austin (USA), round 4, GT America
17–19/05 Zolder (B), round 2, TCR Europe
18–19/05 Snetterton (GB), round 2, TCR UK
18–19/05 Red Bull Ring (A), round 2, TCR Eastern Europe
18–19/05 Red Bull Ring (A), round 2, Eset Cup Series
18–19/05 Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CDN), round 1, Sports Car Championship 
Canada presented by Michelin