Audi Motorsport Newsletter 22/2016

VLN: Christopher Mies and Connor De Phillippi win for Land-Motorsport

In extremely difficult conditions with fog and heavy rain, Team Montaplast by Land-Motorsport celebrated its 20th victory in the VLN Endurance Championship Nürburgring. Christopher Mies and Connor De Phillippi, who had started the race in an Audi R8 LMS from pole position, were running in second place up to the final stage. In the last 30 minutes of the four-hour race, Christopher Mies with consistently fast lap times took the lead and crossed the finish line as the winner with more than a two-minute advantage.

Audi customer team on podium at Le Castellet

A podium place was achieved by Filipe Albuquerque, Rodrigo Baptista and Blancpain GT rookie Jan Magnussen in round three of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup season at Le Castellet, France. The trio had started the six-hour race from grid position 20 in an Audi R8 LMS of Belgian Audi Club Team WRT. With a strong and impeccable recovery and a good strategy Albuquerque, Baptista and Magnussen went on to claim third place.

Prominent guests visit DTM at the Norisring

During its DTM home round at the Norisring, Audi welcomed numerous well-known guests. Slalom ace Fritz Dopfer and soccer player Dominik Kohr from FC Augsburg would not miss the opportunity of chauffeuring several Audi DTM campaigners during the driver parade. Conversely, it was TV host Oliver Pocher who got to enjoy a ride in the Audi RS 5 DTM race taxi. Also at the venue in Nuremberg were actor Frederick Lau, Bundesliga player Josip Drmic and YouTuber Tom Shuffle.

Employees and partners support Audi at Norisring

During the DTM home round at the Norisring, Audi Sport teams and race drivers enjoyed support in large numbers. More than 1,000 Audi employees kept their fingers crossed at the venue. From the Schaeffler Group, some 1,000 employees traveled to the Norisring as well and gave Mike Rockenfeller a special welcome. The company based in Herzogenaurach is one of Audi’s partners in the DTM. The Hoffmann Group was present at the Nuremberg city street race as well. Some 900 employees of the tool specialist rooted particularly for Jamie Green in the Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM.

Audi Sport Team Rosberg visits Hoffmann Group

Before the race weekend at the Norisring, an interesting visit was on Audi Sport Team Rosberg’s agenda. The DTM team took a tour of the logistics center for tools of the Hoffmann Group in Nuremberg, which is regarded as the largest and most modern one of its kind in Europe. Up to 60,000 items per day are processed there. Team Director Arno Zensen was obviously impressed following the tour of the 36,000-square meter warehouse. “The dimensions are remarkable. In addition, we were fascinated by the voice-controlled order picking technology being used here. The visit was a great opportunity in every respect,” said Zensen whose team is fielding the Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM of Jamie Green.

Nico Müller gains first sailing experience in Audi ultra Cup

During his visit to the “Kieler Woche” sailing event, Nico Müller gained racing experience on unfamiliar terrain: The DTM driver competed in the fourth edition of the Audi ultra Cup with a J/70 keel boat for the “Audi Sport” team. Together with Le Mans record holder Tom Kristensen, Max Christiansen from FC Ingolstadt 04 and helmsman Oliver Schwall, the Swiss sailed in a thrilling regatta and finished runner-up. “Despite there not being much wind, it was quite exhausting. I had a lot of fun and I would love to come back and take part again, if the opportunity arises,” said Müller.

Fascinating motorsport at Goodwood Festival of Speed

At the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the south of England, spectators experienced sheer motorsport flair. At the tradition-steeped British event, five-time Le Mans winner Frank Biela drove the Audi V8 quattro DTM in which he had won the DTM 25 years ago. Together with Audi Sport Ambassador Emanuele Pirro and Oliver Jarvis, who took third place in the Le Mans 24 Hours last weekend, he signed autographs and posed for pictures. The popular Pink Floyd drummer and car enthusiast Nick Mason drove an Auto Union Type C, the most successful model of the Auto Union Silver Arrows before World War II. DTM star Mattias Ekström’s rallycross team was represented at Goodwood as well. As Ekström was racing in the DTM at the Norisring at the same time, the Briton Andrew Jordan drove the Audi S1 EKS RX quattro.

Emotional farewell to Leena Gade

After the Le Mans 24 Hours, Audi Sport Team Joest said goodbye to their long-standing race engineer Leena Gade. The British engineer has guided Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer three times to a Le Mans win, one world championship title and a total of ten race wins in the FIA World Endurance Championship WEC. She now switches to another brand within the Volkswagen Group. Ralf Jüttner, team director of Audi Sport Team Joest, thanked her with an extraordinary present: Leena Gade received the team’s 2011 Le Mans winner’s trophy. This was the first year that she won the endurance race for Audi with her driver combination. That race was exceptional as the winning margin of the only finishing Audi was a mere 13.854 seconds.

Representatives of Audi at FIA Sport Conference

Audi driver Lucas di Grassi, race engineer Leena Gade and the two long-standing Audi drivers Allan McNish and Emanuele Pirro were invited to speak at the FIA Sport Conference. In the Centro Congressi of Turin’s Lingotto district, the representatives of Audi shared their opinions on the past, present and future of motorsport in front of an eager and packed audience. They welcomed several hundred delegates from sports clubs from all over the world who continued the conference in plenary sessions and various seminars.

Race drivers root for teams in UEFA EURO 2016

One round-of-16 match in the UEFA EURO 2016 had special significance for the drivers from the Audi Sport TT Cup. The Pole Gosia Rdest and the Swiss Yves Meyer jointly watched the duel of their countries on television. Following victory of the Polish team on penalties Rdest was delighted. “I’ve been watching the European Championship with great interest and am very happy about victory for Poland,” said Rdest for whom the day thus ended on a positive note. In race one of the Audi Sport TT Cup at the Norisring, the 23-year-old was forced to retire after an accident in which she was not at fault.

Triple commitment for EKS

Mattias Ekström’s team had commitments at three venues this weekend. At the Norisring, the Audi S1 EKS RX quattro, Mattias Ekström and Toomas Heikkinen visited the AUTO BILD MOTORSPORT Lounge. From there, Heikkinen directly traveled on to the Kieler Woche where the Finn took guests of Audi’s for rides in the near-600-hp rallycross car. At the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the British touring car campaigner Andrew Jordan drove an S1 of Team EKS.

A word from ... Nico Müller

The young Swiss about his first victory in the DTM.

Your goal for the season was to clinch podium places – would you have expected to mount the very top of the podium for the first time this year?

I did have hopes of doing so. Following the good season opener at Hockenheim with my first pole position and first podium, I was secretly hoping – and also working with my guys – to make this happen as soon as possible. That it would work out directly here in Audi’s home race is obviously all the better and makes it so much sweeter. Now, we need to keep pushing and trying to regularly be in contention at the front as best we can.

How difficult was the race?

There was no time for a breather. I had to try to overtake Tom (Blomqvist), to keep him at bay and, ideally, to get him out of the DRS window and it also worked out that way. Then the safety car period added a bit more suspense. But, fortunately, I stayed in control of that too and, as a result – I feel – I’ve clinched a deserved victory.

What were your emotions after seeing the checkered flag and mounting the podium?

Really cool. Managing this in Audi’s home race and relatively early in the season, is simply an awesome feeling. A large part of this success belongs to my team as well. They did a superb job today. The strategy was right and the pit stop fantastic. In the end, that was also the key to success. So, thank you to Audi and to Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline!

How many congratulations did you receive on your smartphone after this victory?

It’s still ringing the whole time. I can’t even read all the messages right now. I look forward to that at the airport tomorrow, if I should be able to read again then ...

Was there a message you particularly enjoyed?

Yes, from Keke Rosberg! I had the opportunity to meet him because I was racing for him and Arno (Zensen) the past two years. We always had a top relationship. I think it’s great that we’re still in touch and that he’s able to feel happy for me following my switch to another team.

Coming up next week

30/06–03/07 Watkins Glen (USA), round 5, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
01–03/07 Aragon (E), round 4, V de V Endurance Series
01–03/07 Nürburgring (D), round 3, Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup
01–03/07 Sydney (AUS), round 3, Australian GT Trophy Series
01–03/07 Okayama (J), races 5 and 6, GT Asia