Audi Motorsport Newsletter 30/2015

Victory for Wackerbauer and van der Linde in ADAC GT Masters

Stefan Wackerbauer and Kelvin van der Linde celebrated their first victory of the season at the sixth race weekend of the ADAC GT Masters at the Sachsenring. The German-South African duo in the Audi R8 LMS ultra of Team C. Abt Racing clinched victory in race two after starting from position four on the grid and crossed the finish line only 0.6 seconds ahead of their immediate rivals. In the first heat, Wackerbauer and van der Linde had retired following contact with another car.

Sébastien Loeb Racing celebrates victory and podium at Magny-Cours

A successful weekend for the Audi customer team Sébastien Loeb Racing on the fifth race weekend of the French GT Championship at Magny-Cours: Philippe Gaillard, David Hallyday and Mike Parisy in the #3 Audi R8 LMS ultra took their second victory of the season in Sunday’s race after starting from pole position. The day before, Christian Bottemanne, Christophe Hamon and Lonni Martins in the #5 Audi R8 LMS had clinched third place for the team of the record World Rally Champion.

Pirelli World Challenge: Skeen on podium

Audi driver Mike Skeen achieved a podium place in the Pirelli World Challenge round at Sonoma (California). The runner-up in the 2014 season finished race one in third place in his Audi R8 LMS ultra of Team CRP Racing.

Two Audi drivers on podium in the STT

On the fourth race weekend of the Spezial Tourenwagen Trophy (STT) at the Sachsenring, two Audi drivers achieved podium places in Class 2. In race one, Berthold Gruhn in an Audi R8 LMS ultra took third place. In the second race, Andreas Schmidt, also in an Audi R8 LMS ultra, clinched second place. Gruhn finished third again.

Podium success for AB Sport Auto

The French Audi customer team AB Sport Auto in round five of the V de V Endurance Series season at Le Castellet clinched a podium result in its class. Franck Thybaud and Thierry Proust finished the four-hour race in the Audi R8 LMS in third place in the GTV2 class ahead of their team-mates Eric van de Vyver/Tiziano Carugati/Michel Wegelin.

Audi drivers discover Moscow

Before the DTM’s visit to Moscow Raceway, the Audi drivers had the opportunity to become more familiar with Russia’s capital. At the invitation of Audi Russia and its chief, Achim Saurer, the race drivers also met with members of the media to get them in the mood for the DTM’s third appearance in Moscow. Youngster Nico Müller subsequently had a special task to perform. The winner of the Nürburgring 24-hour race presented the new Audi R8 to the journalists and VIP guests – including a brief demo drive with donuts.

Sergei Afanasiev in Audi RS 5 DTM race taxi

After Roman Rusinov had driven the Audi RS 5 DTM race taxi at Moscow Raceway last year, another local hero performed these driving duties this time. Sergei Afanasiev (27) from Moscow, who is competing in the 2015 TCR touring car series, chauffeured guests of Audi’s around the 3.931-kilometer circuit. Audi’s guests at the DTM’s round in Russia included Nikita Misyulya. The Russian junior driver contests the Audi Sport TT Cup.

A glance at Audi’s motorsport history

The visitors of the FIA WEC Nürburgring round could not only see the two Audi R18 e-tron quattro cars at the six-hour race. In the historic paddock of the tradition-steeped circuit, the fans admired the 1985 Pikes-Peak winning Audi Sport quattro, an Audi 90 quattro from the IMSA GTO series, the Audi R8 LMS ultra that was victorious in the 2014 Nürburgring 24 Hours and the Audi R8 that clinched the first Le Mans win for the brand. In this very car, Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro and Tom Kristensen won in 2000 and were reunited next to the car for a photo.

Audi welcomes Michael Groß at the Nürburgring

Five-time world champion and Olympic gold medalist Michael Groß was a guest of Audi’s at the Nürburgring. The former swimming star has been following Audi’s motorsport programs for years and attended an FIA WEC event for the first time. The state-of-the-art technology and the engineers’ work was what impressed Groß the most. Audi also welcomed Vincent Vosse in the Eifel, a team director from Audi Sport customer racing. He is the head of Belgian Audi Club Team WRT that won the Nürburgring 24 Hours with the Audi R8 LMS in May.

A word from … Mike Rockenfeller

How would you sum up the weekend at Moscow?

For me, this round was a roller-coaster ride this year. My qualifying on Saturday was not particularly good and the race afterwards was harmless. Then we made some minor changes that went exactly in the right direction. I had a tremendous car and, with the pole position and victory, a fantastic afternoon. I was very impressed by the fact that we managed this turnaround.

Your last victory dates to 2013, also at Moscow. What’s your impression of the country and the people?

I just like the race at Moscow. The people – be they fans or media – know a lot about racing and are enthusiastic whenever the DTM arrives. They welcome us with open arms and celebrate with the winners. That makes having won there twice in three years particularly sweet.

Two years without a victory – how do you manage to get through such a barren spell and keep motivating yourself?

Obviously, a situation like that is difficult. But we’ve all been in this long enough to be able to put things into perspective: I had three good years and now a few difficult races. The key is to keep your cool and to continue to concentrate on the job. Now we have another success experience, which is good for the whole squad.

Now, the last three rounds of the season are coming up within the space of seven weeks. What are your prospects?

Oschersleben, the Nürburgring and Hockenheim are tracks that suit Audi well and me personally, too. 150 points are yet to be awarded and the battle for the title is intensifying. The self-confidence we gained on clinching victory at Moscow will be helping us in the season’s final sprint.

Coming up next week

04–05/09 Spa (B), DMV GTC, race 13 and 14
05/09 Nürburgring (D), VLN, round 7
05–06/09 Sepang (MAL), Audi R8 LMS Cup, race 7 and 8
05–06/09 Sepang (MAL), GT Asia, round 7
05–06/09 Portimão (P), GT Sports Club, race 5 and 6
05–06/09 Spa (B), GT Open, race 9 and 10
06/09 Portimão (P), Blancpain Sprint Series, round 5
06/09 Okayama (J), Super Taikyu Series, round 5