Championship lead for two Audi customer teams ahead of final races in Europe and New Zealand

Audi R8 LMS GT3

Everything wide open at the final: An even more exciting starting position for the final race of the International GT Open is inconceivable. Christopher Haase and Simon Reicher from the Audi customer team Eastalent Racing arrived in Barcelona for the penultimate race with a three-point lead over Lamborghini driver Alessio Deledda. After tenth place in the first race, the German-Austrian driver pairing in the Audi R8 LMS was two points behind the Italian. In the second race on the Catalan circuit, the Austrian team’s Audi finished third – one position ahead of Deledda. With 100 points each, Haase/Reicher and Deledda are now tied in the standings. However, the Audi driver pairing is in first place after their four wins this season compared to the two successes of their rival. The championship will be decided on October 20 at the finale in Monza. Eastalent Racing won the team title last year. An Audi customer team has recorded its second victory in a row on New Zealand’s South Island. Steve Brooks/Bill Riding won the second round of the South Island Endurance Series after the season opener two weeks ago. After three hours on the Ruapuna circuit, they had pulled out a lead of more than 53 seconds in the Audi R8 LMS. As there were no safety car phases, Brooks/Riding also set a new 3-hour distance record on the track near Christchurch with 132 laps completed. Before the finale in Timaru in October, the Audi privateers of the Wolfbrook Motorsport team have an 18-point lead over two chasing teams who share second place in the standings. In Ruapuna, another Audi privateer driver pairing, Luke and Seb Manson, finished on the podium. The father-and-son pairing finished third in an R8 LMS of the International Motorsport team.

Audi R8 LMS GT4

Good performances confirmed: The Japanese Techno First team celebrated a podium result in the ST-Z class of the Super Taikyu Series for the third time this year. After third place in the season opener and second place last time out in Motegi, the team was once again the second-best team in the GT4 classification. Masaki Kanou/Ryomo Henzan/Hironobu Yasuda/Riki Okusa shared the cockpit of the production-based Audi R8 LMS GT4 at the Suzuka 5 Hours. With 13 participants, the ST-Z class was one of the best-filled categories in this endurance series for GT models and touring cars. A customer team also continued its series of successes in southern Europe. After finishing second and first in the bronze classification at the season opener and another class win at the second round, Veloso Motorsport scored two victories in the GT4 bronze classification at the third round of the Iberian Supercars Endurance racing series. Regular drivers Patrick Cunha/Jorge Rodrigues from Portugal finished 5.1 seconds ahead of their rivals in the Audi R8 LMS GT4 in the first race in Valencia and were 5.7 seconds faster in the second race. They were also third overall in the first race.

Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)

Trophies in the Asia-Pacific region: At the second round of the South Island Endurance Series, two private Audi drivers celebrated a class victory. On the Ruapuna circuit on New Zealand’s South Island, Dale Chapman/Blake Knowles prevailed in Class 4 in the 3-hour race in an Audi RS 3 LMS. They are now one point ahead in the standings. In the Japanese Super Taikyu Series, Audi Team Show Apex achieved a podium finish in its class at the fifth round. Yoshinari Fujiwara/Shigetomo Shimono/Genki Nishimura/Shozo Tagahara finished third in the ST-TCR category in the Audi RS 3 LMS after five hours of racing in Suzuka.

Coming up next week

04–06/10 Indianapolis (USA), round 8, GT America
04–06/10 Le Castellet (F), round 6, GT4 France
04–06/10 Le Castellet (F), round 6, TC France
04–06/10 Monza (I), round 4, Campionato Italiano GT Sprint
04–06/10 Shanghai (CHN), Shanghai 8 Hours
04–06/10 Puebla (MEX), round 5, Copa Notiauto Mexico Endurance
05–06/10 Suzuka (J), round 2, TCR Japan
05–06/10 Valencia (E), round 5, Campeonato de España GT
05–06/10 Valencia (E), round 3, TCR Spain