24h Spa (16h): Two Audi teams shape the race
Close behind followed Nicki Thiim in the #17 for Team Scherer Sport PHX, who took the lead at the two-thirds mark. With the #11 Audi of Christopher Haase from Audi Sport Team Comtoyou, another R8 LMS was among the top eight. Nicolas Baert of Comtoyou Racing in the #21 was third in the gold classification at this point. Alex Aka in Tresor Orange1’s #99 maintained the lead in the Silver classification ahead of Lucas Légeret in Comtoyou Racing’s #12. In third place in the Pro-Am standings was Arthur Rougier in the #888 of CSA Racing.
Exciting duels at Spa
In the first third of the Spa 24 Hours, the spectators at the circuit witnessed thrilling fights for positions and many shifts in the standings. After eight hours, the top 20 are close together, including three teams from Audi Sport customer racing. Best Audi R8 LMS at the eight-hour mark is number 25 of Audi Sport Team Saintéloc with Patric Niederhauser at the wheel in 10th place. Number 30 of Team WRT lies in 16th place, followed by number 46 of Audi Sport Team WRT. The number 32 Audi Sport Team WRT dropped back in the evening due to a puncture and occupies 27th place. Audi Sport Team Tresor suffered an undeserved setback early on in the Spa 24 Hours. Audi Sport drivers Christopher Haase and Mattia Drudi and their teammate Luca Ghiotto dropped to the rear of the field in the early stages due to a puncture. Later, contact with a competitor increased the gap again. That’s why the number 12 Audi R8 LMS has been withdrawn. Late in the evening, the Audi R8 LMS #11 from Team Tresor by Car Collection and also the #10 from Boutsen Racing had to end the race early after accidents.
Front row lockout for the Audi R8 LMS at the Bathurst 12 Hour
Fans at the legendary Mount Panorama Circuit in Australia were thrilled by an enthralling duel for pole position, which went to Chaz Mostert after he and Audi Sport driver Kelvin van der Linde traded fastest times in their Audi R8 LMS cars throughout the session. This marks the fourth pole for Audi at the Bathurst 12 Hour – a new record for the event. The popular Australian race driver, Mostert, who is sharing the #65 Coinspot Audi R8 LMS with his compatriots Fraser Ross and Liam Talbot, set the fastest time in the closing moments and secured the coveted 2022 Allan Simonsen Pole Position Award, becoming the first driver to have won it twice. The South African van der Linde missed out on first place on the grid by a mere eight hundredths of a second. He rounds out the front row lockout with the #74 Audi R8 LMS from Audi Sport Team Valvoline that includes fellow Audi Sport driver Nathanaël Berthon and Bathurst resident Brad Schumacher. The sister #777 car of Audi Sport drivers Ricardo Feller and Markus Winkelhock, as well as the reigning GT World Challenge Australia champion Yasser Shahin, will line up fourth on the grid. Longtime Audi Sport customer Marc Cini’s #9 Hallmarc entry also made it into the Top 10 Shootout with Lee Holdsworth securing sixth place – they are joined by Dean Fiore. Sixteenth place went to the #24 C Tech Laser Audi R8 LMS that failed to get a clear lap during the red-flag-interrupted qualifying session. Bringing up the rear of the grid will be the cars of Supabarn (#47) and Team BRM (#17) – both teams suffered accident damage, but will be taking part in the race. After a crash on Friday, the Melbourne Performance Centre-run Supabarn team put in a tremendous effort by overnighting a replacement car nearly 800 kilometers from Melbourne to Bathurst, preparing it on site and making it out in time for qualifying.
Audi fights for lead at Spa
Thanks to a strong recovery from 54th place on the grid, the number 32 Audi R8 LMS is fighting for the lead of the Spa 24 Hours after the first third of the race. Kelvin van der Linde, who was in second place, fought a close battle with several position changes for first place in the eighth hour of the event. After eight hours he was only 1.5 seconds short of the top position. With a gap of only 8.5 seconds to the South African, Robin Frijns in the number 37 sister car also established himself in the leading group in third place. Markus Winkelhock in the number 25 Audi R8 LMS from Audi Sport Team Saintéloc occupied tenth place after eight hours of racing. The number 66 Audi R8 LMS also made up numerous places and moved up from a position outside the top 30 to 17th.
Four Audi R8 LMS in the leading group at the halfway stage
As many as four Audi R8 LMS cars are among the top eight after 274 laps. Charles Weerts in Audi Sport Team WRT’s number 32 is in second place after a comeback race from grid position 54. The sister car from Audi Sport Team WRT with Nico Müller follows in eighth place. Audi Sport Team Attempto, which was in 53rd position after the second hour of racing with Mattia Drudi, Dennis Marschall and Christopher Mies, has moved up to fifth place. Audi Sport Team Saintéloc with Christopher Haase, Patric Niederhauser and Markus Winkelhock is in seventh position. Of the six brands in the top ten, Audi thus shows the best team performance. In the Silver Cup standings, another Audi R8 LMS is well placed: Ryuichiro Tomita claims third position for Team WRT.
Audi Sport Team Saintéloc best Audi team at half time
After twelve hours of the Spa 24 Hours, the number 25 car is the best Audi R8 LMS in the field. Dorian Boccolacci, Christopher Haase and Markus Winkelhock have now fought their way up to eighth place for Audi Sport Team Saintéloc after a wrong tyre choice at the start of the race. Two positions behind them are their three Audi Sport driver mates Mattia Drudi, Patric Niederhauser and Frédéric Vervisch. Their Audi number 66 from Audi Sport Team Attempto led the race after eight hours. In the ninth hour of the race, however, the team received a stop-and-go penalty for not keeping to the stipulated time for refuelling and a drive-through penalty for exceeding the speed limit in the pit lane. In 22nd place was the best Audi R8 LMS from Audi Sport Team WRT with Dennis Marschall, Ferdinand Habsburg and Matthieu Vaxivière. The number 33 of the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT with Rik Breukers, Benjamin Goethe and Stuart Hall was 35th overall halfway through the race and seventh in the Silver Cup.
Audi runner-up after 24 race hours
Due to several safety car phases, the field repeatedly moved closer together. Eight racing cars from four manufacturers were within one lap of each other with 40 minutes remaining in the race. After 527 laps, Audi Sport Team Attempto, with Mattia Drudi, Patric Niederhauser and Frédéric Vervisch in the #66 Audi R8 LMS, crossed the finish line in second place, 4.687 seconds behind the leader. Audi Sport Team Saintéloc finished the Belgian endurance classic in sixth place with drivers Dorian Boccolacci, Christopher Haase and Markus Winkelhock in the #25 Audi R8 LMS . Audi Sport Team WRT took 14th place with Ferdinand Habsburg, Dennis Marschall and Matthieu Vaxivière in the #30 Audi R8 LMS. Belgian Audi Club Team WRT with Rik Breukers, Benjamin Goethe and Stuart Hall dropped out after 21 hours when Benjamin Goethe had slipped into the tire barriers. Until then, the #33 Audi R8 LMS had occupied fourth place in the Silver Cup.
Audi Sport relies on four replacement drivers for Spa
This was necessary after the three leading drivers of the DTM – René Rast, Nico Müller and Robin Frijns – are focusing on the DTM title fight and will therefore not be competing at the Spa 24 Hours and Audi Sport driver Mirko Bortolotti will not compete due to a flu-like infection. This will result in changed driver line-ups for three of the four race cars of Audi Sport customer racing for Spa. The line-ups of the four additional Audi R8 LMS cars of the customer teams remain unchanged. Audi R8 LMS #25 (Audi Sport Team Saintéloc) Dorian Boccolacci/Christopher Haase/Markus Winkelhock Audi R8 LMS #30 (Audi Sport Team WRT) Ferdinand Habsburg/Dennis Marschall/Matthieu Vaxivière Audi R8 LMS #31 (Audi Sport Team WRT) Christopher Mies/Kelvin van der Linde/Dries Vanthoor Audi R8 LMS #66 (Audi Sport Team Attempto) Mattia Drudi/Patric Niederhauser/Frédéric Vervisch