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Second place in the standings for Tresor Audi Sport Italia after the endurance season opener Third victory in a row for PB Racing by JMH in British endurance racing Class title for Wolfbrook on New Zealand’s North Island While Tresor Audi Sport Italia competed for victory with the Audi R8 LMS at the start of the Italian endurance racing season, PB Racing by JMH recorded its third win of the season in Great Britain and Team Wolfbrook celebrated a class title in New Zealand. Audi R8 LMS GT3 Strong start in Italy: Tresor Audi Sport Italia got the season off to a good start in the Campionato Italiano Gran Turismo Endurance at Vallelunga. The driver trio of Alex Aka/Pietro Delli Guanti/Rocco Mazzola started the three-hour race from third place. Aka made up one place in the Audi R8 LMS on his debut on the race track just outside Rome and was then able to put pressure on the leading former Formula 1 driver Giancarlo Fisichella in a Ferrari. His team-mates Mazzola and Delli Guanti continued the battle for the lead. However, after the number 12 Audi incurred a five-second penalty, the trio of drivers ultimately had to concede defeat by a narrow margin of 5.8 seconds. The second Audi with Glenn van Berlo/Andrea Cola/Leonardo Moncini in fourth place was a mere four tenths of a second off the podium after a strong fightback from 18th on the grid. In the British Endurance Championship, the Audi customer team PB Racing by JMH celebrated a victory at Silverstone from pole position. In changeable weather, Peter Erceg/Marcus Clutton confidently drove the Audi R8 LMS to their third win of the season in the two-hour race with a three-lap lead. In the North Island Endurance Series in New Zealand, Team International Motorsport was narrowly beaten this time after three titles in the past. Luke Manson/James Penrose in the Audi R8 LMS were tied on points with a trio of McLaren drivers for first place in the standings after finishing fourth in the finale at Hampton Downs.

Christopher Haase/Christopher Mies/Patric Niederhauser best-placed Audi drivers All three teams with the Audi R8 LMS at the finish after 24 hours Many attractions around the 40th anniversary of Audi Sport GmbH Audi Sport customer racing achieved sixth place in the 2023 Nürburgring 24 Hours. Audi Sport Team Land achieved this result after a flawless drive by the three Audi Sport drivers Christopher Haase/Christopher Mies/Patric Niederhauser in the number 39 Audi R8 LMS. The brand also thrilled the 235,000 fans off the track throughout the weekend with many activities surrounding the birthday of its subsidiary Audi Sport GmbH. “The 24-hour race at the Nürburgring was the perfect backdrop to kick off the birthday celebration of our performance brand Audi Sport GmbH,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Rolf Michl. “Our teams also presented the brand with great commitment.” Five different manufacturers finished in the top six positions in the end. “We saw a fast and tough race with a great diversity of brands in the front field,” says Chris Reinke, Head of Audi Sport customer racing. “Wolfgang and Christian Land’s squad was flawless for 24 hours. We would have liked to defend our title. Thanks to everyone for their professional efforts and congratulations to Ferrari on their first victory.” Audi Sport Team Land – winner of the 2017 edition – had started the race from 16th place. The two previous winners Christopher Haase and Christopher Mies, together with driver colleague Patric Niederhauser, kept out of all critical situations in a turbulent race marked by several accidents. They came through a field of 131 race cars without any damage or penalties and finished sixth. The competition also started promisingly for last year’s winner Frédéric Vervisch. The Audi Sport driver was on the grid with his teammates Mattia Drudi, Ricardo Feller and Dennis Lind for Audi Sport Team Scherer PHX. In the course of the first race hours, the number 1 Audi R8 LMS was in the lead at times.

Twelve familiar and two new faces in the Audi Sport customer racing driver squad Audi Sport signs Simon Gachet and Max Hofer Audi Sport customer racing is relying on a mix of experience and youth for its 2023 driver squad. In addition to established drivers, the brand also includes two former customer drivers in the driver squad, Simon Gachet and Max Hofer. Audi Sport is relying on twelve familiar and two new faces for its driver line-up this year. The very different careers and experiences of the individual race drivers enable them to support the brand in the best possible way through their individual strengths in the diverse customer programs and strategic assignments. The 24-year-old Italian Mattia Drudi’s greatest success to date was winning the Campionato Italiano Gran Turismo Endurance in 2021. The talented youngster has also showed good performances in strategic endurance races. Last year, 22-year-old Luca Engstler, who previously won TCR touring car titles, managed to clinch a win both in the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie and the South African Endurance Series at the first attempt in his debut season in the Audi R8 LMS. The Swiss driver of the same age, Ricardo Feller, winner of the 2021 ADAC GT Masters in an Audi, has also been part of the Audi Sport customer racing driver squad since last year. He has made a name for himself as a particularly fast and reliable driver. Christopher Haase from Germany is 35 years old and has been a permanent fixture for Audi for more than ten years. In addition to two championship titles, the Bavarian has already clinched four 24-hour overall victories for Audi: he was successful twice at the Nürburgring and once each at Spa and Dubai. His 46-year-old compatriot Pierre Kaffer has already driven sports prototypes, DTM race cars and GT3 models from Audi in his career.

Nico Müller joined Audi’s DTM driver squad in 2014 as a 22-year-old through a junior scouting program. In 2016, he celebrated the first of a total of eleven victories in the popular touring car racing series at the Norisring. In 2019 and 2020, he secured the runner-up championship in Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline. In 2020, he raced on a par with three-time DTM Champion René Rast. In the end, he only narrowly missed out on the title. “I’ll never forget my first DTM race with Audi,” says Müller. “As a kid, I sat in the stands at the DTM finale at Hockenheim and admired the Audi drivers like Mattias Ekström. Standing on the grid together with them a few years later was a goosebump moment.” In addition to the DTM, Nico Müller was also repeatedly in action for Audi Sport customer racing in the Audi R8 LMS GT3 – in 2022 in the DTM and together with motorcycle legend Valentino Rossi in the GT World Challenge. “A very special moment in my career was winning the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring in 2015 – and not just because I had to have a bald head cut afterwards because of a bet,” says Müller. As a test and development driver, Nico Müller was also an important part of Audi’s Formula E project. In 2023, the Swiss will compete for Team ABT Sportsline in the electric racing series. “We will miss Nico not only as an outstanding race driver, but also as a likeable, sincere person and brand ambassador,” says Rolf Michl. “We wish him nothing but the best for his new stage in his career.” Video: Audi says “Thank you very much and all the best, Nico Müller”

Audi Sport celebrates touring car victories in Canada and Europe Second place for Audi RS 3 LMS at the season oepener of TCR Scandinavia Two more podium results for the Audi R8 LMS After five consecutive calendar weeks during which the GT3 sports car Audi R8 LMS celebrated 17 victories worldwide, the Audi RS 3 LMS enjoyed a great third weekend in August. The entry-level touring car from Audi Sport customer racing clinched four victories and a total of nine podiums. Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR) Two victories in Estonia: For the first time, the Audi RS 3 LMS competed at a race event in the Baltic States. Team LV Racing won three trophies in the endurance and sprint races of the Pärnu Summer Race on the Baltic Sea. On Saturday, the private team successfully mastered the 6-hour race. The Estonian Martin Rump, known as a race winner from the Audi Sport R8 LMS Cup and the GT World Challenge Asia, captured the pole position in the TCR class in the Audi RS 3 LMS. Until the middle of the race, the Audi team fought a battle with the Noker Racing Team, which then retired. After 250 laps, Martin Rump and his teammates Antti Rantala from Finland and Konstantīns Calko from Latvia won the TCR class by four laps. At the same time, the team finished fourth overall at the BEC6H opener, ahead of several GT sports cars. On Sunday, two sprints were on the agenda at Auto24Ring north of the port city of Pärnu. This time Ģirts Krūzmanis drove the Audi RS 3 LMS of Team LV Racing. The Latvian took second place in the TCR class in the first race and won the second race with a 15 second lead. To be continued: Zachary Vanier continued his winning streak in Canada. The only 17-year-old junior driver, who had already won one race at the Canadian Touring Car Championship opener at the end of July, won both races in the TCR class on the second race weekend.