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Customer teams can look back on the best race weekends of the season so far with the Audi R8 LMS in Australia and Asia. A total of three victories at two GT World Challenge events show the GT3 sports car’s good form curve, while the Audi RS 3 LMS touring car contributed further valuable results for Audi Sport customer racing.
- Audi R8 LMS ahead in two international racing series
- Audi RS 3 LMS continues winning streak in Europe
- Club racing trophies for Audi R8 LMS GT4
Dominant form in the Pacific region: Audi’s customer teams enjoyed their best weekend of the season so far at the third round of the GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS. After their opening success in April, Broc Feeney/Brad Schumacher celebrated their second win of the season at the wheel of an Audi R8 LMS in Queensland. The driver duo from Kelso Electrical Team MPC started from pole position and crossed the finish line in the first one-hour race with a 10.5-second lead. Spins and numerous penalties for many competitors characterized the first of two races. In the second race, the Audi R8 LMS scored a one-two-three. Alex Peroni/Mark Rosser led from the start after a strong start. After 43 laps, the driver duo from the BRM ACM Finance team had a 0.374-second lead over Brendon Leitch/Tim Miles in the Dayle ITM Team MPC Audi. They were followed by Feeney/Schumacher in third place, 1.1 seconds behind. They are second in the Pro-Am category at the halfway point of the season. In the Am class, Renee Gracie was delighted with two victories in the Audi R8 LMS of Only Fans Team MPC, while Gary Higgon/Paul Stokell prevailed for KFC Team MPC in both competitions in the Trophy class in another Audi. A daring maneuver in the third round of the GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS resulted in another victory for Audi Sport customer racing. Cheng Congfu/Yu Kuai scored the first win of the season for FAW Audi Sport Asia Team Phantom in Buriram, Thailand. Cheng Congfu drove the Audi R8 LMS in the first of two races at the start, touched an opponent and was in second place when he received a five-second penalty for a jump start. At the pit stop, the Chinese driver handed his car over to his compatriot Yu Kuai. Together with the leader, he pulled away from the chasing pack until the field was able to catch up again during a safety car phase. Twelve minutes then remained until the end of the race. On the final lap, Yu Kuai overtook the leader on the outside lane and won by around eight tenths of a second. The Chinese driver emerged from an Audi Sport Asia junior development program and has now demonstrated his talent in international competition. In the same race, Audi Sport Asia Team Phantom achieved third place in the Pro-Am class with Jinlong Bao/Markus Winkelhock. In the second race, the Uno Racing Team with Rio/Shaun Thong won the Silver classification ahead of Cheng Congfu/Yu Kuai, who have extended their lead in the Silver Cup standings to 29 points at the halfway point. At the season opener of New Zealand’s North Island Endurance Series, Sam Fillmore/Jonny Reid triumphed in the first three-hour race of the new season. The local driver pairing in the Audi R8 LMS from International Motorsport started fourth on the Taupo circuit. They took the lead in the middle of the race and finished 16 seconds ahead of a Lamborghini. Third place went to Steve Brooks/Bill Riding in an Audi R8 LMS from Wolfbrook Motorsport, who had led in the early stages of the race. Tresor Attempto Racing achieved two podium results in the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup. At the second race of the season in Monza, Riccardo Cazzaniga/Leonardo Moncini/Sebastian Øgaard in the German team’s Audi R8 LMS were the third-best driver combination in the Gold Cup. Their teammates Alex Aka/Alberto di Folco/Ezequiel Perez Companc crossed the finish line in third place in the Silver Cup and are therefore also third in the standings in this classification. With two second places, Christopher Haase/Simon Reicher moved to within two points of Hungarian championship leader Levente Révész on the third race weekend of the International GT Open. In the first race at Hockenheim, the German-Austrian driver duo in the Eastalent Racing Audi R8 LMS made a remarkable comeback from 13th on the grid; the Austrian team started the second race from second place. Good class results rounded off the weekend: Filip Salaquarda/Libor Milota won the Pro-Am class in the second race in Team ISR’s Audi R8 LMS. Petr Fulín/Jiri Navrátil achieved second place on Saturday and third place on Sunday in the Am classification for the Czech team FullinRace by Interaction in the Audi R8 LMS. Team PB Racing with JMH returned from the third round of the British GT Cup Championship with four trophies from Snetterton. Peter Erceg finished third in the Audi R8 LMS in the first sprint and improved by one position in the second. In the 52-minute third race, he shared the cockpit with Marcus Clutton and was again second. The driver duo finished the final fourth race in third position. Thomas Westarp won the first race in the Audi R8 LMS at the second round of the P9 Challenge in Belgium. The German led his class by one lap at the end of the one-hour competition in Spa. In Japan, Hitotsuyama Racing achieved a podium result with the Audi R8 LMS in an endurance race of the Super Taikyu Series. At the Fuji 24 Hours, the third round of the series, Kenji Suzuki/Sota Ogawa/James Pull/Anna Inotsume/Shintaro Kawabata finished third overall in a field of 53 classified participants. After a courageous tire choice with slicks on a drying track, the Audi led after 50 laps with James Pull at the wheel. Many caution periods and two race stoppages due to fog and accidents repeatedly interrupted the race rhythm. The Japanese team remained focused even after a tire failure necessitating a suspension change and deservedly clinched a podium result in the end. Charl Arangies/Arnold Neveling/Bradley Liebenberg achieved a podium result in the third round of the South African Endurance Championship. The driver trio drove the Stradale Motorsport Audi R8 LMS to third place overall after six hours of racing in Killarney.
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