Audi Sport customer racing has already clinched the 27th championship title with the RS 3 LMS thanks to a customer team in Latvia. Excellent championship positions ahead of the finale are also held by teams in TCR Europe and in New Zealand GT3 endurance racing, while the DTM finale also offers title chances for the four rings.
- Audi RS 3 LMS top again in the Baltics and on course for title in TCR Europe
- René Rast and Audi retain title chances in the DTM
- Marcel Hirscher thrills DTM guests at the Red Bull Ring during taxi rides
Second title in a row in the Baltic States: Ivars Vallers secured the championship win in the TCR class at the finale of the Baltic Touring Car Championship BaTCC. The Latvian scored two second places in the two sprints at the fourth race weekend in Riga in the Audi RS 3 LMS. That was enough for him to decide the TCR standings in his favor ahead of VW driver Kestutis Stasionis. Over the course of the season, Vallers clinched three TCR sprint wins with the production-based touring car. For Audi, it was the second consecutive title in the Baltic States after Valters Zviedris had been the best driver last year. Ivars Vallers had started the season in a first-generation Audi RS 3 LMS and switched to the Audi RS 3 LMS gen II of the LV Racing team during the year. In 2022, customers have already won three TCR drivers titles with Audi and are in promising positions in other racing series. Since 2017, the Audi RS 3 LMS has recorded 27 drivers titles worldwide.
Third win of the season for Franco Girolami: At the penultimate round of the TCR Europe, Franco Girolami celebrated his third victory in the Audi RS 3 LMS. The Argentinean from Comtoyou Racing won the second sprint at Monza with a razor-thin advantage of three tenths of a second ahead of Cupra driver Klim Gavrilov. Girolami already overtook two rivals on the way to the first corner, one lap later he also passed the leader Gavrilov and stayed in front until the black and white checkered flag after twelve laps. Ahead of the finale at Barcelona in October, the Audi privateer has extended his lead in the standings to 89 points.
Successful switch: Jessica Bäckman switched from a Hyundai to an Audi RS 3 LMS fielded by Team Comtoyou Racing on the fifth and penultimate race weekend of the ADAC TCR Germany. In the first race at the Sachsenring, the Swede, who had started second, initially dropped back to fifth place but fought her way back up to third. In the second sprint, Bäckman started from third place and improved to second. The Dane Martin Andersen won the title early in Saxony. But with her current second place in the standings after four victories so far this season, the 25-year-old Audi privateer put in a remarkable performance and relegated eleven rivals to places in the championship standings.
Unexpected victory in New Zealand: James Penrose experienced ups and downs on his way to class victory at the second round of the South Island Endurance Series. The New Zealander had led the one-hour race at Teretonga in the Audi RS 3 LMS until a safety car period. However, he then received a drive-through penalty for overtaking a rival during this caution period. As a result, he dropped back to fifth place. Later, another safety car period neutralized the race. With 90 seconds to go, Penrose overtook the man in front of him in the battle for second place. However, the provisional winner Warren Black, who also drove an Audi, received a penalty at the finish due to a misconduct at the restart and dropped back to third position. As a result, Penrose won for Team Track Tec Racing with a one-and-a-half-minute lead over Hyundai driver Scott O’Donnell.
Two podium results in China: The 326 Racing Team was the best Audi customer team in the TCE class at the second round of the China Endurance Championship. The driver trio of Bai Yaxin, Liu Zichen and Wu Yifan finished second in their class in the Audi RS 3 LMS from the back of the grid after 150 minutes of racing. Third place on the Zhuzhou circuit went to the driver team Feng Xiaolin/Hu Heng/Wang Rui from the Redline Pointer team in another Audi RS 3 LMS.
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