Victories for British and German privateer drivers in the Audi R8 LMS
Podium successes for Audi customer team in Asia
Teams in Canada and China win three races with the Audi RS 3 LMS
Two Audi Sport customer racing teams prevailed in two different racing series for private drivers thanks to the qualities of the Audi R8 LMS. In Great Britain, PB Racing by JMH continued its winning streak in endurance racing, while the équipe vitesse team was delighted with its first victory of the season in the Spezial Tourenwagen Trophy in Germany.
Further podium results at the ADAC Racing Weekend and in the Thailand Super Series underlined the strong form of the GT3 sports car. In the Sports Car Championship Canada presented by Michelin, the tension is rising after two Audi customer teams each achieved a victory with the RS 3 LMS. This means that three Audi privateer drivers are in the top three positions in the standings ahead of the finale. In Asia, the Audi RS 3 LMS scored its fifth victory in six races of the TCR China Challenge.
Audi R8 LMS GT3
Trophies for Audi customer teams in Europe and Asia: The Audi R8 LMS proved its prowess last weekend in British endurance racing and in German club racing with a total of two victories. In the British Endurance Championship, the PB Racing by JMH team came out on top for the fifth time in a row.
The team remains unbeaten this season with its Audi R8 LMS. The driver duo of Peter Erceg and Marcus Clutton won the two-hour race at Donington with a one-lap lead over a Lamborghini. In the Spezial Tourenwagen Trophy, an Audi R8 LMS took victory for the third time in a row. Following Stefan Wieninger’s two recent successes at the Nürburgring, Martin Zander secured his first win of the season on the third race weekend at Hockenheim.
In the Audi of the équipe vitesse team, Zander was initially behind a BMW but overtook it on the seventh lap and ultimately won by 3.4 seconds. Zander took second place in the second race. In both races, Berthold Gruhn won Class 2a in another Audi R8 LMS. Audi customers also returned with trophies from three other competitions at the ADAC Racing Weekend at Hockenheim.
In the GT60 powered by Pirelli, the Audi R8 LMS from Land-Motorsport crossed the finish line in third place after one hour with the Ukrainian driver line-up of Konstantin Gutsul/Ivan Peklin. Gutsul was again third in the subsequent first sprint and thus won the amateur classification, while teammate Peklin was delighted with second place in the second sprint.
The Thailand Super Series made a guest appearance at its third event in Malaysia, where B-Quik Absolute Racing finished second and third. Huang Ruohan/Adisak Tangphuncharoen finished as winners of the amateur classification and second overall ahead of Lin Hao/Markus Winkelhock. Bad weather forced the cancellation of the second race. Chinese driver Huang Ruohan thus extended his lead in the Audi Sport Asia Trophy ahead of Japan’s Mineki Okura.
Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)
Two victories in Canada, one success in China: After the fourth round of the Sports Car Championship Canada presented by Michelin, the Audi RS 3 LMS has six victories in eight races to its name. Young driver Anthony Martella, who is only 15 years old, followed up on his debut success, which he had previously achieved in Toronto. In the Audi RS 3 LMS of the Martella Motorsport team, he now won the spectacular first race on the demanding street circuit of Trois-Rivières from pole position.
At the start, Martella lost the lead to fellow Audi driver Richard Boake before accidents caused the race to be neutralized twice. On lap eleven, Martella also had to admit defeat to the pressure from Ron Tomlinson in another Audi and dropped back to third position. Tomlinson took the lead from Boake, who dropped back, five minutes before the end of the race.
Martella then attacked Tomlinson, both Audi cars touched and Martella won by six tenths of a second. Tomlinson dropped back to third place behind Honda driver Gary Kwok. In the second race, Tomlinson, who had only been in fourth place at one point, celebrated his first win of the season after a strong drive with a 6.6-second lead.
With Richard Boake, Anthony Martella and Ron Tomlinson, three Audi drivers are in the top three places in the standings ahead of the finale. In the TCR China Challenge, the Audi RS 3 LMS clinched its fifth victory of the season. At the third event, Liu Zichen was delighted with his third personal victory of the year on the Zhejiang circuit.
He drove to a commanding lead of 27.8 seconds in the first sprint with the 326 Racing Team. Third place went to Team Delta with another Audi driven by Liu Chao. Audi Team Mars recorded three podium results at the TCR Japan season opener. Newcomer Ryosuke Niikura took second place in the first sprint on the Motegi circuit and third place in each of the two subsequent races.
Coming up next week
16–18/08 Nürburgring (D), round 5, DTM
16–18/08 Road America (USA), round 6, GT America
17–18/08 Silverstone (GB), round 5, TCR UK
