Swedish GT: Audi teams 2013 season review

By Johan Laubscher

The Audi R8 LMS had a terrific unbeaten 2013 season in Sweden. Every single race was won by an Audi R8 LMS entry during this year and JB Motorsport's Jan Brunstedt was crowned as the Swedish GT champion.

The season review has been compiled from the 2013 Audi Motorsport Blog Weekend Round Up posts. Each round has been added as was seen in the individual Weekend Round Up posts during 2013, which can be accessed via the links throughout the review below:

Round 1: Knutstorp

Round one of the Swedish GT was held at Knutstorp, alongside the new-look STCC. JB Motorsport have entered their Audi R8 LMS and performed very well this weekend. A good tire strategy saw the team claim victory on the very last lap of the race.

Taken from Weekend Round Up - Audi Motorsport Blog (4-5/05/2013)

Round 2: Mantorp Park

JB Motorsport has remained unbeaten in Sweden so far this year. Round two of the Swedish GT Championship was held at Mantorp Park. The #4 JB Audi R8 LMS was driven by Jan Brunstedt and Christer Lindholm. They claimed pole position and a comfortable race victory. Jan Brunstedt remains the overall championship leader.

Taken from Weekend Round Up - Audi Motorsport Blog (1-2/06/2013)

Round 3: Göteborg

JB Motorsport arrived at Göteborg, round three of the Swedish GT Championship, after having won the two opening rounds of the season. Jan Brunstedt was once again behind the wheel of his R8 LMS this weekend and qualified in third position. The race was wet and difficult, but despite this Jan Brunstedt came home to take his third victory of the season, remaining unbeaten so far in 2013.

Taken from Weekend Round Up - Audi Motorsport Blog (29-30/06/2013)

Round 4: Anderstorp

Round four of the Swedish GT was held at Anderstorp. The JB Motorsport team has continued their unbeaten winning streak with the #4 Audi R8 LMS. The car driven by Jan Brunstedt and Christer Lindholm qualified on pole and won both of the races. Brunstedt has been unbeaten in the Swedish GT so far this year, extending his overall championship lead even further this weekend.

Taken from Weekend Round Up - Audi Motorsport Blog (17-18/08/2013)

Round 5: Knutstorp

The Swedish GT Championship was at Knutstorp this weekend, the fifth and penultimate meeting of the season. The JB Motorsport Audi R8 LMS was again placed on pole position for the race. They backed up the pole by taking yet another race victory, remaining unbeaten with six victories this year. Another great result for the JB Motorsport team, with Jan Brunstedt already crowned as champion and Christer Lindholm ever closer to clinching second place in the championship.

Taken from Weekend Round Up - Audi Motorsport Blog (7-8/09/2013)

Round 6: Mantorp Park

The 2013 Swedish GT Championship came to a close at round six held at Mantorp Park. JB Motorsport had been unbeaten this year and they continued their good form this weekend. Their Audi R8 LMS was again piloted by Jan Brunstedt and Christer Lindholm. Only one Audi had been entered during the Swedish GT season, but a second Audi team took part in the season finale. Alfab Racing, who took part in the 2011 and 2012 Swedish GT seasons, entered their #7 Audi R8 LMS this weekend, driven by Erik Behrens and Daniel Roos. Qualifying saw the Audis dominate at the front, as Alfab Racing took pole ahead of JB Motorsport by just 0.246 seconds. The race itself saw Alfab Racing making it a victorious comeback as Roos and Behrens took the checkered flag. Brunstedt and Lindholm finished third in their #4 Audi R8 LMS. The Audi R8 LMS has been unbeaten in Swedish GT this year, as all seven races were won by the Audi GT3 race car: Six wins from JB Motorsport and one from Alfab Racing.

Taken from Weekend Round Up - Audi Motorsport Blog (21-22/09/2013)

Photo credit: 
Audi Sport Communication / Media
JB Motorsport

FIA GT: Audi teams run at the front at Zolder

By Johan Laubscher

The second round of the FIA GT Series took place at Zolder this weekend. Five Audi R8 LMS ultra cars from Belgian Audi Club Team WRT, Phoenix Racing and Team Novadriver entered the event, as was the case at round one in Nogaro.

The big news this weekend was that the Audis were all in their 2013 specification (minus the new rear diffuser). The Audis were fast at Nogaro and it was the case again in Belgium. The R8 LMS ultra cars were near the front during all the sessions and qualified well.

Race victory was achieved during the qualifying race when Stéphane Ortelli and Laurens Vanthoor took the win. Belgian Audi Club WRT scored a well deserved result with all three cars within the top five. The Phoenix Racing entry finished eighth and the Novadriver Audi in thirteenth, after a late race penalty. 

This victory also marked the first race victory for a new 2013 specification Audi R8 LMS ultra. It will certainly be the first of many 2013 spec Audi victories around the world this year.

The #11 WRT Audi started the Championship Race from pole on Sunday. The Reiter Lamborghini managed to take the lead at the start perused by the #11 and #13 WRT Audis. The Audi positions stayed consistent during the opening stages with a good battle between the Phoenix #5 and WRT #12 Audis. The top three positions were maintained during the pitstop process, however Vanthoor put in the drive of the race to catch up to the leading Lamborgini. A terrific battle for the lead was seen with a clearly faster Vanthoor behind the defending Lamborgini. Vanthoor was unable to find his way past, but raced a very intelligent race, collected very valuable points and is now leading the FIA GT Series drivers points alongside Ortelli.

The #13 WRT Audi of Edward Sandström and Frank Stippler finished in third, followed by their teammates in #12 in fifth, ensuring a very good points haul for Belgian Audi Club Team WRT at their home event in Belgium.

The Belgian driver crewed Phoenix Audi R8 LMS ultra of Enzo Ide and Anthony Kumpen finished in sixth. Team Novadriver completed an excellent weekend for the Audi teams by placing in ninth. The #14 car driven by Cesar Campanico and Carlos Vieira completed the result so that all five Audis finished within the top ten.

The next round of the FIA GT Series will take place at Zandvoort in the Netherlands. 

Photo credit: V-Images / Endurance-Info 

Video: Alfab Racing Audi R8 LMS racing in Swedish GT

By Johan Laubscher 

Alfab Racing has been competing in the Swedish GT Series during 2011 and 2012 with an Audi R8 LMS. One of the team’s drivers is the young talent, Daniel Roos. He has recently gained a new sponsor in the form of Pimpstarlife who have made this great promotional video from the most recent Swedish GT race weekend. 

More information:

ALFAB Racing website

Video: noisy Audi R8 LMS testing at Spa

By Tarek Ramchani

The new Audi R8 LMS is racing all over the world. Alfab Racing a Swedish customer Audi team was at Spa-Francorchamps testing their new manchine. The team will race this season Swedish GT Series. 

The car looks nice with its black and white livery. Enjoy the noisy V10 with this great video from Gumbal