Spa 24 Hours: Podium result for WRT Audi at Spa

By Johan Laubscher

The Spa 24 Hours, round four of the Blancpain Endurance Series, was held at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium this weekend. Seven Audi R8 LMS ultra cars were entered by Belgian Audi Club Team WRT (4), Phoenix Racing (2) and United Autosports (1). A testing weekend resulted in a positive result by the end of the very long and hard 24 hours. 

Audi Sport teams had won the Spa 24 Hours on the two previous occasions, Audi Sport Team WRT in 2011 and Audi Sport Team Phoenix in 2012. Both times it was a factory effort, whereas all of the teams in 2013 were Audi Sport customer racing teams, with no factory Audi efforts. 

It proved to be a difficult weekend as the Audi teams struggled with the Balance of Performance. Only one Audi made it into the top twenty Superpole. Vanthoor had an incident during Superpole and the only Audi in Superpole ended last, thus meaning that the highest placed Audi on the grid was twentieth. The seven Audis would line up in: P20, P27, P30, P31, P32, P35 and P53.

The race got underway with the Audis coming from further back. United Autosports were sadly involved in a touch from behind which resulted in a wheel bearing needing to be replaced, costing a lot of time. The cars progressed well during the early stages and a few Audis crept into the top ten. Unfortunately starter problems dropped the #1 WRT out of contention after they had been the highest Audi in the top five. 

As the race went into the night difficulties hit the Audi teams. The #1 WRT Audi was the first to retire (gearbox), followed by the #125 United Autosports Audi (engine related problems). The #13 WRT Audi then became the best ranked car, until contact during the night caused race-ending damage, when the #49 Ferrari made contact with Marcel Fässler. The night was not over for WRT, as their third retirement occurred in the early morning. The #0 WRT Audi, driven by Matt Halliday at the time, suffered a puncture and a resulting crash at Raidillon. The damage to the suspension and chassis ended the #0 Audi's participation.

The remaining three Audis soldiers on and battled within the top fifteen. By the time dawn broke the #2 WRT Audi was battling for the podium, and the two Phoenix cars had moved into the top ten. As the race continued the #2 remained within the top five battle. They held third during the morning but a brake change and a spin dropped them back to fifth. The Phoenix cars remained strong within the top ten until a crash for Enzo Ide in the #16, he was thankfully unharmed. Ide had made contact with the #17 Ferrari 458 while lapping the car and this caused the race-ending accident for the #16 Audi.

Seven Audis had started the event and only two were still running on track towards the end. Within the last ninety minutes the #2 WRT Audi was holding fifth, followed by the Phoenix Racing #6 Audi in sixth. Within minutes of each other technical difficulties befell the third and fourth placed Ferrari and BMW entries, thus promoting the two Audis into third and fourth. 

The top four positions would remain stagnant for the final hour, and the two remaining Audis came home for third and fourth place. The #2 WRT Audi R8 LMS ultra driven by André Lotterer, Frank Stippler and Christopher Mies finished on the podium, ahead of the #6 Phoenix R8 LMS ultra with Oliver Jarvis, Christopher Haase and Harold Primat in fourth. A difficult race, where the Audis were driven to their limits, ended with two positive results which included a podium.

The race was won by the HTP Motorsport Mercedes-Benz driven by Maximilian Buhk, Maximilian Götz and Bernd Schneider. After a race-long battle they finished ahead of the Manthey Porsche 911, followed by the two remaining Audis in third and fourth. 

The Spa 24 Hours concluded a very long and hard fourth round of the Blancpain Endurance Series. The series will now head to and conclude at the Nürburgring. It will be a 1000 km event held in Germany on the weekend of 21-22 September. 

The seven Audi Sport customer racing Audi R8 LMS ultra cars: 

Belgian Audi Club Team WRT 
#0 Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof, Matt Halliday, Rahel Frey (Team WRT) - DNF
#1 Stéphane Ortelli, Laurens Vanthoor, Rene Rast - DNF
#2 André Lotterer, Frank Stippler, Christopher Mies - 3rd
#13 Edward Sandström, Mattias Ekström, Marcel Fässler - DNF

Phoenix Racing
#6 Oliver Jarvis, Christopher Haase, Harold Primat - 4th
#16 Enzo Ide, Anthony Kumpen, Markus Winkelhock - DNF

United Autosports
#125 Will Bratt, Alan Li, Mark Patterson - DNF

Photo credit: Audi Sport Communication / Media

BES: Audi teams aim for third victory at Spa

Audi Press Release 

•          Seven Audi R8 LMS ultra cars in world’s major GT3 race
•          Audi unbeaten in iconic Belgian event since 2011
•          Audi factory drivers, GT specialists and privateer drivers in the cockpits

Ingolstadt, July 19, 2013 – The customers of Audi Sport customer racing are facing an ambitious task. The Spa 24 Hours on July 27 and 28 featuring a field of 70 entrants is regarded as the world’s toughest GT3 race. Following the two victories of the factory teams in 2011 and 2012, the R8 LMS ultra is aiming for its third win in succession.

Two times three: For Audi, the Spa 24 Hours is about scoring the third victory in succession – plus the third victory in a 24-hour race this year. In 2011 and 2012, the Audi R8 LMS won the iconic event in the Ardennes. And this year, the brand, on winning the GT class at the Daytona 24 Hours with the R8 GRAND-AM and achieving the twelfth overall victory of an Audi sports prototype at the Le Mans 24 Hours, has celebrated two international successes in endurance racing so far.

At Spa, a competition of mammoth proportions is awaiting the teams, as 73 entrants have registered for the fourth round of the Blancpain Endurance Series on July 27 and 28. Nine sports car manufacturers are competing for victory. The intensity of this GT3 competition is unrivaled worldwide. Audi celebrated the first overall victory of its R8 LMS customer sports race car in a 24-hour race at Spa two years ago – fielded by Team WRT, driven by Mattias Ekström and his two team-mates Timo Scheider and Greg Franchi. The two-time DTM Champion Ekström is now returning to the historic venue with WRT, running as the team-mate of his Swedish compatriot Edward Sandström. The third in the trio is Audi factory driver Marcel Fässler, the 2011 and 2012 Le Mans winner. Fässler’s Le Mans team-mate André Lotterer is traveling to the Ardennes as well. The German, who grew up in Belgium, is sharing the number ‘2’ R8 LMS ultra with Blancpain Endurance Champion Christopher Mies and last year’s winner Frank Stippler.

The Belgian WRT squad of Team Director Vincent Vosse is putting two other R8 LMS ultra cars on the grid at its home round. Rahel Frey, as in the other rounds of the Blancpain Endurance Series, is sharing the cockpit of a car designated as number ‘0’ with Matt Halliday and Niki Mayr-Melnhof. Stéphane Ortelli, the winner of last year’s Blancpain Endurance Series, is sharing car number ‘1’ with last year’s winner René Rast and with Laurens Vanthoor.

Ernst Moser’s Team Phoenix Racing is competing with its two well-known regular driver line-ups from the Blancpain Endurance Series. Christopher Haase, Champion of the Blancpain Endurance Series, is sharing car number ‘6’ with Harold Primat and Audi factory driver Oliver Jarvis, the GT class winner of the 2013 Daytona 24 Hours. Enzo Ide, Anthony Kumpen and Markus Winkelhock are taking the wheel of the sister car designated as number ’16.’

A seventh Audi R8 LMS ultra will be put on the grid by United Autosports. The Anglo-American privateer team of Richard Dean and Zak Brown is running in the classic race for the fourth consecutive time. In the Pro-Am class, the squad relies on the British drivers Will Bratt and Glynn Geddie, the native Frenchman Alain Li and on Mark Patterson from the United States.

While the fans are watching the race on location along the legendary 7.004-kilometer Ardennes roller-coaster track, viewers at home can look forward to extensive TV coverage this year. The channel Motors TV will air a total of almost 12 hours of direct reports of the action in Belgium. RTL Nitro will carry a 60-minute summary on Sunday night (July 28). Before the Belgian GP, RTL will broadcast another summarized report.

The broadcast schedule in detail: 
Motors TV 
Saturday, July 27: 15:45–19:00, 21:00–22:30
Sunday, July 28: 8:00–12:00, 14:00–17:00

RTL Nitro
Sunday, July 28: 19:15–20:15

RTL 
Saturday, August 24: 13:25–13:35

Live streaming (www.blancpain-endurance-series.com) 
Saturday, July 27: 16:00–20:00, 21:00–23:00
Sunday, July 28: 8:00–12:00, 13:30–17:00
Highlights: 19:00

The Audi customer teams at the 2013 Spa 24 Hours 

Belgian Audi Club Team WRT

#0 Rahel Frey/Matt Halliday/Niki Mayr-Melnhof (CH/NZ/A)

#1 Stéphane Ortelli/René Rast/Laurens Vanthoor (MC/D/B)

#2 André Lotterer/Christopher Mies/Frank Stippler (D/D/D)

#13 Mattias Ekström/Marcel Fässler/Edward Sandström (S/CH/S)

Phoenix Racing

#6 Christopher Haase/Oliver Jarvis/Harold Primat (D/GB/CH)

#16 Enzo Ide/Anthony Kumpen/Markus Winkelhock (B/B/D)

United Autosports

#125 Will Bratt/Glynn Geddie/Alain Li/Mark Patterson (GB/GB/F/USA)

Quotes by the officials

Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, Head of Audi Motorsport: “This year, Spa will again be the most impressive GT3 race you can imagine. This concept simply works well. Following the two victories we celebrated there, it’s in the hands of our teams this year to clinch a good result for Audi. We’re supporting the commitment with a few factory drivers who enjoy competing in this race. It’ll no doubt be a very thrilling as well as a very tough race.”

Romolo Liebchen, Head of Audi Sport customer racing: “After two consecutive wins, Audi Sport customer racing wishes to support its customers in battling for the third victory at Spa this time. The first three races have shown the magnitude of the current challenge in the Blancpain Endurance Series. Three different marques have won so far, but an Audi team hasn’t been among them yet. The R8 LMS ultra has to compete with an air restrictor that’s significantly smaller than it was a year ago. Thus, our customers have to try and compensate for this disadvantage with factors such as strategy, the shortest possible pit stop times and driving without any mistakes. That poses a huge challenge.”

Selected quotes from each driver team

Rahel Frey, Audi R8 LMS ultra #0 (Belgian Audi Club Team WRT)
“In an endurance race, you need a very reliable car and that’s what the R8 LMS ultra is without the trace of a doubt. In terms of driving, everything’s got to fit too, and my team-mates, Matt Halliday and Niki Mayr-Melnhof, and I complement each other well. The WRT team is a top-caliber squad. I’m now starting at my third 24-hour race. At Le Mans, I was on the grid a few years ago with a private team that retired at an early stage. Two months ago, I ran at the Nürburgring with the Audi race experience but the race was interrupted for nine hours. Now, at Spa, I’m hoping to drive the entire distance for the first time.”

René Rast, Audi R8 LMS ultra #1 (Belgian Audi Club Team WRT)
“A year ago, we won at Spa, that’s why it’s a particularly good feeling to return to this venue. Now I’m running in a slightly different line-up – with the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT that was the winner two years ago and with Stéphane Ortelli and Laurens Vanthoor as team-mates. In the first three rounds of the Blancpain Endurance Series, the three of us have experienced that the ‘grapes are hanging very high on the vine’ this year. Obviously, we’re aiming for a good result. Spa’s the most important GT3 endurance race and our goal is to improve from sixth place in the standings.”

André Lotterer, Audi R8 LMS ultra #2 (Belgian Audi Club Team WRT)
“Spa is my home track because I grew up in Belgium. That’s one of the reasons why I’m happy to compete with the Belgian WRT team of Vincent Vosse. And returning to this race this year in an Audi R8 LMS ultra is fantastic. A year ago, we were very fast but lacking fortune because a rival drove into our car. As a result, we lost twelve laps through no fault of our own. In Frank Stippler and Christopher Mies I’ve got two strong team-mates who’ve won many races in the R8. We’d definitely like to be in contention for the top spot.”

Christopher Haase, Audi R8 LMS ultra #6 (Phoenix Racing)
“The atmosphere at Spa is simply superb. It’s the biggest GT3 race in the world and has its own special attraction – from the field of entrants through to the traditional fireworks at midnight that can even be seen from the cockpit. The track is world-class, the weather keeps causing surprises and more than 70 cars are expected. I believe that we’re in for the most difficult running of this race this year.”

Mattias Ekström, Audi R8 LMS ultra #13 (Belgian Audi Club Team WRT)
“In 2011, we won the Spa 24 Hours with WRT – a victory that really means a lot to me in my career. Now I’m running for the first time with Edward Sandström, whom I’ve known for a long time, and with Marcel Fässler. The R8 LMS ultra is excellent and in the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT we’re backed by a top-caliber squad. We’ve got all the ingredients this year to help us in battling for victory.”

Markus Winkelhock, Audi R8 LMS ultra #16 (Phoenix Racing)
“I must admit that I’m very curious about the race because I’ve never been on the grid of the Spa 24 Hours. My two Belgian team-mates Enzo Ide and Anthony Kumpen have done many laps on this track in their careers. Our test day was positive and Phoenix Racing, as always, is perfectly prepared. I’ve intensified my endurance training by cycling and running and have prepared for the heat by taking saunas.”

Mark Patterson, Audi R8 LMS ultra #125 (United Autosports)
“I’m sure that our Audi R8 in the course of 24 hours has a good chance of being in contention for a podium place in the Pro-Am classification. I’ve been driving for United Autosports ever since the team was formed at the beginning of 2010 and have been on the grid at Spa, Daytona, Abu Dhabi and Bathurst. I feel very comfortable with this squad. Spa is the best track in the world with legendary corners such as Eau Rouge, Pouhon, Stavelot and Blanchimont.”

Timetable 

Thursday, July 25
09:45–11:15 Free practice 1
18:15–19:15 Pre-qualifying
20:10–21:25 Qualifying
21:55–23:10 Qualifying

Friday, July 26
18:15–18:35 Super pole qualifying

Saturday, July 27
09:05–09:25 Warm-up
16:30 Start

Sunday, July 28
16:30 Finish

Photo credit: Audi Sport Communication / Media

BES: Seven Audi R8 LMS ultra for the Spa 24 Hours Test Day

By Johan Laubscher

The next big 24 Hour race is the Spa 24 Hours, which will take place at the end of July. It follows shortly after the Le Mans 24 and the Nürburgring 24, the three big European 24 Hour races which take place in the middle of each year. Audi are the reigning champions at Spa, with Phoenix Racing in 2012 and WRT in 2011.

The annual test day for the Spa 24 Hours returns this year, allowing teams an extra opportunity to prepare for the race. The first Test Day entry list was released late on Sunday, and can be seen via Endurance-Info.com HERE.

Currently there are seven Audi R8 LMS ultra cars listed. Previously it had been announced that four Audi Sport customer racing teams have already committed to the 2013 Spa 24, namely: Belgian Audi Club Team WRT, Phoenix Racing, Sainteloc Racing and United Autosports. Thus it comes as no surprise that the bulk of these teams will be at the test day, with the exception of Sainteloc Racing.

Belgian Audi Club Team WRT will be at the test day with three Audi R8 LMS ultra cars (2013 spec), Phoenix Racing with two cars (2013 spec) and United Autosports with their one Audi R8 LMS ultra (2012 spec). This accounts for six of the Audis listed for the test day.

The seventh entry comes as somewhat of a surprise, as it is a 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra entered under the team name of “Audi AG” (according to the entry list), and it will be driven by Andre Lotterer. Currently the exact purpose of this car is unknown, but it can be assumed that the car will act as a test to collect data. It would not be the first time that Audi AG / Audi Sport customer racing has entered a “factory” test-car for a test day in the Blancpain Endurance Series. Entries like these have been seen at the season opening official FIA GT3 / Blancpain Endurance Series test days at Paul Ricard in recent years. However, this is speculation, and only time will tell as to the true purpose of this entry at the Test Day. 

The Test Day will take place on Wednesday, the 3rd of July. The race itself will be at the end of the month: 27-28 July 2013.  

The seven Audi entries for the 2013 Spa 24 Hours Test Day:

Pro Cup: 

#1 - Belgian Audi Club Team WRT - Audi R8 LMS ultra (2013)

Stéphane Ortelli, Laurens Vanthoor, Rene Rast

#2 - Belgian Audi Club Team WRT - Audi R8 LMS ultra (2013)

Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof, Matt Halliday, Rahel Frey

#6 - Phoenix Racing - Audi R8 LMS ultra (2013)

Oliver Jarvis, Christopher Haase, Harold Primat

#13 - Belgian Audi Club Team WRT - Audi R8 LMS ultra (2013)

Edward Sandström, Frank Stippler, Christopher Mies

#16 - Phoenix Racing - Audi R8 LMS ultra (2013)

Enzo Ide, Anthony Kumpen, Markus Winkelhock

#160 - “AudiAG” - Audi R8 LMS ultra (2013)

Andre Lotterer

Pro-Am Cup:

#125 - United Autosports - Audi R8 LMS ultra (2012)

Will Bratt, Alan Li, Richard Dean

Photo credit: Audi Sport Communication / Media