TUSC: From Mosport to a motorsport legend: Christopher Haase and TUSC travel to Indianapolis

Christopher Haase Press Release

Two 8th place finishes in a row – nevertheless Audi driver Christopher Haase was happy after the races at Watkins Glen and Mosport. At the former Formula 1 track in upstate New York, he and his team mate Bryce Miller were able to fight themselves back into a point scoring position following a tactical error that saw the car coast to a halt, out of fuel. And in Canada's Mosport, also a track with a rich racing tradition, the duo again collected points towards the overall championship, despite a very difficult situation at the outset of the race.

„In qualifying, we missed the top spot by two tenths“, Haase recalls a particularly challenging weekend with the Audi R8 LMS of Paul Miller Racing, „the race itself was very fast, not just because of the track itself which with its many elevation changes and an amazingly high average speed certainly qualifies as the „little Nordschleife“. There were also no yellow flag periods, and all competitors showed a very equal performance. The only way you can make a pass the hard way, and we avoided anything like this. So in the end we scored another 8th place, and again collected important points. This puts Bryce and myself up into 5th place in the drivers' standings; and we are not missing much on the championship leaders now, as almost all direct competitors finished behind us. Now we will work hard to improve our performance in qualifying, because we certainly want to bring home better race results!“ Christopher Haase and his team mate Bryce Miller are already thinking ahead, to the next race in two weeks' time at the legendary the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, for the „Brickyard Grand Prix 2014“.

USCC GTD category – drivers' championship standings:
1. Townsend Bell/ Bill Sweedler (Ferrari 458 Italia) 164 points
2. Andy Lally/John Potter (Porsche 911 GT America) 161
3. Leh Keen/Cooper MacNeil (Porsche 911 GT America) 157
4. Dane Cameron/Markus Palttala (BMW Z4) 155
5. Christopher Haase/Bryce Miller (Audi R8 LMS) 150
6. Mario Farnbacher/Ian James (Porsche 911 GT America) 149
7. Seth Neiman/Dion von Moltke (Audi R8 LMS) 145
8. Jan Heylen/Madison Snow (Porsche 911 GT America) 143
9. Nelson Canache Jr./Spencer Pumpelly (Audi R8 LMS) 141
10. Jeff Westphal 140 (Ferrari 458 Italia)

Follow Christopher Haase on Facebook www.facebook.com/haase.christopher and Twitter https://twitter.com/ChHaase!

Photo credit: Paul Miller Racing / Bob Chapman

TUSC: More points for Christopher Haase at Watkins Glen

Christopher Haase Press Release

Audi driver Christopher Haase did not spend much time celebrating his major success, the overall victory in the 24 hour race at the Nürburgring: the man from Bavaria travelled straight to the USA for the next round of the United Sports Car Championship (USCC), again with Paul Miller Racing. And again he was able to make the acquaintance of a legendary racetrack: “It is a special experience to get to know a track such as Watkins Glen. Add to this the fact that almost all road courses in the USA are natural circuits, with elevation changes and fast, flowing combinations of corners. They are a dream come true, even though – or because – you need major commitment to be fast here.”

Qualifying on the 5.472 kilometer track brought no problems for Haase and his team mate Bryce Miller, and the set-up of their Audi R8 LMS seemed to be good right away. In the race, which ran over a duration of six hours, initially all went well for Miller and Haase: “The start went smoothly, we were able to make up several spots right away. Then it was a perfect team performance by Bryce and myself which saw us in 4th position in the GTD class after about two hours”, says Haase, who then unfortunately ran out of luck. “I was on the last lap of my stint when the Safety Car came out. We wanted to take advantage of this situation, and make up some more time. Had it worked out, we would have been on course for the class win. But then I ran out of fuel, just a few hundred meters before the pit entrance.” This mishap cost them four laps which ultimately denied them not only their chance at winning in class but also the podium finish they had believed was secure.

8th place was damage limitation for Haase and Miller. “After the unfortunate incident, we were determined to get some points, and with 8th position we did just that”, says Christopher Haase who only gets to spend a little over a week at home in Germany before he returns to North America. “We have come to the half-way point of the year already, and I would like to thank Paul Miller Racing for the terrific first half of the season. Racing in the USA is fun! We’ll try to get on the podium a few more times in the second part of the year. Maybe we’ll get there already at Mosport, on the next legendary track!”

Follow Christopher Haase on Facebook www.facebook.com/haase.christopher and Twitter https://twitter.com/ChHaase!

Photo credit: Paul Miller Racing / Bob Champan

Nürburgring 24 Hours: Christopher Haase triumphant in the 24 hour race at the Nürburgring!‏

Christopher Haase Press Release

Audi driver Christopher Haase repeated the greatest victory of his career this Sunday: Sharing an Audi R8 LMS ultra for Phoenix Racing with his team mates Markus Winkelhock, René Rast, and Christian Mamerow, he triumphed in the world's biggest and toughest 24 hour race in „Green Hell“, on the Nordschleife of the Nürburgring.

The quartet had to prevail against very tough competition, both from within the marque and from the competition – and once again the race in the Eifel was a pure sprint with tough competition from start to finish. The key to success was not to aim for uncompromising speed, but drive smart when it mattered.

The experienced Phoenix Racing crew followed through with this strategy right from the first practice and qualifying sessions. Christopher Haase: „We came here extremely well prepared and only had to make minor changes and adjustments in practice. We had some rain during night practice sessions so to save our material, we didn't even drive.“ Qualifying brought the first highlight for the number 4 team: „Christian Mamerow put the car on P3 with a time of 8:14 minutes which is superb. It was a terrific lap that could not have been better. When you are in among the top ten positions on the starting grid of a 24 hour race, you have played it right“, says Christopher Haase.

Phoenix Racing and its four drivers kept on doing everything right in the race. Just as his colleagues, Christopher Haase made no mistakes and ultimately celebrated another overall victory in the world's toughest endurance race, his second after the win in 2012. „I am very proud of the whole team and my great team mates. I would like to say a special thank-you to Audi and Phoenix Racing who let me be part of this crew. This success is an absolute highlight for me!“

But there’s not much time for celebrations: Christopher Haase is already on his way to Watkins Glen International racetrack, where he will be racing the “Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen” in the Audi R8 LMS of Paul Miller Racing the upcoming weekend!

Follow Christopher Haase on Facebook www.facebook.com/haase.christopher and Twitter https://twitter.com/ChHaase!

Photo credit: Audi Media

Nürburgring 24 Hours: Phoenix triumph in Nürburgring 24 Hours

Phoenix Racing Press Release

Haase/Mamerow/Rast/Winkelhock win in Audi R8

Christopher Haase, Christian Mamerow, René Rast and Markus Winkelhock in the Audi R8 LMS ultra of Phoenix Racing won the 42nd ADAC 24-hour race at the Nürburgring in front of more than 200,000 spectators. For Ernst Moser’s team, this marked the fourth triumph in the ‘Eifel marathon’ after 2000, 2003 and 2012. Two years ago Haase and Winkelhock, together with Marc Basseng and Frank Stippler, had produced the first Audi triumph in the 24-hour race on the legendary Nordschleife. And following the Le Mans 24 Hours Audi celebrated the second 24-hour success within just a week.

“I’m overjoyed,” beamed Phoenix Team Director Ernst Moser. “Not only the number of victories is decisive but proving that you’re in contention again and again, that’s what’s so special about it. We were optimally prepared and my guys, every single member of the team, just like the drivers, did an impeccable job. This is the victory of my squad.”

After 24 hours the #4 Phoenix Audi took the chequered flag with an advantage of 2m 59s over the Mercedes that was victorious last year. Third place, with a two-lap gap, went to Mercedes as well. The 159 laps completed have set a new distance record for the 24-hour race. For the first time, over 4,000 kilometres (4,035.102 km) were covered.

“In the Audi R8 LMS ultra we’ve got a very powerful car and we showed that we were able to counter even when the pressure increased now and then. From Saturday night on, we were leading the race most of the time but only an hour and a half before the end it was clear that we’d be able to expect victory. The minutes before the chequered flag was waved then proved particularly long and nerve-wracking,” admitted Ernst Moser.

The victorious quartet of Christopher Haase, Christian Mamerow, René Rast and Markus Winkelhock together with Ernst Moser enjoyed the winners’ champagne to the fullest. “It was simply brilliant that here at the Nürburgring, just like a week before at Le Mans, I was able to drive both the start and the final stint. That was a great honour for me and a tremendous experience,” said an enthusiastic René Rast. “I’d like to thank the Phoenix team that did a brilliant job as well as my fellow drivers. Nobody made any mistakes. That was the key to success and that’s also why we deserved winning.”

For Markus Winkelhock, after 2012, this marked the second triumph in the Nürburgring 24 Hours: “This victory is worth just as much as the first one and it feels exactly the same way too. Winning this race is a very special thing because you only get the chance to do that once a year. The competitiveness of the field was huge and it was a tough race. Everybody did a mega job.

For Christopher Haase, this was the second triumph after 2012 as well: “This is a brilliant day for me, for all of us. Standing on the very top of the podium twice is only possible with a perfect team. I take my hat off to everyone who has contributed to this victory. Plus, in the Audi R8 LMS ultra we had a perfect base.” Christian Mamerow was overjoyed too: “This victory makes me totally proud. It’s not a matter of fortune but of quality when a team like Phoenix wins this race several times. Phoenix was perfectly prepared and everything fit.”

In the top-30 qualifying session on Friday afternoon Christian Mamerow in the #4 Audi had clinched position three on the grid. After the start the #4 R8 initially dropped to fourth place but quickly made up ground to second place and fought impressive duels with the enormously strong competition in the process. A total of 165 GT sports cars and touring cars had started the endurance race through the ‘Green Hell’ at 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, including more than two dozen candidates for victory.

How quickly hope can turn into disappointment was a bitter experience which Phoenix Racing, based in nearby Meuspath, had in the race as well. The second Audi R8 LMS ultra, driven by Marc Basseng, the three-time Le Mans winner Marcel Fässler, Frank Stippler and Laurens Vanthoor, retired after less than an hour and a half when start driver Basseng on a bump in the ‘Tiergarten’ track section lost control of the Audi and crashed into the guard rails. While Basseng, who like Stippler was part of the winning squad two years ago, was not injured in the incident a repair of the #3 Audi was out of the question.

The race turned into a true thriller in the early morning hours when the gap between the #4 R8 that was leading most of the time and its immediate rivals from Mercedes and BMW shrunk to less than a second. The GT3 sports cars chased each other bumper to bumper across the 25- kilometre Nordschleife, to the great delight of the fans. The Phoenix Audi prevailed in this remarkable three-way battle.

“Now we’re tired but happy and then we’re going to concentrate on the Norisring next weekend,” said Ernst Moser, who competes in the DTM with his Audi Sport Team Phoenix as the title defenders in the teams’ and drivers’ classification (with Mike Rockenfeller). “My thanks go to all who supported us in this 24-hour race, particularly to Audi Sport and Audi Sport customer racing, to Michelin and to our partner TÜV Rheinland.“

Photo credit: Audi Media

TUSC: More joy for Christopher Haase - A podium result in Detroit with the Audi R8 LMS

Christopher Haase Press Release

The Raceway at Belle Isle Park in Detroit was last weekend’s venue for Christpher Haase‘s next motor racing
assignment in North America. As soon as the young German and his team Bryce Miller went into free practice on the temporary race course with its many bumps and potholes, they found that much setup work on the Audi R8 LMS lay ahead of them: „We had to make several changes to the settings in both free practice sessions. In the end, it went quite well; but we weren’t able to carry that performance over into qualifying.“

The end of qualifying practice saw them only in 12th place of the GTD category, not a particularly good starting point for the Paul Miller Racing crew. The team made a few setup adjustments during the warm-up session, with the desired result: „These minute changes had a very positive effect“, says Christopher Haase who watched his colleague Miller take the start, „we got away without trouble, and the new setup allowed us to get on the pace of the leading cars in terms of our lap times.“

Just as at Laguna Seca, the team’s brilliant strategy and a fantastic recovery drive by Haase cleared the way onto the class podium, where the man from Bavaria was jubilant. “Just 35 minutes into the race, we had the first Safety Car period which we used for a pit stop for fresh tyres, refuelling and driver change. The boys at Paul Miller Racing did perfect and super fast work, which gained us a few positions right there in the pits. And at the restart, I got the crucial information over the radio at just the right time, so I got past a few competitors right when the lights turned from yellow to green. Things got extremely exciting toward the end when I was in touch with the leading group. It was close combat for 30 minutes, bumper-to-bumper on the streets of Detroit where you tend to lean on the retaining walls under acceleration... When we consider our position on the starting grid, this 3rd place is the maximum of what we could achieve, there was nothing more in it. Our Audi once again ran without any problem, so a victory should only be a matter of time! Right now I am looking forward to the highlight of my season, because my next race will be the 24 Hours on the Nürburgring!“

Follow Christopher Haase on Facebook www.facebook.com/haase.christopher and Twitter https://twitter.com/ChHaase!

Photo credit: Paul Miller Racing / Bob Chapman Photography

Q&A: Interview with Christopher Haase - Audi GT factory driver

By Tarek Ramchani

Christopher Haase had a busy and very strong 2013 season, racing for different Audi Sport customer racing teams in different series and endurance events in Europe. From the Blancpain Endurance Series with Phoenix Racing to the ADAC GT Masters with Prosperia C.Abt Racing and appearances in selected endurance events, as well as testing the GTD spec Audi R8 LMS in America.

We were pleased to have an interview with Christopher Haase. A very interesting Q/A about his debut with the Audi brand in GT racing, the 2013 season and his expectations for 2014.

You can follow Christopher Haase on Facebook here and his official website here.

1) Please tell us how it all started for you with Audi in GT racing.

Oh yeah, good story. I try to make it short. :-)

I never did karting in my live but driving a race car was my dream. So I was track marshal in some hill climp races.

I am a member of an automobil club in my home town. I was 18 years old when the organisation team had founded together with flatex a motorsport programm for young people in the ADAC Dacia Logan Cup in 2006. I won my fist race and from that point my carreer has been started. 2007 I directly switched into GT Racing with Lamborghini in ADAC GT Masters. Start of a great championship triple. 2007 champion ADAC GT-Masters, 2008 champion as KTM factory driver in FIA GT4 SL, 2009 champion in FIA GT3 with the Audi R8 LMS of Phoenix Racing. Severall class victories in VLN, victory at the 12h of Sepang Malaysia and a good season in the FIA GT1 World Championship where I have earned a lot of experience in 2010. 2011 I came back to my lovely Audi R8 LMS. I had good results which showed my talent. From this moment I have become member of the Audi family, and I love it :-) .

Since that time we had some great results together (for example the victory 24h of Nürburgring 2012) I enjoy the great team atmosphere. Already now I am looking forward to the next season.....I can´t wait. :-)

2) Back in 2009 you gave the Audi R8 LMS an emotional winning debut in FIA GT3 with Phoenix Racing, tell us more about that title.

Difficult season, but we did it. In GT-Racing you always have to find out your own benefit. And this we did really great. In all races where we could see some chances to use our own advantage to beat our competitors, we used it nearly perfect. And that was the key to win it. If you earn poinst constantly you are going to be the champion in the end.

3) In 2013 you entered two competitive championships, the Blancpain Endurance Series and ADAC GT Masters, tell us more about your season?

I had a lot of fun. :-)

I don´t talk about "balance of performance". You always find someone who is crying. The best thing is to concentrate on yourself. Blancpain Endurance Series is a long distance championship. I drove together with Oliver Jarvis and Harold Primat for Phoenix Racing. We were a great team and we worked great together. Unfortunately we never had a good race and quali luck. But still we earned points and at the 24h of Spa we finished on 4th position. Nothing to be disappointed. Racing at the Blancpain is fun over 6h.

ADAC GT Masters togehter with Prosperia C.Abt Racing and my teammate Rahel Frey. I missed the first two events. So I wasn´t able to fight for the campionship. Rahel and me we worked very good together. We have the same car feeling. The competion at the GT Masters is incredible. For a good position everything has to be perfect. But I love that kind of racing. It makes you just harder and better.

4) Sprint vs Endurance, which style do you prefer in GT racing?

I am a GT racer, I like both. It makes the GT sport unique.

I don´t believe that a Formula One car can run 24h in a row. :-)

5) You have already won prestigious titles and races with Audi, which one was the best for you?

Victory 24h of Nürburgring Nordschleife in 2012.

6) A few years ago you competed with a Reiter Lamborghini Murcielago in the FIA GT1 World Championship. How different were those GT1 cars in comparison to today’s GT3 cars?

Quiet a lot. The GT1 car had more power, less weight, no ABS, no TC, more Setup ajustments. You have to be sensetive by driving but still you have to push on the edge. One mistake and the race is done. In GT3 racing, we have a race ABS, a TC as well as a car which forgives you some little mistakes. Anyway to stay in front in both categories, it is always a challenge because everybody is fighting with the same regulations.

7) You have recently been at Daytona for the TUSC test days. How does the driving experience differ between the FIA GT3 R8 LMS ultra and the IMSA GTD R8 LMS?

First of all I like that kind of racing. In comparison to the Audi R8 LMS ultra the R8 Grand AM Version hasn´t any ABS, TC and much less downforce. Both cars have their own setup. To be honest the racing in the IMSA with the Audi R8 Grand AM remembers me to the FIA GT1 cars. Okay the car has less downforce but you need so much feeling to be quick. One slide then you are off time.

8) Which race track is your favourite?

I have three. Nürburgring Nordschleife, Zandvoort, Spa.

9) What are your targets for the upcoming 2014 season?

Great results and hopefully winning a championship again.

10) What are your dreams for the future within your motor racing career?

If you had ask me this questions 6 years ago I had given you the same answer. My target is to win the 24h of Le Mans! I hope to get the chance to drive an Audi LMP car anytime. Thats my dream. :-)

Photo credit:
Christopher Haase
ADAC GT Masters