Pirelli World Challenge: Istook Motorsport preparing their Audi TT RS for St. Petersburg opener

By Tarek Ramchani

The 2014 Pirelli World Challenge season will kick off in Florida, at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, supporting the IndyCar Series.

In addition to multiple Audi R8 LMS ultra cars in GT class, the Audi brand will be represented in the GTS class with a single Audi TT RS. Istook Motorsport and Werkes Racing are busy preparing their TT RS for the season opener. At St. Petersburg the #01 Audi TT RS will be driven by team owner Don Istook.

Istook Motorsport and Werkes Racing are planning to field a second Audi TT RS as well an Audi A3 TDI in TC-A class later this year.

Photo credit: Werkes Racing

Pirelli World Challenge: RS Werkes Racing will enter an Audi A3 in the Touring Car A class

By Tarek Ramchani

The Audi brand is already very well represented in the Pirelli World Challenge and it will see further expansion this season.
RS Werkes Racing (Istook's Motorsports) will be entering an Audi A3 TDI in the Touring Car A division (TCA).

RS Werkes Racing is no stranger to the Pirelli World Challenge, the team is already committed to the series with their Audi TT RS in the GTS class with Don Istook.

The Audi A3 TDI entry, same as the TT RS, is a privateer effort. This will mark the return of the Audi brand in the Touring Car related class of the SCCA sanctioned series.

RS Werkes will be using the older Audi A3 type vehicle, the 2010-2013 chassis configuration. The new Audi A3 models, based on the MQB chassis, are not available in the North American market as of yet.

Touring Car A is a new class, aimed at being an evolution of the current Touring Car class, in order to reduce the building and maintenance costs of the cars.

With the Audi R8 LMS and ultra cars in GT, the Audi TT RS in GTS and the Audi A3 in TCA, Audi will be one of few brands to be represented in so many of the classes.

The 2014 Pirelli World Challenge will kick off in St. Petersburg, March 28th-30th.

Photo: Audi Media

Pirelli World Challenge: Crucial pole position for GMG Racing in Houston

By Johan Laubscher

The finale of the Pirelli World Challenge is taking place on the streets of Houston this weekend. It is a title showdown between James Sofronas in his GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS and Johnny O'Connell in his factory Cadillac CTS-V.R.

James Sofronas arrives in Houston as the current points leader, with a mere 21 point lead over O'Connell. Three Audis have been entered this weekend: two Audi R8 LMS cars from GMG Racing in the GT class and one Audi TT RS car from Istook Motorsports in the GTS class.

The second GMG R8 LMS is being piloted by Rene Rast, the factory Audi Sport customer racing driver, who has been added to the squad to support Sofronas’ bid for the title. Rast immediately showed his pace by placing second in the first practice session and first in the second session. Sofronas was sixth in both of the practice sessions. 

Qualifying was cancelled due to track altercations in the long break between practice sessions one and two, thus the grid will be determined by championship points. This results in James Sofronas gaining the crucial pole position and Rene Rast starting sixth, last in the GT class, as he has no points on the table.

The race is scheduled for 10:45 am local time on Sunday. We wish the best of luck to both Audi teams. 

Photo credit:

Pirelli World Challenge

RS Werkes  

Pirelli World Challenge: Lime Rock race 2 closes with good points for GMG Audi

By Johan Laubscher

The Pirelli World Challenge continued at Lime Rock today. Race two was held earlier and yielded strong results for the Audi drivers. Four GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS cars and one Istook TT RS were the Audis which lined up for race two.

The highest Audi finish in race one was repeated in race two. James Sofronas, the championship leader, managed to move up from his sixth place starting position and finished in fourth, collecting good points for the championship in the #14 R8 LMS. The next three GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS cars finished together in the standings, placing in positions seven through nine, with Alex Welch, Duncan Ende and Bill Ziegler respectively.

Don Istook unfortunately retired from race two in his TT RS. Despite this it is still absolutely great to see Istook back in a race car following his heart bypass surgery earlier this season.

Race two spoils went to the factory Cadillac team, who enjoyed an 1-2 finish with Johnny O'Connell leading home his GM teammate Andy Pilgrim.

Round six of the Pirelli World Challenge will head onto the Streets of Toronto next weekend.
  

Photo credit: Pirelli World Challenge

Pirelli World Challenge: Mixed qualifying for Audi teams at Lime Rock

By Tarek Ramchani

The Pirelli World Challenge is moving to the North East this weekend. The popular Lime Rock Park is hosting the fifth meeting of the season.
Four Audi R8 LMS cars have been entered for the event, all of them from GMG Racing.

The qualifying session was held yesterday with some mixed results for the Audi and GMG squad. The best ranked R8 LMS car was in fifth place, with #24 Audi of Duncan Ende. Team owner and series points leader James Sofronas was sixth in his #14 car. The other two R8 LMS cars were tenth with Alex Welch in the #08 Audi and eleventh with Bill Ziegler, who is debuting with the R8 LMS this weekend, driving the #95 Audi.

It was an all-GM affair in the qualifying session. The factory Cadillac CTS-Vs were first and second, with Johnny O'Connel and Andy Pilgrim. Third was Mike Skeen with a Chevrolet Corvette.

Before the Lime Rock races James Sofronas was leading the overall points standing with 849 points. Cadillac's Johnny O'Connell is second with 703 points. Volvo's Randy Pobst is third with 675 points. In the manufacturer's standing Audi and Cadillac are leading with 52 points each. Volvo is third with 41 points.

In the GTS class it is great to see the Audi TT RS back in the competition. American Audi legend, Don Istook, is back after health issues, armed again with his Stasis/Revo backed #01 Audi TT RS. Don Istook qualified twentieth in class. The qualifying session results can be seen here.

Two WC races are on the program at Lime Rock Park. We hope that both GMG Racing in GT and Don Istook in GTS will do well on track.

Photo credit: Pirelli World Challenge

Istook Motorsports with two Audi TT RS in Pirelli World Challenge

By Tarek Ramchani

During 2012 Don Istook and the Arc Audi Racing Program debuted the Audi TT RS in the Pirelli World Challenge. The car has been entered in the GTS class with some ups and downs all season long.

Don Istook is a long time Audi drivers and a regular in North American sportscar racing. The TT RS appeared at Long Beach for first time, round two of the 2012 SCCA sanctioned series. For 2013 the team is set to come back with an extended two car effort.

The first of the two cars will be in the hands of Don Istook himself, he will drive the #01 Audi. His team mate will be Colin Cohen with the sister #03 TT RS. The two cars will again compete in the GTS class. The competition, as ever, will be fierce with strong rivals representing Ford, Chevrolet, KIA, Acura and Porsche.

Don Istook and his crew are working hard preparing the cars ahead of the season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg. A lot of improvements are expected for the TT RS twins. We wish the best of luck to Istook Motorsports with their fully privateer Audi effort.

Photo credit and more information:
Don Istook Audi TT RS official Facebook

Pirelli World Challenge 2012 Audi season review

By Johan Laubscher and Tarek Ramchani

2012 saw the comeback of the Audi brand in the Pirelli World Challenge. The Audi R8 LMS was introduced for the first time in North American sportscar racing. It was in hands of series regulars, GMG Racing. Another Audi effort came from Don Istook with a fully privately built and run Audi TT RS in the lower GTS class. Both Audi teams had a positive 2012 season in the SCCA sanctioned series. Here is our full review of this year's competition.

GMG Racing and Don Istook did not race at the season opener held at St. Petersburg. GMG's R8 LMS and Istook's TT RS joined the series at round two on the streets of Long Beach as a support event to both the IndyCar Series and the American Le Mans Series.

Round 2: Long Beach, California
The Pirelli World Challenge at Long Beach saw the debut of two Audis during the second round of the series. The event witnessed the American debut of the Audi R8 LMS in GT3 specification, however modified to fit the SCCA regulations. The ex-Phoenix Racing car was entered by GMG Racing and driven by Anders Hainer to a respectable eleventh place finish. The other Audi making its debut was the Audi TT RS of Don Istook, a legendary Audi race car builder in America. The car was very new and had small problems all weekend and did very little running, but the white TT RS looked great and would be stronger at the next event.

Round 3: Miller Motorsport Park, Utah
The two Audis would again take part in the third round of the series held in Salt Lake City. The GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS continued to show progress as the team got to know the car. Anders Hainer in the R8 LMS finished in thirteenth place and the Don Istook Audi TT RS finished twenty-sixth overall.

Round 4: Laguna Seca, Monterey
The Pirelli World Challenge's fourth round saw the gird take part at the legendary Laguna Seca race circuit. Two Audi cars were entered for the event, the GMG Audi R8 LMS of Anders Hainer and the Audi TT RS of Don Istook. The GMG R8 LMS finished the race weekend in thirteenth place overall followed by the Istook TT RS in twenty-sixth overall. QuattroWorld.com was present at the event for coverage of the two Audis competing in World Challenge.

Round 5: Belle Island, Detroit
The SCCA Pirelli World Challenge held round five at a very wet Detroit circuit. Both Audis on the grid went well. The GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS claimed its first top ten finish with Anders Hainer claiming tenth spot in race one. The Don Istook Audi TT RS also showed well and scored the Hard charger award in the wet first race by passing multiple cars.

After round 5 the two regular Audi teams did not make the trip up north, skipping the sixth round at Mosport, Canada.

Round 7: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
The penultimate SCCA World Challenge round was at Mid Ohio. As per usual two Audi cars lined up on the grid, but both had something new in store. GMG Racing were debuting another new Audi R8 LMS at the event, driven by James Sofronas. He showed great pace during the entire weekend by qualifying sixth and scored the best R8 LMS finish to date with fifth in race one. The Don Istook Audi TT RS also did well and boasted a newly updated aerodynamic and exhaust set up.

Round 8: Sears Point, Sonoma
The final round of the American SCCA World Challenge took place at Sears Point. Three Audis were entered for the event. The Don Istook Audi TT RS was entered along with, for the first time, two Audi R8 LMS cars from GMG Racing. Ultimately only one R8 took part in the race, the #40 car of Anders Hainer who finished in the top ten. The Istook TT RS finished eleventh in class.

Editors note: A very special thanks to both GMG Racing and Don Istook for their great support with our Audi coverage of the 2012 Pirelli World Challenge this year.

Photo credit and more information:
Pirelli World Challenge official website