ADAC GT Masters: Audi drivers Réne Rast and Kelvin van der Linde the 2014 champions

ADAC GT Masters Press Release

Audi duo Van der Linde and Rast wrap up drivers' championship ahead of time. Daniel Keilwitz and Andreas Wirth win penultimate race of season in a Corvette.

Kelvin van der Linde (18, ZA) and René Rast (27, Germany) are confirmed as champions for the 2014 ADAC GT Masters season. Driving a Prosperia C Abt Racing Audi R8, 18 year-old van der Linde from South Africa and 27-year-old Rast from Frankfurt only just squeezed into the Top Ten in the penultimate race of the campaign, but it was still enough to secure the title after main challenger Jaap van Lagen (37, NL) in a GW IT Racing Team Schütz Motorsport Porsche 911 botched his pit stop and finished outside the points.

"That was an absolute thriller and an emotional rollercoaster," said the newly crowned champion Rast after the race. "On the first few laps, we were feeling down in the dumps, but then on the second stint, we breathed a huge sigh of relief, and by the end, we were in celebratory mood." The winners' trophy for the penultimate race of the 2014 ADAC GT Masters season went to the Callaway Competition Corvette partnership of Andreas Wirth (29, Germany) and Daniel Keilwitz (25, Germany) who came out on top in a dramatic three-way tussle with the BKK MOBIL OIL Zakspeed Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG driven by Luca Ludwig (25, Germany) and Latvia's Harald Schlegelmilch (26) and the TONINO Team Herberth Porsche 911 driven by Robert Renauer (29, Germany) and Martin Ragginger (26, A).

Pit stop mistake costs van Lagen chance of title
The battle for the ADAC GT Masters title at Hockenheim turned out to be a real thriller. Everything appeared to be going van Lagen's way after the start. His team-mate Christian Engelhart (27, Germany) was in third place behind Ludwig in the Mercedes-Benz, who started on pole, and Renauer in the Porsche, while van der Linde in the Audi was just outside the points in P11. As Engelhart handed over the car to van Lagen, the Porsche duo then made a mistake, failing to abide by the prescribed minimum standing time of 0.394 seconds. Van Lagen had to serve a stop-and-go penalty for the infringement. The Dutchman came home in eleventh place, just outside the points, ruining his title chances. That put a smile on the faces of van der Linde and Rast, who brought their Audi home in tenth place, giving them in an unassailable lead at the top of the standings ahead of Sunday's final race. "At the moment, it still feels incredible to me, knowing that we've got the title in the bag," said van der Linde with a chuckle. "I just don't know what to say. It will take me at least until tomorrow to get my head round this."

René Rast: "We began to worry about our lead in the standings after dropping outside the points during the starting phase and then realising that van Lagen was heading for the podium. I hoped that something might happen up front or that there would be a safety car period. And then something really did happen - the Porsche guys made a mistake. To win this championship, you have to do a perfect job all year round, and you can't afford to make any errors. That's why we are right up at the front now. I think that the ADAC GT Masters is the most competitive GT race series in Europe, and winning the title here makes me very proud."

Fifth win of season for Corvette man Daniel Keilwitz
The battle for the lead in the penultimate race of the season was just as exciting as the title fight. At the mandatory pit stop, Ludwig handed the gullwing Mercedes-Benz over to Schlegelmilch while in the lead. The Latvian then came under pressure from Ragginger and Wirth. Corvette driver Wirth, who made up a deficit of 14 seconds on the leader after the driver changeover, first overtook Ragginger and then Schlegelmilch after a determined but fair scrap with three laps left to secure his fifth win of the season. Keilwitz: "We set our car up so that we would be able to attack in the second stint of the race and be quick over the distance. We were simply faster than our competitors in the closing stages, and that was ultimately the decisive factor in our victory today." For local favourite Wirth, who grew up just a few kilometres from the Hockenheimring, this was a first ever win in his home race: "I've finally found my way onto the podium here in Hockenheim thanks to a terrific drive by Daniel and a perfect car."

Max Sandritter (25, Germany), and Jens Klingmann (24, Germany) placed fourth in the BMW Z4, thus keeping alive the chances of PIXUM Team Schubert coming out on top in the team standings. The winners will not be decided until Sunday. Audi specialists Prosperia C Abt Racing have a ten-point lead on the Oschersleben-based BMW outfit going into the finale.

Maro Engel (29, Germany) and Jan Seyffarth (28, Germany) in a ROWE Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG took fifth place ahead of Claudia Hürtgen (43, Germany) and Dominik Baumann (22, A) in a PIXUM Team Schubert BMW Z4. Hürtgen and Baumann will still be battling van Lagen and Keilwitz for the championship runner-up trophy on Sunday. Sebastian Asch (28, Germany) and Switzerland's Philipp Frommenwiler (25) in a Porsche 911 finished eighth ahead of the HTP Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG driven by Luca Stolz (19, Germany) and Maximilian Götz (28, Germany). The remaining championship point was picked up by Nico Bastian (24, Germany) and Spain's Jaime Alguersuari (24) in a ROWE Racing Mercedes gullwing.

Photo credit: ADAC GT Masters

PHOTOS: Team Novadriver Audi R8 LMS ultra in GT Open at Monza

A selection of great photos from Team Novdriver at Monza. The Portuguese team performed well with their #58 Audi R8 LMS ultra in the two International GT Open races.

Our GT Open Monza report is here.

Photo credit: Team Novadriver

GT Tour: Double podium for the Audi R8 LMS ultra in Nogaro race 1

By Tarek Ramchani

Circuit Nogaro is hosting the sixth meeting of the 2014 FFSA GT Tour season. Race 1 held yesterday gave great satisfaction to the Audi Sport customer racing squad.

The #42 Audi R8 LMS utra from Sainteloc Racing finished in a strong second place narrowly missing race victory. The car in the hands of David Hallyday and Gregory Guilvert was  right behind the winning #1 Ferrari 458 GT3.

Third place went to the #51 Audi R8 LMS ultra from Sébastien Loeb Racing with drivers Mike Parisy and Henry Hassid. Their team-mates Anthony Beltoise and Roland Berville with the sister #50 Audi were fourth.

The #44 Audi R8 LMS from Sainteloc Racing finished tenth overall and second within the Coupe de France class with drivers Gilles Lallement and Jean-Paul Buffin.

Team Speed Car entered a single Audi R8 LMS ultra at Nogaro, their #36 car driven by Vincent Abril and Nicolas Metairie was eleventh.

Race 2 is set for tomorrow with an all Sebastien Loeb Racing Audi front row followed by the #42 entry from Sainteloc Racing.

Update: The winning #1 Ferrari 458 GT3 from Sofrev-ASP has been excluded by race officials for technical infringements, however the Ferrari team appealed the decision and the race results are still pending.

Photo credit: GT Tour

ADAC GT Masters: Rast and van der Linde in Sachsenring double

ADAC GT Masters Press Release

Championship leaders René Rast and Kelvin van der Linde take maximum points haul from penultimate race weekend. Title rivals out of luck on Sunday

The Prosperia C Abt duo of Kelvin van der Linde (18, ZA) and René Rast (27) took a massive step at the Sachsenring towards getting their hands on the ADAC GT Masters champions' trophy. In difficult conditions with rain setting in, the current championship leaders made it two wins out of two in their Audi R8. Ahead of the grand finale at Hockenheim, van der Linde and Rast have opened up a 35-point gap on their closest pursuer, Jaap van Lagen (37, NL) in the GW IT Racing Team Schütz Motorsport Porsche 911, who finished outside the Top Ten in today's race. On a thrilling final few laps, Robert Renauer (29, Germany), who shares the cockpit of his TONINO Team Herberth Porsche 911 GT3 R with Dominik Schwager (37, Germany), cruised past the Prosperia C Abt Audi R8 driven by Fabian Hamprecht (18, Germany) and Nicki Thiim (25, DK) to take the runner-up spot. "A perfect race and a perfect weekend," said a delighted Rast. "Our closest pursuer failed to score, which surely gives us match point for the final at Hockenheim."

Rast takes lead going into Turn 1
This third win of the season was never in any danger for Rast and van der Linde. Rast immediately went into the lead from third on the grid and was given cover to the rear by team-mate Thiim until the driver changeover. Conditions were much more difficult for van der Linde in the second stint of the race as rain began to fall. The South African had a scary moment while travelling at top speed in P1 when the Audi lost a large piece of floor panel. But not even the missing body part or the tricky conditions for the Audi, which was on slick tyres on a wet track, could stop the precocious youngster. Van der Linde made it a double victory, achieving a maximum points haul for himself and partner Rast in the two races at the Sachsenring.

Meanwhile, main title rival van Lagen was not having the best of luck. The Dutchman had to come into the pits to change the rear wing on his Porsche 911 which had sustained damaged in a bump at the start. The premature stop dropped him down the field and out of the points. Placed third in the standings, Claudia Hürtgen (43, Germany) and Austrian Dominik Baumann (21) in a PIXUM Team Schubert BMW Z4 finished the race in P6 after spinning round in a battle for position. With a 46-point deficit, they now have only a mathematical chance of coming out on top in the finale.

"I was able to snatch the lead from my team-mate Nicki Thiim right at the start and then sail away under no pressure," said Rast. "It won't be easy at the Hockenheim finale in a fortnight's time, but our points cushion is very reassuring."

"That was a very exciting race for us," said van der Linde. "The mixed weather conditions pushed up our pulse rate quite considerably. In the second half of the race, it was difficult to keep the car on the track. Then I lost a part of the floor, which made things even more difficult. However, I didn't take any big risks, because there wasn't much pressure from behind."

Robert Renauer fought his way up into second place behind the Audi. The Porsche man had one of the fastest cars on the track in the second stint, working his way up through the field from seventh position to take second place from the Audi pairing of Hamprecht and Thiim with three laps to go.

Local favourite Philip Geipel (27, Germany), who shares the cockpit of a YACO Racing Audi R8 with Markus Winkelhock (34, Germany), finished fourth, thereby improving on a P5 in the first of the two races on his home circuit. The two PIXUM Team Schubert BMW Z4s driven by Max Sandritter (25, Germany) & Jens Klingmann (24, Germany) and by Claudia Hürtgen & Dominik Baumann crossed the line in positions five and six respectively, followed by the two ROWE Racing Mercedes SLS AMGs driven by Nico Bastian (24, Germay) & Jaime Alguersuari (24, Spain) and by Maro Engel (29, Germany) & Jan Seyffarth (28, Germany). Sharing a Farnbacher Racing Porsche 911 for the first time, Poland's Robert Lukas (26) and Australia's Nathan Morcom (22) took ninth place. Leading Gentlemen driver Herbert Handlos (31, Austria) paired with Alfred Renauer (29, Germany) in a TONINO Herberth Porsche not only claimed a ninth victory of the season in his class but for the second time this weekend also scored a point in the overall classification for a tenth place finish.

Handlos edging closer to Gentlemen title after yet another victory
The outcome of the Gentlemen competition will now not be decided until the final weekend of the season at Hockenheim. The result of Sunday's race was a re-run of Saturday. Although Handlos won, he was unable to extend his lead on championship pursuer Dominic Jöst (36, Germany) driving a TONINO Team Herberth Porsche. Jöst and co-driver Florian Scholze (41, Germany) took second place ahead of Switzerland's Remo Lips (32) and Lennart Marioneck (25, Germany) in their Callaway Competition Corvette.

Photo credit: ADAC GT Masters

 

ADAC GT Masters: Audi duo prevails in battle of title contenders

ADAC GT Masters Press Release

Pursuer van Lagen finishes second to remain hot on heels of Audi pairing. Porsche man Handlos close to wrapping up Gentlemen title with eighth win of campaign.

The title chase in the ADAC GT Masters is reaching a climax. In Saturday's race at the Sachsenring, the current Top Three in the championship table were battling it out for victory. In a thrilling duel at the front, championship leader Kelvin van der Linde (18, ZA) and René Rast (27, Germany) in their Prosperia C Abt Racing Audi R8 saw off the challenge of the GW IT Racing Team Schütz Motorsport Porsche 911 driven by their closest rival for the title, Jaap van Lagen (37, NL) and Christian Engelhart (27, Germany). Saturday's podium party perfectly reflected the current situation at the top of the championship table, with third place going to Claudia Hürtgen (43, Germany) and Austria's Dominik Baumann (21) in a Pixum Team Schubert BMW Z4. "This second victory of the season was a lot longer coming than we had wanted," said a beaming van der Linde after the race. "We are very pleased to have finished ahead of our closest pursuers - this gives us a bit more breathing space at the top."

Pole-setter van der Linde needed nerves of steel in the first half of the race. The Audi driver converted pole position into a race lead, but then saw it whittled away by two safety car periods in the first seven laps. The yellow flags first came out after a collision involving Israel's Alon Day (22) in a BKK MOBIL OIL Zakspeed Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG and Max Sandritter (25, Germany) in a Pixum Team Schubert BMW Z4 on the opening lap, and again on Lap 6 after a mechanical breakdown left Patrick Assenheimer's (22, Germany) Corvette stranded in the middle of the track.

After the restart, van der Linde managed to defend the lead ahead of pursuer Engelhart in the Porsche 911 but was unable to shake him off completely. It was only after van der Linde handed over to Rast at the mandatory pit stop that the Audi built up a 3.5-second advantage over the Porsche which now had van Lagen at the wheel. But the margin was once again eaten away ten minutes before the end of the race when the safety car was deployed for a third time after a technical defect forced Corvette driver Sebastiaan Bleekemolen (36, NL) to a halt at the side of the track. Six minutes before the end, the race was on again for a final five laps in which Rast and van Lagen slugged it out for the race win and championship lead. The Audi man held on to his lead and crossed the line 1.3 seconds ahead.

"The safety car period towards the end obviously didn't help, but I managed to re-establish a small gap for the last few laps," said Rast after his seventh ADAC GT Masters race victory. "We had to be careful with our strategy today. We actually wanted to take our pit stop early in Race 1, but if we'd done that, the Porsche might have been able to gain time, and the situation would have become a lot tighter. Consequently, we adapted our strategy in line with that of the Porsche and pitted late."

Baumann and Hürtgen sustain title challenge with P3
It was also a sound strategy that resulted in third place for Hürtgen and Baumann, keeping the BMW duo in the title race. Hürtgen was running sixth after the start and pitted early in the ten-minute window, allowing Baumann to move up to P3 during the second stint. Sebastian Asch (28, Germany) and Switzerland's Philip Frommenwiler (25) finished fourth in their Farnbacher Racing Porsche 911, much to their relief after a long barren spell in the campaign. Local favourite Philip Geipel (27, Germany) and co-driver Markus Winkelhock (34, Germany) in a YACO Racing Audi R8 LMS finished fifth, their best result of the season.

A drive-through penalty for exceeding the maximum speed in the pit lane cost Luca Stolz (19, Germany) and Maximilian Götz (28, Germany) of HTP Motorsport a possible podium spot. Their gullwing had moved up to third immediately after the start but dropped back to seventh after serving the drive-through, slotting in behind Maro Engel (29, Germany) and Jan Seyffarth (28, Germany) driving a Mercedes entered by ROWE RACING.

David Jahn (23, Germany) and Sven Barth (33, Germany) of RWT Racing Team were the fastest of the Corvettes, coming home in eighth position ahead of Fabian Hamprecht (19, Germany) and Nicki Thiim (25, DK) in a Prosperia C Abt Racing Audi R8. Austrian Herbert Handlos (31), championship leader and class winner in the Gentlemen standings, took tenth place in the TONINO Team Herberth Porsche 911 that he shares with Alfred Renauer (29, Germany).

Chance for Handlos to clinch Gentlemen title on Sunday
Dominic Jöst (36, Germany) and Florian Scholze (41, Germany), both of TONINO Team Herberth, kept the thrilling title fight in the Gentlemen class on the boil. Handlos did indeed take his eighth race win at the Sachsenring from team-mates Jöst and Scholze. However, due to the points scoring system in the Gentlemen category which takes driver pairings into account, the Austrian extended his lead in the standings by only 1.5 points. Switzerland's Remo Lips (32) and ADAC Sports Foundation protégé Lennart Marioneck in a Callaway Competition Corvette finished third.

Audis qualify 1-2-3 for Race 2
The winners of the first race secured another promising grid position in Sunday's second race (Race 2 broadcast live on kabel eins, from 11.45 am onwards) and will start in third place behind fellow Audi drivers Nicki Thiim and Austrian Daniel Dobitsch (30) of kfzteile24 APR Motorsport. Rast will be on the second row next to the Porsche of title rival van Lagen

Photo credit: ADAC GT Masters

ADAC GT Masters: Audis dominate qualifying at Sachsenring

ADAC GT Masters Press Release

Audi and Porsche carve up first two rows between them. Prosperia C Abt Racing Audi R8 on pole position for both races.

Changeable weather was once again a factor as the penultimate race weekend of the ADAC GT Masters at the Sachsenring got underway, but it was unable to put the brakes on Kelvin van der Linde (18, ZA) or Nicki Thiim (25, DK) in their Audi R8s. The two drivers entered by Prosperia C Abt Racing, the team managed by former ADAC GT Masters champion Christian Abt, each won their qualifying heat to book pole position in the ADAC GT Masters races on Saturday and Sunday (both shown live on kabel eins from 11.45am CEST). "Pole is only one small step and doesn't mean anything in itself, but it's a good position to be in for the title fight," said championship leader van der Linde after claiming his second ADAC GT Masters pole position. "Now I'm hoping for a good start in Saturday's race."

Qualifying 1 for Race 1 on Saturday:
An impending thunderstorm caused qualifying to get off to a hectic start, although current championship leader van der Linde seemed unruffled. The South African immediately went to the top of the timesheets and found himself sitting pretty after ten minutes of the 25 allotted to the session when it was interrupted: a contact between Albert von Thurn und Taxis (31, Germany) in the Reiter Engineering Chevrolet Camaro and Maro Engel (29, Germany) in a ROWE Racing Mercedes-Benz had left the Camaro in the gravel. While the track marshals were sorting this out, the rain set in. As it then proved impossible to set faster times on the wet track, van der Linde's pole position was assured. "We have found a very good setup for our Audi, and everything had gone very well in free practice," said van der Linde with a degree of satisfaction.

Lined up behind the Audi are two Porsche 911s, with Robert Renauer (29, Germany / TONINO Team Herberth) sharing the front row and Christian Engelhart (27, Germany /GW IT Racing Team Schütz Motorsport) in third.

One driver with particular cause for cheer was Philip Geipel (27, Germany) in a YACO Racing Audi who qualified fourth in his home race, the best grid position yet for the local hero. Luca Stolz (19, Germany) in an HTP Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG starts from fifth ahead of Claudia Hürtgen (42, Germany) in a Pixum Team Schubert BMW Z4; She and her Austrian co-driver Dominik Baumann (21) are currently placed third in the championship standings.

Qualifying 2 for Race 2 on Sunday:
On a drying track, the second qualifying heat turned out to be one of the most exciting witnessed this season. The lead changed hands eleven times during the course of the session, but in the end it was Nicki Thiim, who made it a 1-2-3 lockout for Audi, whilst notching up his second pole in successive race weekends. Starting alongside Thiim is Austria's Daniel Dobitsch (30) in a kfzteile24 APR Motorsport Audi, and behind them in third position is van der Linde's team-mate René Rast (27, Germany), with whom he not only shares the cockpit of his Prosperia C Abt Racing Audi but also the championship lead.

"On a wet Sachsenring, it was a balancing act between driving as fast as possible and still staying on the track," said Rast. "The title is now uppermost in our mind, so it wouldn't have been right to take excessive risks."

The makeup of the second row is highly relevant to the destination of the championship winners' trophy, with closest pursuer Jaap van Lagen (37) from the Netherlands qualifying fourth in his GW IT Racing Team Schütz Motorsport Porsche.

Sebastian Asch (28, Germany) in a Farnbacher Racing Porsche 911 starts from fifth ahead of Markus Winkelhock (34, Germany) in a YACO Racing Audi R8.

Photo credit: ADAC GT Masters

Italian GT: At Vallelunga race two Dindo Capello, Emanuele Zonzini grab runner-up spot

Audi Sport Italia Press Release

• Audi pair now is six points adrift of leading Ferrari 458 duo
• Capello, Zonzini ninth try finally bring them back into the Top3

Campagnano di Roma, Italy – Audi Sport Italia's R8s had their best balance right for the final day of the fifth Italian GT meeting at Vallelunga: their drivers may haven't clinched either pole positions or fastest laps, but after a difficult Saturday race, which wound up with Capello, Zonzini in P5 and Mapelli, Schoffler in P8 both cars had stepped up to challenge, and when time to pit came one was leading as the other was lying fourth not far behind, both close in the time sheets to the series top performers. As it is, Capello didn't miss the chance to grab a well deserved second place; however Schoeffler, who planned to build on the lead that Mapelli had built, didn't had the chance to do so as the rear axle didn't budge when the air jacks went down. The Italian-German duo retirement means that they now trail new leaders Raffaele Giammaria, Lorenzo Casè by six points, as the #27 Ferrari claimed P6 today.

A quick look to yesterday's race starting grid seemed harbinger of a Saturday where it all could come together for Dindo Capello and Emanuele Zonzini to return to a Top3 finish, without further waiting: they were starting from P5, moreover they'd be spared time penalties at the mandatory pit-stop. Unfortunately the plan did not take into account problems with gear shifting that blighted the 3-time Le Mans winner stint. However they managed to seal off the Saturday as best Audi crew on track, as a staff tweak at the pit-stop seemed to solve the problem. Therefore Zonzini climbed back into fifth position overtaking the Ferrari that claimed the win at Paul Ricard as race time was expiring. Schoeffler tiptoed outiside and inside the Top10 throughout his stint at Autodromo Piero Taruffi, handing the #6 Audi to team mate Mapelli in P10, with a 10-second time levy waiting for him due to Paul Ricard podium finish. The Lombard driver moved past a couple of rivals grabbing the three points awarded to eight place, an outcome that let rivals Casè-Giammaria slip by as new series leader, although by a lone point, as the Ferrari pair pole position translated into third position. The race again saw the Mirko Bortolotti and Giacomo Barri's Lamborghini cruise to win.

The race one results were obviously disappointing, but the Audi camp was hardly wrenching, as everybody knew that Mapelli and Zonzini would have take on Sunday's race from the front row and row two respectively. Pole sitting Bortolotti's car sputtered away from the lights, giving fellow front row sitter Mapelli an opportunity to make an immediate challenge which wound up with the former Italian GT champ taking the lead from Casè and Frassineti's Ferrari. His solid drive made sure that he would not have relinqueshed the lead until lap 16, when he pitted as last of the leading cars to do so. Sadly a mechanical problem prevented his team mate Schoeffler from continuing their chase to the third season win, as the German could not even restart the #6 Audi to resume the fray. Luckily for the Audi Sport Italia colors, this time out team mates Capello and Zonzini were on their way back to the Top3, a position that had escaped them since their win in the Misano Adriatico opener. Zonzini finished his stint after a consistent drive in fourth place, and Capello made the most of the time handicaps that the leading cars had to cope with, grabbing a well deserved second place although squeezed in a sandwich between the Ferraris of sporstcar specialists Alex Balzan and Matteo Malucelli.

Photo credit: Audi Sport Italia

BRCC: Maiden win for PK Carsport Audi R8 LMS ultra at Spa-Francorchamps

By Tarek Ramchani

PK Carsport scored a great victory yesterday at Spa-Francorchamps with their brand new Audi R8 LMS ultra. The Belgian Audi Sport customer racing team was impressive in the Belgian Racing Car Championship (BRCC) 3-hour endurance race

The winning #1 Audi was shared by Anthony Kumpen, Bert Longin and Frank Belien. The three drivers finished ahead of the #100 Aston Martin V12 Vantage and the #99 Porsche 997 GT3-R.

After a lot of bad luck in the opening rounds of the BRCC, PK Carsport drivers, team members and the Belgian Audi Club were delighted with this great race win.

Yes we won #Belgian #GT with @BelgianAudiClub @heinzperform @Audi__Sport and my mate @bertlongin .. Great team Pk Audi team
— Anthony Kumpen (@AnthonyKumpen) September 7, 2014

P1 #BelgianAudiClub #AudiMotorsport #BRCC @Audi_MS_Blog @AnthonyKumpen @frankbelien @PKCarsport yes yes yes we... http://t.co/wvrV2EDQay
— bert longin (@bertlongin) September 7, 2014

Another Audi team entered the BRCC round 5 with an old specification R8 LMS, JB Motorsport from Sweden. The #3 car in the hands of Jan Brunstedt, Mikael Bender and Magnus Dybeck finished in a strong fourth overall and took a fine GTP class victory.

BRCC round 5 results can be seen here.

Photo credit: BRCC

Barcelona 24 Hours: Fifth place for Simpson Motorsport Audi R8 LMS in qualifying

By Tarek Ramchani

Circuit Catalunya is hosting the 2014 edition of the Barcelona 24 Hours race this weekend. A single Audi car is entering the Spanish endurance race from Simpson Motorsport

The #39 Audi R8 LMS driven by Peter Cook, Frank Pelle, Alain Ferté and Philippe Illiano qualified in a strong fifth place overall with a time of 1:52.642. The British customer Audi team is competing in the A6 class for FIA GT3 cars.

Overall pole position went to the #4 Ferrari 458 GT3 from Scuderia Praha. The #1 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 from Hofor Racing was second. The #32 Ferrari 458 GT3 from Kessel Racing was third.

Barcelona 24 Hours qualifying results can be seen here.

Photo credit: 24H Series

PHOTOS: United Autosports Audi R8 LMS ultra in British GT at Brands Hatch

A selection of great photos from United Autosports at Snetterton. The Anglo-American team performed well with their #23 Audi R8 LMS ultra in the British GT Championship2-hour race.

Photo credits: United Autosports