The Japanese Super Taikyu Endurance Series got underway at Twin Ring Motegi this weekend. Direction Racing fielded an Audi R8 LMS ultra and achieved a podium result.
The #32 Audi R8 LMS ultra from Direction Racing (K's Frontier) was entered in the ST-X class (GT3) and driven by Taiyou Iida, Tetsuo Ogino, Shinichi Takagi and Takashi Kobayashi.
They successfully qualified second overall and completed the wet five hour race in third overall, taking second in the ST-X class. They finished behind the race winning #24 Nissan GTR GT3 (ST-X class) and the #9 BMW Z4 (ST-1 class).
The next round of the Super Taikyu will be hosted at Sugo, 24-25 May.
By Johan Laubscher The Super Taikyu held its official test day at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan on Sunday this past weekend. The entry list included thirty-four cars, including two ST-X (GT3) machines. K's Frontier was among the entries with their Audi R8 LMS ultra. K's Frontier, listed as Direction Racing, will be entering one Audi R8 LMS ultra in the 2014 Super Taikyu Endurance Series. This is the ex-GAINER DIXCEL R8 LMS ultra that was used in the 2012 Super GT. The team has upgraded the car from the 2012 R8 LMS ultra specification to the 2013 spec.
Team Nova Engineering took part in the bulk of the 2013 Super Taikyu and also took part in the Super Taikyu demonstration race at Suzuka this weekend, but they are not currently listed as 2014 season entrants.
The preliminary season entry list can be seen HERE.
The 2014 Super Taikyu season gets underway with an official test day at Twin Ring Motegi on 9 March, followed by the venue hosting round one of the series from 29-30 March.
The Japanese European Touring Car Challenge (ETCC) saw a surprise Audi R8 LMS ultra entrant during 2013.
K's Frontier, Team KRM, is a long-time Porsche entrant, fielding multiple cars in various different championships. During mid-2013 they debuted their Audi R8 LMS ultra. They had acquired the car from GAINER DIXCEL, who had used the R8 LMS ultra for the 2012 Japanese Super GT, before switching to a two-car Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 line-up for their 2014 campaign.
K's Frontier debuted their Audi R8 LMS ultra at round five of the ETCC at Fuji Speedway and they also took part in the thirteenth and final round. Their participation with the Audi was highlighted with a race victory on its debut in May.
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 5: Fuji Speedway
Round five of the Japanese European Touring Car Challenge (ETCC) was held at Fuji Speedway this weekend. K's Frontier (Team KRM) has acquired the ex-GAINER Audi R8 LMS ultra and took part in the ETCC Super Cars Battle, as a shakedown of their new car. The 2012 specification Audi R8 LMS ultra was seen in the 2012 Japanese Super GT, when it was entered by GAINER DIXCEL. K's Frontier entered the #32 R8 LMS ultra with Taiyo Iida as the driver. They qualified third and won the race. The long-time Porsche team has mentioned that they are evaluating the R8 LMS ultra and that it may be a possible race vehicle for them in 2014, for the Super Taikyu Endurance Series.
K's Frontier was back in the Japanese European Touring Car Challenge (ETCC) this weekend. It was round thirteen hosted at Fuji Speedway. K's Frontier, Team KRM, entered their ex-GAINER Audi R8 LMS ultra at the event. It was driven by Taiyo Iida in the Super Cars Battle race. They placed second during qualifying and finished the race in second position as well.
