VIDEO: Laurens Vanthoor driving street legal Audi R8 LMS ultra?

A very cool new video from Total Belgium and the Belgian Audi Club. Laurens Vanthoor having an unusual pit stop with his Audi R8 LMS ultra, the car that won the Spa 24 Hours.

You can read our interview with Laurens Vanthoor right here.

Q&A: Interview with Laurens Vanthoor - Audi factory driver and Spa 24 Hours winner

By Tarek Ramchani

Laurens Vanthoor is no doubt one of the strongest and fastest GT driver around. A factory Audi driver since 2013, Laurens Vanthoor won that same year the FIA GT Series title in just his second season in GT racing.

The Belgian ace recentley won the prestigious Spa 24 Hours race and took the overall lead in the Blancpain Endurance Series Pro-Cup drivers' standing.

We were pleased to have an interview with Laurens Vanthoor. A very interesting Q/A about his debut with the Audi brand in GT racing, the 2014 season and his expectations for the upcoming races this year.

You joined Belgian Audi Club Team WRT in 2012 coming from single-seater formulas , tell us more about that.

My dream was ofcourse always to do F1 as a young driver. My first three years in single seat were very promising but my last year in Euroseries was a disaster. It was due to different reason, relationship with the team, technical issues, myself, private life,... So everything went wrong.

After that I tried to view my next years in life in a realistic view. F1 was my dream, but how many chances do I have to arrive there and to make it my job ? That was very small, even if I went further and for example won races.. At that moment I did not had the support from somebody who could open doors or could bring me the sponsorship money, and maybe I was just not good enough..

But luckily I had a very good support from the Belgian VW Club (VW Motorsport Belgium), specially from J.G. Mal Voy. He supported me a lot and helped me on many many aspects. We sat together and spoke about the future and came to the same conclusion to go for plan B. J.G. Mal Voy was also responsible for the Belgian Audi Club who at the point were helping WRT. He made the contact between Vincent Vosse, Rene Verbist and Pierre Dieudonne and what happened after was clear. The goal was to become as quick as possible an Audi Factory driver and to start making a living of motorsport. Because in the end that's what I love, and making it your job is a dream.

Since last year you are a factory Audi driver, how is it diffrent compared to the first year as a Team WRT driver?

Basically it didn't change a lot to the pure driving aspect. There came a bit more activities and commitments. You have to pay a bit more attention to your behaviour and your professionallity because you are representing the brand. In the end it becomes your job.

You have a busy 2014 season with Belgian Audi Club Team WRT between Blancpain Endurance Series and Blancpain Sprint Series, which one is more demanding?

I personally always love to drive the Sprint series because it's a bit more exciting for me. Sprint races, 1 hour to go and all-in. So I was really happy to win the series last year. But for myself I wanted to try and win the Endurance series this year, to prove that I'm also able to be an endurance driver.

The Spa 24 Hours was a dream race, pole position, outright victory and new Pro-Cup leader in Blancpain Endurance Series, tell us more about the event.

Yes, it's still quite hard to believe. Achieving these results in Belgium, with a Belgium team, with the Belgian Audi Club and my long-time partner Grafiwrap. Is quite a dream story. In the end it was a very exciting race but we worked hard and nobody made a mistake, the job on the team was incredible and I would say they deserved it more then us the drivers !

Like mentioned before after winning the Sprint series last year, this year I wanted to win a big 24 Hours race and the Endurance championship. Obviously this weekend helped me a lot to achieve that dream.

Aren't you missing your partner Stéphane Ortelli with whom you won the FIA GT Series title last year?

For sure Stephane and me had a extremely good relationship. We knew each other for more then 2 years at the end and he teached me a lot in motorsports but also in life. It's quite funny that he could be my dad, but Stephane it still living his life like a young, passionated race driver and that's impressive to see. I always tell people that I hope I can still do the same when I have his age !

To reply the question, of course I miss him but life goes on and we know that.. Maybe one day we will drive again together, who knows. At the moment I'm working close with Cesar Ramos in both championships and we have a very good relationship between ourselves but also with our car crew. But it's different because this time it's me who is the more experienced guy in the car and team so I'm taking more the responsibility in some occasions. But Cesar has proven that he is very quick and I think in the second part of the season that we will be even stronger !

Earlier this year you did Bathurst 12 Hour, what about racing in North America with Audi customer teams?

I would love to race in the US. I should have been driving with Audi at Daytona this year but it got cancelled in the end. I hope I will get my chance there soon because I love the US and can't wait to do my first race there to see how it is..

When it comes to Audi full factory racing, which one do you prefer Le Mans or DTM?

It's difficult. Maybe slightly Le Mans because I think I prefer the way of working. Since I started in GT racing I always liked it to have a partner and to work together. Boost each other, having different opinions.

DTM is more everybody for himself but on the other hand DTM is more sprint wise of racing. I would only be happy in DTM if I can be able to fight for victories and be a front runner..

What is your favourite track?

Exciting onces, maybe not the most safe places but where you can get a lot of adrenaline! The Nordschleife, Macau!

Photo credit: Audi Media

Blancpain Endurance Series: Magnificent podium for Vanthoor at Silverstone

Laurens Vanthoor Press Release

In the second race of the Blancpain Endurance Series in Silverstone Laurens Vanthoor finished in a strong third place. Cesar Ramos, Marc Basseng and Vanthoor drove an impressive race in the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 LMS Ultra, rewarded with important championship points, despite a drive-through in the early stages of the race.

Silverstone offered us a typical British racing weekend, with very mixed conditions. It all started on Saturday with heavy rain and two free practice sessions provided little action and even less information for the teams.
Laurens Vanthoor: “In all I did 5 laps, due to the wet weather. As we will have dry conditions tomorrow, with even some sunshine, today was a wasted day. I prefer full action with a lot of driving.”

On Sunday morning, qualifying started under damp conditions, but the track dried up by the end. During the final stages every driver tried to put down a fast lap as late as possible. The team gave Vanthoor a fine opportunity to go for pole-position, but due to an incident a red flag ruined any chances of Vanthoor grabbing the pole.

Laurens Vanthoor: “I received a new set of slicks in order to put down an even better lap time during the session’s last moments. But in those closing stages, just as I was lapping quickly, a car went off and the session was ended 3 minutes too early. I missed the opportunity of doing any better than 9th spot, which is a big disadvantage in this highly competitive competition. Even before the start of the race we knew that we would need to fight hard to have any chance of finishing on the podium.”

It was a difficult start for the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT boys, with an early drive-through. But they never gave up! And in the last metres of the race, Vanthoor took third!

Laurens Vanthoor: “What a fantastic last lap… I found myself in the same position as in Monza where I closed in on the leaders, but this time around I managed to score third instead of fourth! It was very important for all of us and I would like to thank the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT for their marvellous pitstop work! My teammates also did a good job and this result will motivate us to do even better in the near future.”

Photo credit: Belgian Audi Club

Best of 2013: Audi vs Lamborghini at its best at Zolder in FIA GT Series

By Tarek Ramchani

The FIA GT Series had an emotional round at Zolder this year. The main Championship Race saw an epic battle for race lead between the Audi R8 LMS ultra of local hero Laurens Vanthoor (Belgian Audi Club Team WRT) and the Lamborghini Gallardo FL2 of Stefan Rosina (Reiter Engineering).

A breathtaking and fair fight on track to the checkered flag. The two sister brands delivered one of the greatest duals of the season in the SRO organised series. Enjoy.

Photo credit: FIA GT Series

Bathurst 12 Hour: Laurens Vanthoor joins Phoenix Racing at Mount Panorama

By Tarek Ramchani

Phoenix Racing will enter the 2014 Bathurst 12 Hour endurance race with a single Audi R8 LMS ultra. The Nürburgring based squad will have Laurens Vanthoor as their first announced driver.

The works Audi GT driver will be competing at the demanding Mount Panorama endurance event for the first time. Laurens Vanthoor had an impressive 2013 season with Belgian Audi Club Team WRT in both the FIA GT Series and the Blancpain Endurance Series. Vanthoor won the FIA GT Series title with his teammate, Stéphane Ortelli.

Laurens Vanthoor has already raced for Phoenix Racing this year. The Belgian driver entered the VLN Endurance Championship season finale at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. He was part of the winning driver crew and Vanthoor set the fastest lap time during the 4-hour race.

Phoenix Racing will be among the big favourites for the overall win Down Under in February. The names of Laurens Vanthoor's Phoenix Racing teammates for Bathurst will be announced later.

Photo credit: Phoenix Racing

Bitter 24 Hours of Spa for Laurens Vanthoor

Laurens Vanthoor Press Release

This edition of Total 24 Hours of Spa seemed to be doomed for Laurens Vanthoor, his teammates Rene Rast and Stéphane Ortelli and the WRT Audi. Following a double win in Spa, Audi struggled, despite the tremendous effort of all the drivers, the teams and the manufacturer.

Laurens Vanthoor didn’t even see the night falling over Spa, as his car retired too early. Laurens Vanthoor is understandably very disappointed and now has to focus on the FIA GT Series, where he retains the lead before going to Slovakia, Spain and Azerbaijan.

Laurens Vanthoor didn’t score a first win in Spa in front of his home crowd in the 2013 edition of the Total 24 Hours of Spa. In his #1 Audi R8 LMS Ultra of the Belgian Audi WRT Team, the race came to a far too early end.

Laurens Vanthoor: “Before speaking about the race, there is an overall statement regarding the competition as it is right now. Our car lacks pace on the straight line and even having requested a Balance of Performance change, it did not appear and so we started out with a major handicap.
I was able to take Eau Rouge flat-out during qualifying, which is a major risk, and even by doing so, I lost one second in the first sector compared to our competitors. The first sector is comprised out of Eau Rouge and… a straight line. So how on earth can we still lose so much time?”
Laurens Vanthoor risks finally paid off, as he was the only Audi driver to qualify for super pole on Friday evening.

Laurens Vanthoor: “I took risks seeing the team allowed me to do so. It was the only way to get into the top 20, which I did in the closing stages of the night session. Of course it was a relief, but again, given the line-up of the Audi cars, how is it possible that there was only one Audi in the top 20 and finally, I wasn’t in the top 10 either. I was just part of the top 20…”

The race turned out to be a nightmare for Laurens Vanthoor and his team. The car retired too early, which left the young Belgian driver and Rene Rast and Stéphane Ortelli as race spectators.
Laurens Vanthoor: “The Audi is such a good car, so well prepared and now we encounter a problem which had not happened for over 3 years! It’s hard to believe, however bad luck is part of competition as well. The only thing I wonder about is: why here in this beautiful race?”

Laurens Vanthoor will now take a break until the fourth round of the FIA GT Series where Vanthoor will be defending his leadership on the 17th and 18th of August.

Photo credit: W Racing Team

Video: Audi vs Lamborghini titanic battle for the lead at Zolder

By Tarek Ramchani

Circuit Zolder in Belgium hosted the second round of the FIA GT Series last weekend. The main Championship Race on sunday saw an epic battle for the lead, which whent to the checkered flag. The battle was between the Audi R8 LMS ultra (Belgian Audi Club Team WRT) of local hero, Laurens Vanthoor, and the Lamborghini Gallardo (Reiter Engineering) of Slovakian driver Stephan Rozina. Audi didn't win in the end, but here is an extraordinary and very fair fight to the finish line, one of the most exciting GT battles in recent years.

Photo credit: SRO / FIA GT Series