Round six of the V de V Endurance Series headed to Magny-Cours. It was a four-hour endurance race held at the French grand prix circuit.
AB Sport Auto, who has been a full season entrant in the V de V, entered their #45 Audi R8 LMS with drivers: Franck Thybaud, Maxime Jousse and Thierry Proust. They were entered in the GTV 2 class for older GT3 machinery.
They qualified seventh overall, taking second place on the grid in the GTV 2 class. The four-hour race concluded in the dark on Saturday evening and saw the AB Sport Auto crew taking a well deserved class victory and fifth overall.
The finale of the V de V will be taking place at Estoril with a six-hour endurance race from 7-9 November.
The first round of the French V de V Endurance Series was held at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Two Audi Sport customer racing teams took part in the season opener.
W Racing Team (WRT) fielded the #4 Audi R8 LMS ultra in the GTV 1 class for drivers Harry Teneketzian, Grégoire Chaix and Julien Jousse.
The second Audi was fielded by AB Sport Auto. The older specification #45 Audi R8 LMS was entered in the GTV 2 class and driven by Franck Thybaud, Maxime Jousse and Michel Wegelin.
The #4 WRT Audi qualified seventh overall and in the GTV 1 class. The #45 AB Sport Auto R8 LMS qualified seventeenth overall, taking eighth in the GTV 2 class.
WRT were involved in the lead battle, but they ultimately retired from the four hour race. AB Sport Auto soldiered on to an eleventh place overall finish, third in class.
The next round of the V de V Endurance Series will be heading to Le Mans, at Circuit Bugatti from 18-20 April.
The V de V Endurance Series Facebook page has revealed their initial entrants for the 2014 season. An Audi R8 LMS ultra from WRT is included on the list.
W Racing Team will be fielding one Audi R8 LMS ultra for Harry Teneketzian and Grégoire Chaix. The pair are no strangers to the R8 LMS, as they were seen behind the wheel of an ex-WRT R8 LMS entered by AB Sport Auto during the 2012 and 2013 V de V seasons (2013 pictured above).
WRT has previously competed in the V de V, when they entered a single Audi R8 LMS for François Verbist, Yves Weerts and Kurt Mollekens at Catalunya in Spain, round one of the 2012 V de V Endurance Series.
The 2014 V de V season gets underway at Catalunya from 21-23 of March.
The 2013 V de V Endurance Series saw the participation of one Audi Sport customer racing team. AB Sport Auto fielded their #46 Audi R8 LMS during the season. They took part in five of the seven rounds. 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 1: Catalunya
The first round of the French V de V Championship was held at Catalunya. AB Sport Auto entered one of its Audi R8 LMS cars at the event. They qualified in eighth place overall and first in class, but they unfortunately retired from the race.
The French V de V series was at Mugello in Italy this weekend. One Audi R8 LMS was entered once again by AB Sport Auto. The team qualified well and finished the six hour race in fourth overall, and first in class.
The French V de V Championship was at Paul Ricard this weekend for a four hour endurance event. AB Sport Auto again entered their Audi R8 LMS, and they qualified sixth in class. By the end of the four hour race they had finished fifth overall and first in class.
The French V de V series headed to Dijon this weekend for round four of the series, a three hour endurance event. AB Sport Auto and their #46 Audi R8 LMS took part. They qualified in eighth place overall, second place in class. Unfortunately they retired from the race on lap two.
The sixth and penultimate V de V Endurance Series round was held at Magny-Cours this weekend. A single Audi R8 LMS was entered by AB Sport Auto. The team has been a regular entrant in the 2013 V de V season. They have entered their #46 Audi R8 LMS at five of the six rounds, driven by Harry Teneketzian, Julien Jousse and Grégoire Chaix. The trio were back at Magny-Cours this weekend, after having missed round five at Motorland Aragon. They were entered in the GTV-2 class for older GT3 machinery. Qualifying saw the trio achieving second place within GTV-2, taking ninth place overall. The six hour race got underway on Sunday morning heading into the late afternoon. The AB Sport Auto squad was running solidly inside of the top ten, until they unfortunately lost a lot of time in the pits, dropping to fifteenth. They then recovered up to fourteenth before they unfortunately retired from the race at just over half distance. They were listed as a non-finisher in seventeenth overall.
The sixth and penultimate V de V Endurance Series round was held at Magny-Cours this weekend. A single Audi R8 LMS was entered by AB Sport Auto.
AB Sport Auto has been a regular entrant in the 2013 V de V season. They have entered their #46 Audi R8 LMS at five of the six rounds, driven by Harry Teneketzian, Julien Jousse and Grégoire Chaix.
The trio were back at Magny-Cours this weekend, after having missed round five at Motorland Aragon. They were entered in the GTV-2 class for older GT3 machinery.
Qualifying saw the trio achieving second place within GTV-2, taking ninth place overall. The six hour race got underway on Sunday morning heading into the late afternoon. The AB Sport Auto squad was running solidly inside of the top ten, until they unfortunately lost a lot of time in the pits, dropping to fifteenth. They then recovered up to fourteenth before they unfortunately retired from the race at just over half distance. They were listed as a non-finisher in seventeenth overall.
The finale of the V de V Endurance Series will be heading to Estoril in Portugal, scheduled to take place from 15-17 November.
