V de V: Class victory for AB Sport Auto Audi R8 LMS at Magny-Cours

By Johan Laubscher

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.

Photo credit: Audi Communications - Motorsport

V de V: AB Sport Auto Audi R8 LMS class pole and victory at Le Mans

By Johan Laubscher

The French V de V Endurance Series headed to Le Mans this weekend, hosting a three hour race on the Bugatti Circuit.

AB Sport Auto fielded their #45 Audi R8 LMS, the only Audi on the gird this weekend.  Their R8 LMS was driven by Franck Thybaud, Maxime Jousse and Thierry Proust.

They qualified fourth overall, taking pole position in the GTV-2 class for older FIA GT3 machinery. By the end of the race the AB Sport Auto had maintained fourth overall and took another GTV-2 class victory. 

Round three will be held at Paul Ricard, 30 May to 1 June.

Photo credit: Audi Communications - Motorsport

V de V: Class podium for AB Sport Auto at Catalunya

By Johan Laubscher

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.

Photo credit: V de V

VdeV: WRT Audi R8 LMS ultra at the Magny-Cours official tests

By Tarek Ramchani

Magny-Cours is hosting a two-day test for VdeV Endurance Series teams. A single Audi R8 LMS ultra is entering the event.

The Audi effort is from Teneketzian Harry, the team is having a technical support from the Belgian team WRT. The R8 LMS ultra at Mangy-Cours is in the hands of Harry Teneketzian, Gregroire Chaix and Maxime Jousse, all from France. The car is listed within the GT class open for various GT spec racers including FIA GT3 machines. Teneketzian Harry is expected to compete in the full 2014 VdeV Endurance Series season and so far they are the only confirmed Audi team.

Our friends at Endurance-Info are on site providing a great coverage of the event with live updates and detailed photo galleries.

Friday morning photo gallery can be seen HERE.
Friday afternoon photo gallery can be seen HERE.

The 2014 VdeV season gets underway in Spain at Catalunya Circuit from 21-23 of March.

Photo credit: Endurance-Info

VdeV: WRT heading to Mangy-Cours test days with an Audi R8 LMS ultra

By Tarek Ramchani

The VdeV Endurance Series will have a two-day test at Magny-Cours on March the 7th and 8th. A single Audi R8 LMS ultra will take part in the event.

The Audi effort is from the Belgian Team WRT under Teneketzian Harry banner. The R8 LMS ultra at Mangy-Cours will be in the hands of Harry Teneketzian and Gregroire Chaix, both drivers from France. The car is listed within the GT class open for various GT spec racers including FIA GT3 machines.

At the moment the WRT entry is the only confirmed Audi effort in the VdeV Endurance Series. The 2014 V de V season gets underway in Spain at Catalunya Circuit from 21-23 of March.

Photo credit: Endurance-Info

V de V: AB Sport Auto 2013 season review

By Johan Laubscher

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.

Taken from Weekend Round Up - Audi Motorsport Blog (23-24/03/2013)

Round 2: Mugello

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.

Taken Weekend Round Up - Audi Motorsport Blog (20-21/04/2013)

Round 3: Paul Ricard

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.

Taken from Weekend Round Up - Audi Motorsport Blog (1-2/06/2013)

Round 4: Dijon

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. 

Taken from Weekend Round Up - Audi Motorsport Blog (29-30/06/2013)

Round 6: Magny-Cours

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.

Taken from Weekend Round Up - Audi Motorsport Blog (26-27/10/2013)

Photo credit: 
Audi Sport Communication / Media
V de V

Circuit Magny-Cours

V de V: Difficult weekend for AB Sport Auto Audi R8 LMS at Magny-Cours

By Johan Laubscher

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.

Photo credit: Audi Sport Communication / Media

Good warm up for WRT and JWS Audi R8 LMS teams - VdeV

By Johan Laubscher

Earlier in the year Audi fans saw some clues from the Belgian W Racing Team regarding a specific French championship. The WRT team took part in the V de V series test days at Dijon and rumours surrounding a few WRT V de V race participations emerged. V de V is a French championship for a variety of different race cars which compete in both sprint and endurances races across Europe.

The opening round of the V de V series took place in Spain at the Catalunya circuit for a 6 hour endurance race on the weekend of April 1st. Originally a total of four Audi R8 LMS cars had been entered for the race. Two from WRT and one from both JWS Racing and AB Sport Auto. Despite four cars on the original entry list only two cars would ultimately take part. One car from WRT driven by François Verbist, Yves Weerts and Kurt Mollekens and one car from JWS driven by William David and Jean-Marc Quintois. The WRT team had originally planned two cars, one for the team bosses to have some fun in and the other to be driven by more rapid drivers, but in the end only one car took part in an event deemed to be more for fun and preparation than for out right results. The JWS Racing entry was also aimed for preparation. This was the first race meeting for the JWS Racing team and their goal was to use the race to prepare for the 2012 French GT Tour season.

Both teams qualified very well for the race with WRT claiming class pole followed by JWS second in class, 4th and 6th overall respectively. The race got underway in very warm conditions with some great racing. JWS unfortunately retired early on lap 6 after an on-track incident. The team was very disappointed but they are fully focused on their next race, the season opener of the French GT Tour. WRT soldiered on in the 6 hour race which served as a good warm up for the team’s busy 2012 season, ahead of their FIA GT1 debut one week after this event. WRT finished the 6 hour endurance race in 4th position overall and 2nd position in class.

The 6 hours of Catalunya served as a good warm up for the both JWS Racing and WRT teams. We will soon see both teams and their R8 LMS cars in action again in various other races around Europe and in the case of WRT, around the world as well.

Photos by JWS Racing

More Information:

JWS Racing FB page

W Racing Team FB page 

V de V website

WRT # 8 Audi R8 LMS and JWS #38 Audi R8 LMS

JWS Racing #38 Audi R8 LMS