W Racing Team (WRT) will be entering an Audi R8 LMS ultra at round two of the Belgian Racing Car Championship.
The Belgian team will be entering the car for drivers Harry Teneketzian and Grégoire Chaix, who also competed with WRT at the opening round of the French V de V Endurance Series at Catalunya in March.
Together with WRT, the grid at round two will also see the regular BRCC entrants and reigning BRCC endurance drivers champions', PK Carsport, with their #1 Audi R8 LMS. The second round of the BRCC will be heading to Dijon in France, 9-11 May.
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.
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.
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.
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 FIA GT Series is about to live an exceptional closing to the 2013 season, as teams and drivers head to make history at the Baku World Challenge.
This will be the first-ever round of a FIA Championship to take place in Azerbaijan, one of the booming nations in the Caucasus, and the Azeri hosts are preparing a stellar event to be remembered. There is great excitement and anxiety among the FIA GT Series community to discover the urban track in the streets of the “City of Lights”, on the shore of the Caspian Sea. For the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT, the event promises to be even more memorable, as this year’s Driver title can’t escape one of the Team WRT pilots and the squad is only 6 points away from mathematically securing the Teams’ crown. Needless to say, a street circuit unknown to everybody, and the presence of many additional participants of top level that will join for this special event, are key factors to be taken into consideration. To mark this special occasion, the team is entering and additional car, entrusted to Filipe Albuquerque and Grégoire Demoustier.
“We are all delighted and very excited to go to Baku”, reckons Team WRT Principal Vincent Vosse, “To end the season with such a great new event is fantastic and can only bring a lot to the Championship. I have been following the preparations and I am confident that the organizers, which include a lot of Belgians thanks to Jean-François Chaumont and his team, will put together a great event. It will certainly be an atypical weekend, which means some extra pressure but also some extra pleasure, and we really would like to add such a prestigious race to our collection of wins. It won’t be easy because the Balance of Performance is what it is and there will be many additional good contenders. Although they will be ‘transparent’, in that they will not score nor block points, I hope they will not interfere negatively in the fight for the title. Given the nature of the track, we can certainly anticipate very tactical races, and an active role of the Safety-car! The first objective, for us, will be to secure the Teams’ title and have a nice family fight among our drivers for the Drivers’ crown. I have absolutely no preference: all our drivers have done a great job, they are all great guys, and whoever wins will make me happy!”
Sporting Director Pierre Dieudonné seems not worried about the many unusual variables of this race. “It’s a new track, unknown to everyone”, he admits, “but that is true for everybody. There are no data on the circuit, we have just seen the topography of it but all the rest will have to be discovered on site, especially the surface. But we do know our car, so I am confident that we will be able to find quickly the best set-ups. Regarding the fight for the Drivers’ title, we have decided to leave our drivers free to defend their chances and not have team orders whatsoever. The starting point being that they are all intelligent and grown-up boys, they will be free to fight, the only boundaries being not to hurt the team’s interest and to respect each other and the cars. I think being as clear as possible is always the best way to handle this kind of situations.”
The championship standings say that Laurens Vanthoor and Stéphane Ortelli lead with 101 points. The young Belgian driver seems quite cool at the eve of a weekend that could bring him a first international GT title. “I have spent the last few days in Germany with my girlfriend and fine-tuning my physical preparation with my trainer”, says Laurens, “I also have been devoting some time to my latest hobby, photography, something that has always fascinated me. I wanted to take some distance from motorsports and avoid thinking too much about this decisive race. I’m not worried about urban tracks, I like them and did well at Macau and Norisring in the past. I’ve seen the Baku circuit on a simulator but just to check the basics, it is clear that we won’t have any serious information until we are there. The last race wasn’t too good for us, so we are in a less comfortable position in the championship but still leading. I think Stéphane and I have a little advantage in terms of performance, therefore our strategy will be quite straight-forward: avoid mistakes and stay ahead of our team mates. At WRT we are used to always work together, sharing all data and information, it will be interesting to see how we do things in the context of a family title fight.”
Only five points behind are Edward Sandström and Frank Stippler, who closed the gap at the last race in Navarra. The German driver is certainly happy to go to Baku: “I really look forward to this new experience”, says Frank “and I think Baku can become the equivalent of Monaco or Macau in other championship. I simply hope that the additional contenders that are coming attracted by the event and the prize money will show respect for those fighting for a title and not do crazy things. To have a family fight for the title is good news when you are in a team like WRT: you know your team mates and you know the fight is going to be fair. Whatever the result, it is going to be very good for the team, after a successful season of hard work!”
The third in contention, and a ‘lone runner’, is Niki Mayr-Melnhof, who will have a tougher job, as he has a 26-point disadvantage, but “you never know, especially on a street circuit. Sometimes, the outsider is the lucky one”, as says with a relaxed tone the Austrian driver, who will be again associated with his usual partner, René Rast.
On the fourth car, Grégoire Demoustier, the young French who is already an established driver in the GT élite, will make his debut with Team WRT. He will be partnered by Portuguese star Filipe Albuquerque, a man well-known in the team and who has been driving with Yves Weerts one of the Team WRT’s Audis R8 LMS ultra at the International GT Open’s finale in Barcelona two weeks ago. “I’m always very happy to race with WRT”, says the Audi driver, “we know each other well and I really look forward to this opportunity. A new circuit means that everybody will be on the same foot, and an urban track means that the driver will make the difference. The driver’s feeling and confidence really are the key factors on a track like this. Grip will be an issue because the surface is new, but it will improve throughout the sessions, and it will be crucial to evolve along the track, going fast but keeping cool to avoid contact with the walls. I hope we can be able to fight for a podium position.”
The weekend will have a compact format, with free practice and qualifying on Saturday and the two races on Sunday. Given the time difference (Baku is three hours ahead with respect to Central Europe), races will be quite early for most European fans, with the Qualifying one starting at 6:15 and the Main one kicking off at 10:00.
By Tarek Ramchani and Johan Laubscher The Audi brand had a very successful 2013 season in the Avon Tyres British GT Championship. Four Audi Sport customer racing teams represented the Four Rings in one of the most demanding - if not the best - national GT series worldwide. The Audi teams were challenged by very strong rivals from Britain and beyond, which formed a very healthy and quality field. Some podiums and strong performances, but also bad luck for the teams all season long. In the end United Autosports came very close to taking the overall honours, narrowly missing the British GT crown by a mere 1.5 points.
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: Oulton Park
Oulton Park hosted the British GT Championship over the Easter weekend. Three Audi cars entered the event which included a R8 LMS and a 2012 and 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra. The United Autosports Audi R8 LMS ultra (2012) performed well this weekend and finished race one within the top ten. Race two saw the United Autosports entry battling at the front and they were part of the lead battle during the closing stages. The #25 UA entry finished in a well deserved second place during race two, after a dash to the flag following a late race caution.
The British GT held round two of the championship over the long holiday weekend, running from Sunday until Monday. Three Audi teams were entered at Rockingham, an Audi R8 LMS from Blendini Motorsport, a 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra from United Autosports and a 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra from M-sport. By the end of the 2-hour race, two Audi R8 LMS ultra cars had made it onto the podium. M-Sport finished in a strong second ahead of United Autosports in third. The Blendini Motorsport R8 LMS finished in seventeenth place.
The Silverstone 500 was held this weekend, round three of the British GT Championship. The 500 was a special three-hour event and three Audi teams took part. M-Sport entered one 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra, United Autosports with one 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra and Blendini Motorsport with an Audi R8 LMS. The teams had performed very well at round two of the championship but they battled this weekend. None of the Audis qualified within the top twenty. The race itself saw M-Sport perform very well and they recovered to fourth place overall, the only Audi within the top ten. United Autosports finished seventeenth and Blendini twentieth. The M-Sport Audi was penalized during the week that followed the Silverstone 500. They dropped from fourth to eleventh overall in the final classification.
Following two endurance race meetings the British GT Championship arrived at Snetterton for two more traditional sprint races. Only two Audis competed this weekend, one Audi R8 LMS ultra each from M-Sport (2013 spec) and United Autosports (2012 spec). They performed well with M-Sport taking pole position for race one and United Autosports qualifying fourth for race two. The first race saw M-Sport taking another podium by finishing in second, followed by the UA Audi recovering up to fifth. United Autosports battled at the front during race two and finished in third, ahead of the M-Sport Audi which had moved up to tenth by the flag.
The British GT headed to Brands Hatch this weekend with three Audis on the grid. United Autosports entered their Audi R8 LMS ultra along with the Audi R8 LMS entry from Blendini Motorsport. The third Audi entry had a familiar driver line-up, but was represented by a new team. M-Sport had previously run the #10 Audi R8 LMS ultra driven by Rembert Berg and Warren Hughes. The M-Sport team will now be focussing their efforts on the test and development program for the new Bentley Continental GT3, thus WRT has been selected to run the Berg / Hughes #5 R8 LMS ultra for the remainder of the season. None of the Audis qualified within the top ten, the highest R8 LMS ultra was the United Autosports car in twelfth. By the end of the two hour race the best ranked Audi was the #25 United Autosports R8 LMS ultra in sixth place. Both the WRT and Blendini Audis dropped back due to problems. WRT managed to recover to fourteenth place.
The British GT headed to Zandvoort for the sixth and penultimate round of the season. Two Audi cars were entered: the #25 United Autosports Audi R8 LMS ultra and the #5 Audi R8 LMS ultra from Team WRT. One Audi placed within the top ten of both qualifying sessions, WRT in the first session and United Autosports in the second session. The first race finished with both Audis finishing inside of the top ten. The second race turned out to be very difficult for the two Audis. The United Autosports R8 LMS ultra finished tenth, whilst the WRT entry retired from the race.
Donington Park played host to the British GT finale. Two Audis were entered this weekend: one Audi R8 LMS ultra from United Autosports and one R8 LMS from Blendini Motorsport. United Autosports arrived at the event with their drivers, Matthew Bell and Mark Patterson, still in the hunt for the driver’s title. It was a must win scenario, as they needed race victory and misfortune for fellow competitors. They qualified seventh for the two hour event. The race got underway with a terrific stint from Patterson, who was able to move up to the top three. Bell took over after the pit stop and stormed into the lead. During the closing stages the points stood at a mark which would have crowned the Audi drivers as champions, but unfortunately the final positions dictated that the Audi pairing would ultimately finish second in the points, missing out on the title by a mere 1.5 points. United Autosports may have missed the title, but they did win the final race of the year.
Following the end of the Blancpain Endurance Series last weekend at the Nürburgring, the focus of the GT community shifts to the FIA GT Series, the other top series in GT racing, which heads to the one-before-last stop of the season. This will be at Navarra, the modern and very pleasant track near Pamplona, in Northern Spain. The Belgian Audi Club Team WRT goes to Spain with the clear objective to maintain and possibly improve the nice advantage it has built in both the Drivers’ and Teams’ standings. At the moment, the three driver line-ups of the team are leading in the Drivers’ competition, a situation that anticipates an interesting ‘family battle’ between Ortelli-Vanthoor, Sandström-Stippler and Mayr-Melnhof, in that order in the standings. For this round, Niki Mayr-Melnhof will have a different team mate, as René Rast is taken by other commitments and replaced by Britain’s Oliver Jarvis, who is everything but a new face in the team. In the Teams’ standings, the Belgian squad has a comfortable 36-point advantage over the runner-up.
Spirits are high in the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT ahead of this fifth round. “In the first place, because it is always a great pleasure to go to such a nice circuit as Navarra”,explains Team WRT Principal Vincent Vosse. “It has been a regular fixture in SRO-ran series over the years, and we have done well in the past there, but most of all, it’s a nice track in a nice region, very well managed by Michel Ligonnet and his team.”
“We enjoy a good position in both championships at the moment”, continues Vosse, “and the objective is to keep things that way: maintain the advantage and if possible, increase it ahead of the final round in Baku. Being a street circuit and a new track for most of the participants, so it would be safer to get to Azerbaijan with a sufficient margin of points. The advantage we have at the moment doesn’t mean at all that things will be easy in Spain. The competition is very strong and we will still have to cope with an unfavorable Balance of Performance, but I don’t want to sing the same song once again. We will be running the cars in their 2013 configuration in Spain, to show we are not seeking confrontation. I think we proved sufficiently our point in Slovakia at the last round and there is no need to run in 2012 specs one more time.”
Traditionally, the Audis R8 LMS ultra have been competitive at Navarra. It is a track really appreciated by drivers. “With its natural design, many up and downs through the hills, and technical corners with different surface inclination, it offers a really exciting driving experience. The turns are mostly medium-slow, which generally is not the most interesting configuration, but here they are really technical, and Turn 1 is a nice fast curve. It’s a track that may be tough on the brakes, but at this period of the year, cooler temperatures should help.”
Clearly, one of the main points of interest in Spain will be the battle for the Drivers’ title, which sees an unusual situation, with three driver teams of the same squad (Team WRT!) at the top of the points table. “It’s always an interesting situation to have a family affair of this kind”, reckons Sporting Director Pierre Dieudonné, “but we are clearly taking the option not to interfere at all, for the sake of the sports. We trust the professionalism and fair-play of our drivers, who are all grown-up boys, and they will be free to play their cards, within only one boundary: not to hurt the team’s interests.”
The six drivers in contention will actually be five, as René Rast, who normally partners with Niki Mayr-Melnhof, on car #12, will not be in Spain. The German is in a position to fight for the ADAC GT Masters title as well and will be participating in the finale of the German series that takes place at Hockenheim on the same weekend. He will be replaced by another Audi driver, Oliver Jarvis, who knows well the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT and will be given a warm ‘welcome back’ by everybody.
The key players in the fight look forward to the weekend. Laurens Vanthoor, who together with Stéphane Ortelli, has a 19-point advantage at the moment, reflects: “It will be important for us to continue scoring consistently as we have been doing so far in 2013. Of course any mistakes now are going to be punished so we have to be careful as well as quick. Battling a car from the same team is very difficult but as long as we maintain the respect which we have done so far then it should be only fun at Navarra.”
In the role of the chaser, Frank Stippler and Edward Sandström are obliged to attack. “We have a gap to close and we intend to start in Spain this weekend”, confirms the German “We need to score heavy points in Navarra and it definitely should be a very interesting weekend.”
The weekend will have a compact format, with free practice and qualifying on Saturday and both the Qualifying and Main races taking place on Sunday.
British GT Championship race 2 at Zandvoort was a difficult event for the Audi teams today. Neither of the two Audi R8 LMS ultra cars made it into the top 10.
The #25 Audi R8 LMS ultra from United Autosports finished eleventh, the car is shared by Matt Bell and Mark Patterson. In the first half of the race Matt Bell had strong pace and was able to fight hard with the leading group in front. After the mandatory pit stop Mark Patterson took over the car. Unfortunately the Audi dropped several positions and finished the race in eleventh.
The other Audi entry had an even harder race. The #5 Audi R8 LMS ultra from team WRT finished in twenty-sixth place. Warren Huges, who started the race, improved on track and passed several rivals. After the pit stop Rembert Berg took over the Audi. On his out-lap the local Dutch driver was running very slow on track. As was the case yesterday, the WRT Audi was forced to head back to pitlane, but this time it was a retirement.
Race victory went to the #31 Porsche 997 GT3 R from Trackspeed. Second was the #18 Ferrari 458 GT3 from FF Corse and third the #33 Porsche 997 GT3 R from Trackspeed.
Now after Zandvoort the series will move Donington Park for the season finale, October 5th and 6th.
The British GT Championship moved outside the UK this weekend. The sixth meeting of the season is at Circuit Park Zandoovort in the Netherlands. Two Audi R8 LMS ultra cars are taking part in the Dutch event.
Two qualifying sessions were held earlier today. In the first session the #5 Audi R8 LMS ultra from the Belgian W Racing Team qualified in eighth place. The car is driven by Warren Hughes and Rembert Berg. The #25 Audi R8 LMS ultra entered by United Autosports finished way back in sixteenth position. The car is shared by Matt Bell and Mark Patterson, both drivers are fighting for British GT title. Pole position for race 1 went to the #1 Porsche 997 GT3 R from Oman Air Motorbase. The first qualifying session results can be seen here.
In the second qualifying session the United Autosports Audi was able to improve. Matt Bell and Mark Patterson, with their #25 Audi R8 LMS ultra, ended in a positive seventh place. The WRT entry of Warren Hughes and Rembert Berg was outside of the top 10, the #5 Audi R8 LMS ultra was classified in twelfth place. As was the case for race 1, pole position for race 2 was again taken by a Porsche 997 GT3 R, the #31 car from Trackspeed Racing. The second qualifying session results can be seen here.
Belgian Audi Club Team WRT are the two-time reigning Zolder 24 Hours race winners, having taken victory at the event in 2011 and 2012, both times with Audi. The Belgian team will be returning to Zolder for their title defense at the end of August.
The provisional Zolder 24 Hours entry list was released this week, and it includes one Audi entry, the Audi R8 LMS ultra from Belgian Audi Club Team WRT. Twenty-five cars are included on the entry list, a mixture of GT and smaller sports prototype cars. Belgian Audi Club Team WRT will entrust their #1 Audi R8 LMS ultra to four Belgian race drivers: Laurens Vanthoor, Anthony Kumpen, Enzo Ide and Bert Longin. Their Audi R8 LMS ultra will also be featuring a creative livery. WRT along with GrafiWrap hosted a design competition which invited fans to submit livery designs for the Audi R8 LMS ultra. The winning livery will be seen on the WRT Audi at the Zolder 24 Hours. This livery is yet to be revealed ahead of the race.
WRT are currently competing in round four of the FIA GT Series at the Slovakia Ring this weekend. They have opted to retrofit their cars with the 2012 R8 LMS ultra specification, thus defining them as 2012 models and the older car BoP. They have noted that the 2012 Audi BoP is less harsh than the current 2013 Audi BoP, thus it was a beneficial move which has paid handsome dividends so far.
The differences between the 2012 and 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra can be seen HERE.
The second Audi team at the event in Slovakia is Team Novadriver, who’s #14 Audi R8 LMS ultra has remained in 2013 specification. The third Audi team in the FIA GT Series, Phoenix Racing, unfortunately withdrew from the event - their press releases regarding the withdrawal can be seen HERE.
By Johan Laubscher The Belgian Audi Club Team WRT has produced a 52 minute movie documenting their 2013 Spa 24 Hours. It was a race of ups and downs, perfectly captured in this film. WRT has always produced great event videos in the past and their latest work, the Spa 24 Hours movie, is yet another excellent production. It is titled as: "NEVER GIVE UP AUDI WRT TOTAL 24 hours of SPA"
The movie was previewed last week with two sets of trailers, along with the news that it would be uploaded onto YouTube very soon. The trailers can be seen HERE. The movie has officially been uploaded onto the WRT YouTube Channel and it is certainly a must watch.
We have embedded both versions of the movie below, the English version followed by the French version. Enjoy, this is definitely worth watching!
The British GT Championship headed to Brands Hatch for round five this weekend. Three Audis were on the grid, with good results for United Autosports.
There was a new yet familiar Audi presence at Brands Hatch, but the first two teams were the regular British GT runners of United Autosports with their Audi R8 LMS ultra along with the Audi R8 LMS entry from Blendini Motorsport. The third Audi entry had a familiar driver line-up, but was represented by a new team. M-Sport had previously run the #10 Audi R8 LMS ultra driven by Rembert Berg and Warren Hughes. The M-Sport team will now be focussing their efforts on the test and development program for the new Bentley Continental GT3, thus WRT has been selected to run the Berg / Hughes #5 R8 LMS ultra for the remainder of the season.
During qualifying none of the Audis featured within the top ten, the highest R8 LMS ultra was the United Autosports car in twelfth. The race itself was a two-hour endurance race. The WRT Audi faced early problems and this cost them a number of laps, from which they recovered to ultimately finish in fourteenth place. The Blendini R8 LMS had a good run, but unfortunately they also dropped back.
At the front the United Autosports Audi R8 LMS ultra held its own outside of the top ten and then penetrated into it in the latter half of the race. Matt Bell was involved in a four-way battle for second position. By the end of the two hour race the #25 Audi came home as the highest placed Audi in sixth position.
Round six of the British GT was won by the #007 Aston Martin from Beechdean AMR. The Brands Hatch weekend results can be seen HERE.
The British GT Championship will now head to the Netherlands for round six, which will be hosted at Zandvoort in September.
The British GT Championship is at Brands Hatch this weekend for the fifth meeting of the season. A healthy and strong grid will contest the two-hour endurance event, including three Audi R8 LMS cars. The qualifying session was held this afternoon and it was not great for the Audi camp. None of the three cars finished within the top 10. Best ranked Audi was the #25 R8 LMS ultra from United Autosports which ended in twelve place. The car shared by Mark Patterson and Matt Bell who are among the challengers for British GT crown. The two drivers will have to battle hard on track tomorrow to improve and collect vital points with only two meetings remaining after Brands Hatch.
The Belgians, Team WRT, who are debuting in the demanding British GT this weekend, qualified in fourteenth place. Their #5 Audi R8 LMS ultra is shared by Rembert Berg and Warren Hughes. WRT is of course replacing M-Sport, the Scottish based team is now focusing on their factory deal with Bentley developing the Continental GT3.
The third Audi effort is from PE Group Blendini Motor. Their #11 Audi R8 LMS shared by Dom Evans and Tom Roche qualified in twenty-fifth place.
Pole position went to the #888 BMW Z4 GT3 from 888 Optimum Racing, second was the #007 Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 from Beechdean AMR and third the #31 Porsche 997 GT3 R from Trackspeed.
Belgian Audi Club Team WRT has produced many outstanding event videos in the past. Their latest work, a movie documentary featuring the 2013 Spa 24 Hours, looks excellent.
Spa was a difficult event for the Audi teams this year, as they battled hard against a BoP which was clearly not in their favour. Regardless of the BoP, the Audi teams soldiered on during the long and hard 24 Hours. By the end the #2 WRT Audi came home for third place followed by the #6 Phoenix Racing Audi in fourth.
The WRT Movie will featuring an in-depth look into the WRT team during their 2013 Spa 24 Hours. Thus far the team has said that the movie is “Coming soon…” - If the trailers are anything to go by, then this will be a must watch for Audi Motorsport and endurance racing fans. It will be available in both English and French.
The two pair of trailers from the WRT YouTube Channel have been embedded below, the English versions followed by French.
Berg and Hughes select WRT for remainder of 2013 British GT campaign. Top Belgian Audi specialist, and reigning Blancpain Endurance Series Champion,WRT will make it's Avon Tyre British GT Championship debut next weekend at Brands Hatch, providing preparation and race weekend support for the continuing title challenge of Dutch driver Rembert Berg and British racer Warren Hughes in their Audi R8 LMS ultra.
Following the scheduled end of his programme with prominent World Rally Championship engineering group, M-Sport, and a strong start to his 2013 British GT campaign, Berg sought out the services of alternative teams that could run their Audi, the most obvious being, WRT. Currently, Berg and Hughes sit eighth in the British GT standings, just 22 points off the top spot, a gap they hope to close with their new outfit, WRT.
Having worked together with WRT's Vincent Vosse in Belcar in 2001 and given the heritage WRT have with the Audi brand that Berg and Hughes have used to good effect this season already, it was an obvious choice for the Dutchman. The deal will see the pair run with WRT next weekend at Brands Hatch (10/11 Aug) before Berg's home race at Zandvoort (06/08 Sept) and also at the series finale in October at Donington Park (05/06 Oct)
Founded in late 2009 by Vincent Vosse, René Verbist and Yves Weerts, the team has been a regular in European SRO championships such as the Blancpain Endurance Series, FIA GT Series and was a two-time victor at the endurance epic, Total 24 Hours of Spa (2011 and 2012), all with the venerable Audi R8 LMS and subsequent LMS ultra.
Cumbrian team, M-Sport will now concentrate of an intensive test schedule with the new for 2014 Bentley Continental GT, which is due to be race ready next season.
Quotes: Rembert Berg, Driver: "We always knew M-sport wouldn't be able to do a full season of British GT due to their work with Bentley, it's been a given. M-Sport did a fantastic job for us, and we're very grateful. Seeing as our season was going quite well, we felt there was more potential, so we said okay, it would be nice to finish the season in a good way; the best way to do that I thought was with WRT. They are the number one GT team and they have a lot of experience, they just need to get used to the Avon tyres. I gave Vincent a call a few weeks ago and we finalised it all at Spa last weekend. It's perfect, they know all the ins and outs of the Audi and we can't be in a better place." Vincent Vosse, Team Principal, Team WRT: "We are of course delighted to be present on the Brands-Hatch event. The British GT is one of the strongest national GT3 championship and we have already tried several times to set up a programme there in the past. It will be for sure a big challenge for all the team as the British GT is a championship with a lot of specialists. To have Rembert and Warren inside WRT is also very nice. We have already a small history with them as Rembert drove in the past in the super tourism championship together with René Verbist, my partner in the team, as engineer. On my side, I also know Warren quite well."
By Johan Laubscher On the morning of the Spa 24 Hours Test Day, which was held on Wednesday (3 July 2013), Belgian Audi Club Team WRT announced their plans for the Spa 24 Hours. The big news was the addition of a fourth Audi R8 LMS ultra and three more drivers joining their regular nine-man squad. The three additions included: Mattias Ekström, Marcel Fässler and André Lotterer. They also announced the driver line-ups for each car. The fourth entry will be driven by Mathias Ekström, Marcel Fässler and Edward Sandström. André Lotterer will join Christopher Mies and Frank Stippler in the third entry. The other two cars will remain with their current Blancpain Endurance line-ups. The #1 driving crew will be Stéphane Ortelli, Laurens Vanthoor and Rene Rast, and the #0 with Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof, Matt Halliday and Rahel Frey (who are normally the #2 car in BES) .
More information and a quote from Vincent Vosse can be seen at Endurance-Info.com HERE.
This four car team promises to be very strong from Belgian Audi Club Team WRT, who are aiming to win again at the Spa 24 Hours, following their victory in the 2011 edition. This year's race will be held on the weekend of 27-28 July.
Belgian Audi Club Team WRT at the 2013 Spa 24 Hours:
#0 - Audi R8 LMS ultra (2013 spec)
Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof, Matt Halliday, Rahel Frey
#1 - Audi R8 LMS ultra (2013 spec)
Stéphane Ortelli, Laurens Vanthoor, Rene Rast
#2 - Audi R8 LMS ultra (2013 spec)
André Lotterer, Christopher Mies, Frank Stippler
#13 - Audi R8 LMS ultra (2013 spec)
Mathias Ekström, Marcel Fässler, Edward Sandström
Photo credit:Audi Sport Communication / Media *The fourth car is listed as #160 on the Test Day entry list, the final starting number TBA.
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