BPCC: Terry Moss Racing and Engen Xtreme at the 2013 Johannesburg International Motor Show

By Johan Laubscher

The 2013 Johannesburg International Motor Show is currently taking place in South Africa. Engen has a very nice display at their stand, along with Terry Moss Racing who are sponsored by Engen.

Terry Moss Racing and Engen Xtreme have a number of Audi related components present as part of their display at the show. The Engen stand is housed inside of the Allied Industry hall at the show, hall nine. Outside of the hall there is a Terry Moss Racing / Engen Xtreme show car on display. It is a show car based on the team’s older Audi A4 B7 3.2 quattro race cars, which use to compete in the South African Bridgestone Production Car Championship. 

A very intriguing lights display was on offer at the Engen stand. A white 1:1 half Audi S4 model was part of the lights display, which displayed various images on the car during a video clip, depicting the Audi S4 livery of Michael Stephen’s Audi S4 race car. A video of the lights feature has been included below:

Current championship points leader, Michael Stephen, was also on hand at both the Engen and official Audi South Africa stands this week, to autograph posters for race fans. This begins a very big and busy week for Stephen. He travels home to Port Elizabeth on Sunday, only to return to Johannesburg later in the week for the finale of the South African Bridgestone Production Car Championship at Kyalami next weekend, where he is poised to take his third consecutive Class A drivers’ title.

Michael Stephen at the Engen stand

The official Audi South Africa stand

Photo credit: Audi Motorsport in South Africa Facebook page [Johan Laubscher]

SCCA National Runoffs: Limitless Racing Audi R8 GRAND-AM performed well at Road America

By Johan Laubscher

The 2013 SCCA National Championship Runoffs took place at Road America this week. It was the fiftieth anniversary of this prestigious event and two Audis were entered in two different classes. The second Audi entered race was held on Friday morning and Limitless Racing showed good form with their Audi R8 GRAND-AM.

Originally three Audis had been entered for the Runoffs, including two Audi R8 GRAND-AM entries. The first Audi R8 GRAND-AM was that of Limitless Racing and Dr Jason Lee, who had qualified for the Runoffs GT2 class (SCCA GT2 class, not related to ACO GTE/GT2) by competing in the 2013 SCCA U.S. Majors this year. The second R8 GRAND-AM was originally entered by Fall-Line Motorsports for Mark Boden, however the team switched to a Porsche 911 GT3 for the weekend, thus dropping the Audi R8 GRAND-AM count to only one car. The next and final Audi car was entered in the STU class, the Continental Racing Audi A4 of Joel Weinberger. His B7 A4 is one of the ex-Stasis SCCA World Challenge touring cars. 

The event normally takes place with an all-week format, as practice and testing begins on Monday, followed by the racing taking place from Friday to Sunday. Each of the various SCCA categories has one race with a duration of thirteen laps or forty minutes, whichever comes first.

Qualifying was held over two days, with two sessions for each of the classes. It was a steep learning curve for Limitless Racing, as their driver, Dr Jason Lee, had never competed at Road America before. Despite this, Dr Lee was able to put in respectable lap times and continued to improve with each session. He ultimately qualified eighteenth within GT2 during the first dry session, behind the wheel of his #08 Audi R8 GRAND-AM. It was wet during the second session, so the overall fastest times remained stagnant, but he was able to post the second fastest time of that session among the competitors that took part, despite the weather conditions. 

It so happened that both of the Audi entered races took place on Friday, with the STU race being the very first race to kick off proceedings at the Runoffs, followed by the GT2/GT3 race two hours later. 

The STU race was held earlier in very wet conditions. At 8:45 am local time it was a case of quattro weather and Joel Weinberger achieved a podium result in his Audi A4.

A few hours later, at 10:45 am local time, the SCCA GT2/GT3 race got underway. This race took place on a drying track. Dr Lee was able to progress very well and got up to eleventh overall on the first lap, but he would suffer on his wet tires later during the race. He was involved in a number of battles, trying to defend his position. Ultimately he lost places and dropped to twenty-fifth overall after the full-course yellow, finishing twelfth in class.

It was a good weekend for the Audi teams at the 2013 SCCA National Championship Runoffs. Hopefully the number of Audis will increase at this prestigious event in the years to come.

Photo credit: 

Limitless Racing / Chris Rallo

John Mills

SCCA National Runoffs: quattro weather and STU podium for Joel Weinberger Audi A4

By Johan Laubscher

The 2013 SCCA National Championship Runoffs took place at Road America this week. It was the fiftieth anniversary of this prestigious event and two Audis were entered in two different classes. The first Audi entered race was held early on Friday morning and Joel Weinberger performed very well in his Audi A4. 

The event normally takes place with an all-week format, as practice and testing begins on Monday, followed by the racing taking place from Friday to Sunday. Each of the various SCCA categories has one race with a duration of thirteen laps or forty minutes, whichever comes first.

Two Audis had been entered in two different classes at the Runoffs this year. The first entry was that of Limitless Racing, with their Audi R8 GRAND-AM entered in the SCCA GT2 class. The second Audi car was entered in the STU class, the Continental Racing Audi A4 of Joel Weinberger. His B7 A4 is one of the ex-Stasis SCCA World Challenge touring cars. Weinberger is a strong and regular Runoffs competitor. He has previously won the STU class at the 2011 Runoffs and he again performed well last year by finishing runner-up.

Qualifying was held over two days, with two sessions for each of the classes. Qualifying for STU saw Weinberger suffering a brakes issue which dropped him back, this after he had been running at the front during practice. The team managed to fix the issues for qualifying on day two, but with unfavourable weather conditions the times were not bettered from day one and he would line up ninth for the STU race.

It so happened that both of the Audi entered races took place on Friday morning, with the STU race being the very first race to kick off proceedings at the Runoffs. At 8:45 am local time the STU grid got underway in very wet conditions. Weinberger, armed with quattro, was able to progress well through the field. He steadily moved up to third, his eventual finishing position.

After a tremendous lead battle the STU race was won by Elivan Goulart in his #72 Lotus ahead of the #98 Mazda of Marc Hoover.

This finish marked Joel Weinberger's fourth consecutive STU podium finish with his Audi: 2010 - 2nd, 2011 - 1st, 2012 - 2nd and 2013 - third.

Update: The final STU results were released on Saturday, revealing that Marc Hoover's Mazda was disqualified after the post-race technical inspection, thus promoting Weinberger to second place overall in STU.

Joel Weinberger mentioned the disqualification on his Continental Racing Facebook page:

"Update Official results released for STU Class. Marc Hoover's Miata was DQ'd in post-race tech, so I officially came in P2. Sad for Marc in a way - he's the epitome of the SCCA racer."

Photo credit: 

Continental Racing

SpeedCast TV screenshot

SCCA National Runoffs: Three Audis on the entry list - two Audi R8 GRAND-AM

By Johan Laubscher

The SCCA National Championship Runoffs is one of the most prestigious North American motorsport events, and the annual highlight for the SCCA Regional and National racing series’. Three Audis will be competing in the classes this year.

The 2013 SCCA National Runoffs entry list was released during this week. The first Audi includes the Audi A4 B7 of Joel Weinberger, entered by the Continental Racing team. Weinberger is entered in the STU class, a class which he won at the Runoffs in 2011. His Audi A4 is an ex-Stasis SCCA World Challenge Touring Car.

Two Audi R8 GRAND-AM cars conclude the Audis on the 2013 entry list. The first R8 GRAND-AM is from Limitless Racing. Dr Jason Lee has been competing in the 2013 SCCA U.S. Majors and he has qualified to compete in the SCCA GT2 class (unrelated to ACO GT2/GTE).

The final Audi is the Audi R8 GRAND-AM from Fall-Line Motorsports. Mark Boden will be piloting the blue Fall-Line Audi in the Touring 1 class.

The full entry list can be seen HERE. 

Road America will be hosting the 50th SCCA National Championship Runoffs from 19 to 22 September.

Entered Audi race cars:

Continental Racing - Joel Weinberger - #9 Audi A4 B7

Limitless Racing - Dr Jason Lee - #08 Audi R8 GRAND-AM

Fall-Line Motorsports - Mark Boden - #46 Audi R8 GRAND-AM

Photo credit: 
Limitless Racing on Facebook

Continental Racing on Facebook

Fall Line Motorsports on twitter

SA V8 Touring Cars: South African V8 Touring Car Series ready for testing

By Johan Laubscher

A new South African touring car championship was announced at the end of 2012. The new series would utilize new race cars which would be developed and built in Australia, closely resembling that of the new generation Australian V8 Supercars. The first of the new South African bound cars has been completed and is being readied for testing. In recent months the addition of Audi cars was also announced for the series.

A number of official press releases in South Africa revealed that PACE Innovations in Australia was busy developing the race cars, and that the first car was nearing completion. The first car would be a Ford bodied version, and would arrive in South Africa for testing on local circuits. Thus far Ford Focus and Audi A4 bodied race cars have been confirmed for the series, which is set to begin in 2014. A grid of up to sixteen cars is being prepared for 2014, with up to twenty for the future.   

The cars will be built on a standardized chassis with the option of body style, representing a manufacturer, being open for choice. This standardised chassis approach is similar to the approach used by many touring car series around the world, like the Australian V8 Supercars and the DTM in Germany, where a standardised chassis allows for lower development and overall costs. The teams will be allowed to use engines which have V8 base architecture from a manufacturer of their choice. Which engines specifically will be used in the cars has not yet been announced, but they will be limited to, and controlled at an output of 410 kW. 

In recent weeks PACE innovations has released a series of photos on Facebook, depicting the build of the first car. PACE has called the new cars for South Africa the “GTC” cars (Global Touring Cars). The first car is a Ford Focus and will arrive in South Africa within the next few weeks. The first Audi car will also be built soon and will also arrive in South Africa for testing.

No physical real-world photos of the Audi cars exist yet, other than the CAD model. However we have included the build photos of the first Ford (which has the same standardised chassis as what the Audis will have), and the first roll-out videos.  

Currently the premiere saloon car series in South Africa is the BridgestoneProduction Car Championship. This series has a number of teams running in the top Class A category, including Audi S4, BMW 335i and Subaru teams. The new South African V8 Touring Car series will likely have teams joining from several of the current South African motorsport championships, and most likely also from the older South African V8 Series, which used cars based on the American Trans Am rules.

How this new V8 series will affect the car/team count in the other national/regional categories remains to be seen, and if the new series will be economically viable is the big question. However, a new series pumping new interest into South African motorsport will hopefully bring good things for the future of the sport in the country, and it is great to see Audi cars within the new series as well. 

Here's to hoping that the new South African V8 Touring Car Series will be a great success, and a return to the glory days of South African saloon car racing. 


Update: The first GTC car had its shakedown test at Queensland Raceway on Wednesday 17 July. More solid information regarding the new cars and the South African V8 Touring Car Series was published on SpeedCafe.com during the morning of the test. Those articles can be seen HERE and HERE. The first car, the prototype, is fitted with a Ford Coyote V8. The car will undergo more testing in the weeks to come. 

Photo credit: 

PACE Innovations Pty Ltd on Facebook
StreetMotion.co.za

Motorsport South Africa

N24: Preview of the Audi Competitors at the Nürburgring 24 Hours

By Johan Laubscher

The 2013 Nürburgring 24 Hours is taking place this weekend. The race itself will be running from Sunday until Monday, over the Whitsun long-weekend in Germany. Phoenix Racing returns as the reigning champions with the Audi R8 LMS ultra. 2012 was the first Audi victory at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, and no less than eight Audi R8 LMS ultra cars are entered this year from, five different teams.

A total of seventeen Audi cars have been entered, including a number of Audi Sport customer racing cars (Audi R8 LMS ultra & Audi TT RS), as well as a variety of privately developed Audi race cars. The Nürburgring 24 Hours always provides a tremendous spectacle and this year, with the projected difficult weather conditions, should provide another great race. Good luck to all of the Audi teams, and we cross our fingers for a repeat of the success achieved in 2012.

1. Preview of the Audi Competitors:

1.1. Audi Sport customer racing teams:

1.1.1. Audi R8 LMS ultra Teams:

G-Drive Racing by Phoenix

#1 Audi R8 LMS ultra

Mike Rockenfeller 

Marcel Fässler

Frank Stippler

Markus Winkelhock

G-Drive Racing by Phoenix

#3 Audi R8 LMS ultra

Frank Biela

Christer Jöns

Luca Ludwig

Roman Rusinov

Phoenix Racing

#4 Audi R8 LMS ultra
Michael Ammermüller

Frank Stippler

Ferdinand Stuck

Johannes Stuck

Prosperia C.ABT Team Mamerow

#2 Audi R8 LMS ultra

Christian Mamerow

Thomas Mutsch

René Rast

Marc Basseng

Audi race experience (TKL Motorsport)

#14 Audi R8 LMS ultra

Marco Werner

Christian Bollrath

Pierre Ehret

Ronnie Saurenmann

Audi race experience (TKL Motorsport) 

#15 Audi R8 LMS ultra

Rahel Frey

Dominique Bastien

Peter Venn

Alexander Yoong

Twin Busch Motorsport

#16 Audi R8 LMS ultra

Marc Busch

Dennis Busch

Manuel Lauck

Belgian Audi Club Team WRT

#29 Audi R8 LMS ultra

Laurens Vanthoor

Edward Sandström

Christopher Mies

Christopher Haase

1.1.2. Audi TT RS Teams:

Besaplast Racing Team

#105 TT RS – SP4T

Franjo Kovac

Martin Tschornia

Frederik Lestrup

Raeder Motorsport

#111 TT RS – SP3T

Elmar Deegener

Jürgen Wohlfahrt

1.2. Privately built/developed Audi teams:

Dupré Motorsport

#74 Audi RS 5

Christoph Dupré

Gunther Ofenmacher

Claus Dupré

Hömberg Motorsport

#101 Audi TTS
Bernd Hömberg

Alexander Streit

Torsten Platz

Bernhard Henzel

Brandl Motorsport

#106 Audi TT RS

Christian Kranenberg

Stefan Michels

Benjamin Weidner

Jochen Hudelmaier

pro Handicap e.V.

#112 Audi TTS
Wolfgang Müller

Oliver Rudolph

Partel Aditya

MSC Sinzig e.V. im ADAC

#118 Audi TT
Professor Jörg Wellnitz

Manfred Krammer Junior

Steffen Höber

#119 Audi TT

Prof. Jörg Wellnitz,

Manfred Krammer

Steffen Höber

#160 Audi A4 B7
Thomas Hanisch

Bastian Goercke

Stefan Gies

We wish the best of luck to all of the Audi competitors this weekend as they prepare for 24 Hours of racing at the Green Hell. 

Photo credit:
Stuck³ website
Audi Sport Communication / Media
DUPRÉ Motorsport

BTCC: Race 3 at Donington brings a hard day to an end for RAR

By Johan Laubscher

BTCC round two at Donington has proven to be a difficult event for Rob Austin Racing. The first two races saw the two Audis well outside of the top ten and race three was not to turn out any better.

Only one of the RAR Audi A4 cars lined up for the third and final race of the day. Rob Austin retired from race two due to engine related issues and unfortunately he did not take part in race three. This left teammate Will Bratt as the lone Audi in the field.

Bratt started the race in nineteenth and managed to move up through the field. He had moved up to thirteenth by half distance. Ultimately he finished in fourteenth after having gotten as high as twelfth during the race.

It was a very difficult weekend for Rob Austin Racing and the issues surrounding their straight-line speed hampered their progress as well. Regardless of the result it was great to see both RAR Audi cars on track this weekend, following the herculean rebuild of the #13 Audi A4 following the crash at Brands Hatch.

The next round of the British Touring Car Championship will take place Thruxton in May.

Race 3 results can be seen HERE.

Photo credit: Phil Laughton Photography

BTCC: A hard day continues for Rob Austin Racing in Donington Race 2

By Johan Laubscher

The first BTCC race at Donginton proved to be very difficult for the Rob Austin Racing team, and their fortunes unfortunately remained the same during race two. 

Rob Austin worked his way up from his fourteenth place starting position up to just outside the top ten. He then unfortunately dropped back to twentieth where he was ultimately classified as a non finisher. Rob’s teammate Will Bratt had recovered well during race two. He started in twenty-fifth and recovered all the way up to sixteenth, but he was off the track on the final lap when he lost his left rear wheel. Bratt thus crossed the line in nineteenth place.

It has been a very difficult weekend for Rob Austin Racing, hampered by their straight-line speed as well. The RAR pairing rounded out the top twenty during race two with nineteenth and twentieth (DNF).

The third and final race of the day will take place in a few hours. We wish the best of luck to the Rob Austin Racing team, hopefully a good result can be attained during race three. 

Race 2 results can be seen HERE.

Photo credit: Phil Laughton Photography