The opening round of the European Le Mans Series was also held at Silverstone this weekend, alongside the FIA World Endurance Championship. The four hour race on Saturday saw the participation of one Audi Sport customer racing team.
Sébastien Loeb Racing entered their #51 Audi R8 LMS ultra in the GTC class with drivers Henry Hassid, Mike Parisy and Olivier Lombard.
They qualified seventh in class and finished the race in twenty-sixth overall, sixth in class.
Round two of the ELMS will be heading to Imola, 17-18 May.
The European Le Mans Series hosted two days of official testing at Paul Ricard this week, Tuesday to Wednesday.
One Audi Sport customer racing team entered the event and are also entered for the 2014 ELMS season.
Sébastien Loeb Racing is running a single Audi R8 LMS ultra in the GTC class, alongside an Oreca 03 Nissan in LMP2.
For the testing, the #51 Audi R8 LMS ultra was driven by Henry Hassid, Mike Parisy, Anthony Beltoise and Roland Bervillé.
Five test sessions were spread across the two days at Paul Ricard, morning and afternoon sessions on both days, including a night session on Tuesday. The #51 Audi R8 LMS ultra was driven to a 1:59.546 lap time on Tuesday morning, the fastest set by the Sébastien Loeb Racing R8 LMS ultra during the two days of testing. They were classified thirty-seventh fastest in the combined classification, last in GTC. The results from the two-day test can be seen HERE.
Silverstone will be hosting the opening round of the ELMS, from 18-19 April.
Sébastien Loeb Racing revealed their 2014 Audi R8 LMS ultra livery in full on Friday.
The French team acquired two Audi R8 LMS ultra cars for the 2014 season and they are currently preparing for a two-car assault on the French GT Tour and a single car entry for the European Le Mans Series GTC class.
Mike Parisy was announced as one of the team's drivers earlier this week and two further drivers were announced on Friday. Roland Berville and Anthony Beltoise will be piloting the #50 Audi R8 LMS ultra in the GT Tour. Parisy will be one of the drivers behind the wheel of the team's other R8 LMS ultra in the GT Tour and also their single car entry in the ELMS.
The European Le Mans Series will be getting under way at Silverstone from 18-19 April, followed by the opening round of the French GT Tour round at the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans from 26-27 April.
On Monday Sébastien Loeb Racing revealed a teaser of their Audi R8 LMS ultra livery and also announced their first confirmed driver. The team is currently preparing for a two-car Audi R8 LMS ultra entry in the French GT-Tour and also a single car entry in the European Le Mans Series.
The first confirmed driver for Sébastien Loeb Racing is Mike Parisy. He will be behind the wheel of one of the team’s two R8 LMS ultra entries in the French GT Tour and also in the ELMS.
The European Le Mans Series will be getting under way at Silverstone from 18-19 April, followed by the opening round of the French GT Tour round at the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans from 26-27 April.
By Johan Laubscher Sébastien Loeb Racing held their first shakedown with their new Audi R8 LMS ultra cars today. The team has began their on track preparation for the 2014 season. Sébastien Loeb Racing will be entering a two-car team in the French GT-Tour and a single car entry in the European Le Mans Series GTC class.
The ELMS gets underway at Silverstone from 18-19 April, followed by the first French GT-Tour round from 26-27 April. Photo credit:Sébastien Loeb Racing
Sébastien Loeb Racing received their Audi R8 LMS ultra cars on Tuesday this week.
They are one of the newest Audi Sport customer racing teams for 2014 and will be competing with a two-car team in the French GT Tour and a single car entry in the European Le Mans Series.
The annual ACO press conference was held in Paris on Thursday. The entry lists for the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship, the Le Mans 24 Hours and the European Le Mans Series were all revealed on the day.
Audi cars will again be seen in both the FIA WEC and ELMS this year.
FIA WEC and Le Mans 24 Hours:
Audi Sport had already announced its 2014 entry last week, but now it has officially been confirmed for the 2014 season, with the release of the entry lists today. Two Audi R18 e-tron quattro cars will be contesting the entire FIA World Endurance Championship season and a third car will be entered for the 6 Hours of Spa and the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Audi #1: Lucas di Grassi, Loïc Duval and Tom Kristensen
Audi #2: Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer
Audi #3: Filipe Albuquerque, Marco Bonanomi and Oliver Jarvis*
The Audi squad joins a field of thirty-one FIA WEC entries, nine of which are LMP1 competitors. The full season LMP1 runners include six factory cars in LMP1-H and three privateer cars in LMP1-L.
LMP1-H:
#1 Audi Sport Team Joest – Audi R18 e-tron quattro
#2 Audi Sport Team Joest – Audi R18 e-tron quattro
#3 Audi Sport Team Joest – Audi R18 e-tron quattro*
#7 ToyotaRacing – ToyotaTS040 Hybrid
#8 ToyotaRacing – ToyotaTS040 Hybrid
#14 Porsche Team – Porsche 919 Hybrid
#20 Porsche Team – Porsche 919 Hybrid
LMP1-L:
#9 Lotus – Lotus T129 AER
#12 Rebellion Racing – Rebellion R-One Toyota
#13 Rebellion Racing – Rebellion R-One Toyota
*Audi #3 is only entered for the 6 Hours of Spa and the Le Mans 24 Hours.
The 2014 Le Mans 24 Hours entry list can be seen HERE.
ELMS:
A few weeks ago Sébastien Loeb Racing announced that they will be running Audi R8 LMS ultra cars this year and last week they confirmed a two-car entry in the French GT Tour. They will be running two cars in the 2014 ELMS, which includes one of their Audi R8 LMS ultra cars, alongside an Oreca 03 – Nissan in LMP2.
A total of forty-two entries will be taking part in the 2014 ELMS, sixteen of which are entered in GTC.
The European Le Mans Series allowed FIA GT3 specification machinery to compete in the GTC class for the first time during 2013. One Audi Sport customer racing team took the opportunity to race in the ELMS. MOMO Megetron DF1 fielded their Audi R8 LMS at the opening two rounds of the series. 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:
Zolder Test
The Belgian BRCC held an official test day at Zolder on Friday. Two Audi R8 LMS cars took part. The PK Carsport R8 LMS is a full season BRCC competitor, whereas the Belgian Racing Team (MOMO-Megatron-dF1) R8 LMS used the test day to prepare for the upcoming ELMS season.
Silverstone also hosted the European Le Mans Series this weekend, with the three hour race taking place on Saturday. The ELMS has introduced the GTC class this year, which allows FIA GT3 cars to take part. One Audi R8 LMS was entered by MOMO Megetron DF1. They qualified on pole, but suffered issues during the race. Ultimately they were classified third in class.
The European Le Mans Series held round two at Imola in Italy. The MOMO Megatron DF1 Audi R8 LMS took part in the event. They qualified third in class, but unfortunately they retired from the race.
