ADAC GT Masters: Heroic second for Rast and van der Linde in Red Bull Ring race 2

By Tarek Ramchani

A brilliant second for René Rast and Kelvin van der Linde in the second ADAC GT Masters race at the Red Bull Ring.

After a disappointing and very hard race 1 on Saturday, the two Prosperica C.Abt Racing were able to bounce back. Rast and van der Linde started the 1-hour race from position five on the grid. With some great overtakings and a perfect pit stop the drivers of the #10 Audi R8 LMS ultra clinched a great second behind the winning Corvette Z06 GT3 from Callaway Competition.

A second place sounding like a victory given how the Audi R8 LMS ultra cars suffered all weekend long at the Austrian track. With their great performances, Rast and Kelvin van der Linde have taken the overall lead with 120 points, 10 points ahead of their nearest rival Jaap van Lagen.

Unfortunately the other Audis had a tough race. The #11 R8 LMS ultra from Prosperia C.Abt Racing driven by Fabian Hamprecht and Nicki Thiim finished down in sixteenth place. The #16 Audi from YACO Racing shared by Rahel Frey and Philip Geipel was eighteenth. The MS Racing run #100 R8 LMS ultra from kfzteile24 APR Motorsport was forced to retire, the car driven by Daniel Dobitsch and Florian Stoll.

The ADAC GT Masters will have now a two-month break and will resume at the Slovakia Ring, August 8th-10th.

Photo credit: ADAC GT Masters

ADAC GT Masters: Disappointing Race 1 for Audi teams at Red Bull Ring

By Tarek Ramchani

After a very frustrating ADAC GT Masters qualifying sessions yesterday, the Audi Sport customer racing squad faced a very difficult Race 1 today at the Red Bull Ring.

Today's race was clearly the hardest for Audi teams so far in the 2014 ADAC GT Masters. A single Audi R8 LMS ultra made it into the Top 10. The #10 car from team Prosperia C.Abt Racing driven by René Rast and Kelvin van der Linde finished the 1-hour race in a disappointing tenth place.

An even harder race for the three other Audi R8 LMS ultras. The #11 car from Prosperia C.Abt Racing was  nineteenth in the hands of Fabian Hamprecht and Nicki Thiim.

The MS Racing run #100 Audi R8 LMS under kfzteile24 APR Motorsport banner ultra was twenty-third with drivers Daniel Dobitsch and Florian Stoll. The #16 car from team YACO Racing was position behind, Rahel Frey and Philip Geipel were twenty-fourth.

Race win went to the #1 Corvette Z06.R GT3 from Callaway Competition. Second was the #24 Chevrolet Camaro GT from Reiter Engineering. Third was the #26 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 from HTP Motorsport. Race 1 results can be seen here.

Race 2 is set for tomorrow at 12:00 local time.

Photo credit: ADAC GT Masters

ADAC GT Masters: Frustrating qualifying for Audi teams at Red Bull Ring

By Tarek Ramchani

The demanding ADAC GT Masters is in Austria, round 4 of the 2014 season at the Red Bull Ring. A total of four Audi R8 LMS ultra cars are entering the event.

The two qualifying session held this afternoon turned to be frustrating ones for the Audi Sport customer racing squad.

In the first qualifying session, none of the four Audis made it into the Top 10. The best R8 LMS ultra ended in thirteenth place, the #11 Audi from Prosperia C.Abt Racing driven by Fabian Hamprecht and Nicki Thiim.  René Rast and Kelvin van der Linde were one position down, in fourteenth place with their #10 Audi. The #100 R8 LMS ultra from kfzteile24 APR Motorsport qualified in ninteeth place with drivers Daniel Dobitsch and Florian Stoll. The #16 Audi from YACO Racing in the hands of Rahel Frey and Philip Geipel ended in twenty-fourth place.

The first qualifying session results can be seen here.

The second qualifying session was a kind of déjà vu for the Audi teams. Only the #10 Audi R8 LMS ultra of René Rast and Kelvin van der Linde was able to qualify within the Top 10, the two Prosperia C.Abt drivers ended in sixth place.

The other three Audis qualified respectivelly fourteenth with #11 Prosperia C.Abt Racing of Fabian Hamprecht and Nicki Thiim, twenty third with #100 kfzteile24 APR Motorsport of Daniel Dobitsch and Florian Stoll and in twenty-fifth with #16 YACO Racing of Rahel Frey and Philip Geipel.

The second qualifying session results can be seen here.

The first race is set for tomorrow at 12:00 local time, the second race will be held Sunday.

Photo credit:
MS Racing
Prosperica C.Abt Racing

ADAC GT Masters: Fine second for Prosperia C.ABT Racing Audi in Lausitzring race 2

By Tarek Ramchani

After a mixed Race 1 yesterday, Prosperia C.ABT Racing scored a fine second place today at the Lausitzring. The second race of the weekend in ADAC GT Masters was a strong one for the Christian Abt managed team.

The Audi Sport customer racing team with the #10 Audi R8 LMS ultra had a very strong race. The car shared by René Rast and Kelvin van der Linde battled very well on track and finished in a very strong second. The two Audi drivers were just 2.694s behind the winning BMW Z4 GT3 from Team Schubert driven by Claudia Hürtgen and  Dominik Baumann.

World Rally champion Sébastien Ogier performed very well again. The Volkswagen Motorsport driver was fast in the 1-hour event. Ogier shared the #12 Audi R8 LMS ultra with Markus Winkelhock, they finished in a solide ninth place.

The other Audi R8 LMS ultra entries were respectively eleventh with #100 kfzteile24 APR Motorsport of Daniel Dobitsch and Florian Stoll, ninteenth with #16 YACO Racing of Rahel Frey and Philip Geipel and twenty-second with #11 Prosperia C.ABT Racing of Fabian Hamprecht and Nicki Thiim.

With their results today, both René Rast and Kelvin van der Linde are still second in the overall standing with 100 points, only 6 points behind the series leader Jaap van Lagen. Prosperia C.ABT Racing is still second in the teams' standing with 103 points, only 3 points behind the leaders from Schütz Motorsport Porsche.

The next round of the ADAC GT Masters will take place in Austria at the Red Bull Ring, June 6th-8th.

Photo credit: ADAC GT Masters

ADAC GT Masters: Mixed race 1 for Audi teams at Lausitzring

By Tarek Ramchani

The Audi Sport customer racing squad had a mixed race 1 today at the Lausitzring in ADAC GT Masters. Five Audi R8 LMS ultra took part to the event, only a single car made it into the Top 10.

The best ranked Audi was the #10 R8 LMS from team Prosperica C.Abt Racing. The car shared by the series leaders René Rast and Kelvin van der Linde finished in seventh place at the end of the 1-hour sprint race. Rast and were 41.537s behind the winning Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3. With their seventh place finish the two Audi drivers are down to second place the overall standing with 91 points.

2013 World Rally champion Sébastien Ogier had a great debut with the all conquering Audi R8 LMS ultra. The factory Volkswagen Motorsport driver finished in a solid thirteenth place. Ogier shared the #12 R8 LMS ultra from Prosperica C.Abt Racing with Audi GT factory driver Markus Winkelhock.

Rahel Frey and Rahel Frey Philip Geipel were right behind in fourteenth place with the #16 Audi R8 LMS ultra from team YACO Racing. The MS Racing run kfzteile24 APR Motorsport #100 Audi was fifteenth in the hands of Daniel Dobitsch and Florian Stoll. The #11 Audi from Prosperica C.Abt Racing driven by Fabian Hamprecht and Nicki Thiim was twentieth.

Race victory went to the #26 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMGT GT3 from HTP Motorsport. Second was the #8 Porsche 997 GT3 R from Tonino Team Herberth. Third was the #1 Corvette Z06 GT3 from Callaway Competition.

Photo credit: ADAC GT Masters

ADAC GT Masters: Another double podium for Prosperia C.ABT Racing at Zandvoort

By Johan Laubscher

Round three of the ADAC GT Masters was hosted at Zandvoort in the Netherlands this weekend. The regular five Audi R8 LMS ultra entries took part, entered by Prosperia C.ABT Racing, kfzteile24 APR Motorsport and YACO Racing. 

The #10 Prosperia C.ABT Racing duo of Rene Rast and Kelvin van der Linde, the current championship leaders, were the highest placed Audi in both qualifying sessions, achieving fourth on the grid for race one and pole position for race two.

Race one was held on Saturday and concluded with a double podium for Prosperia C.ABT Racing. All three of the team’s cars placed within the top five, with the #12 Audi R8 LMS ultra in second, the #10 Audi in third and the #11 in fifth. kfzteile24 APR Motorsport finished sixth and YACO Racing in thirteenth.

The second race was held on Sunday and concluded with the Prosperia C.ABT Racing team placing all three of their cars inside of the top four with another double podium. Rast and van der Linde lead the way in second place, ahead of cars #11 and #12. YACO Racing unfortunately retired and kfzteile24 APR Motorsport did not start the race.

Round three of the ADAC GT Masters will be returning to Germany at the Lausitzring, 23-25 May.

Photo credit: ADAC GT Masters

ADAC GT Masters: Victory for Prosperia C.ABT Racing at Oschersleben

By Johan Laubscher

The ADAC GT Masters held its opening round at Oschersleben this weekend. Five Audi R8 LMS ultra cars took part with much success for Prosperia C.ABT Racing.

YACO Racing and kfzteile24 APR Motorsport each fielded one Audi R8 LMS ultra, alongside the three-car team from Prosperia C.ABT Racing.

Qualifying yielded two pole positions for the #10 Prosperia C.ABT Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra of Rene Rast and young South African, Kelvin van der Linde.

The first of two one-hour races was held on Saturday. Rast and van der Linde finished second, followed by kfzteile24 APR Motorsport in fourth and YACO Racing in ninth. Unfortunately both of the remaining two Prosperia C.ABT Racing retired from race one.

Sunday saw the second race and a chaotic start. The #11 Prosperia C.ABT Racing R8 LMS ultra of Nicki Thiim was involved in a start-line crash, which resulted in a rollover for Thiim. Fortunately he was unharmed in the incident.

Once the race resumed it was a lights-to-flag victory for Kelvin van der Linde and Rene Rast in the #10 R8 LMS ultra. YACO Racing finished ninth with the #16 R8 LMS ultra of Philip Geipel and Rahel Frey. The #12 Prosperia C.ABT Racing and #100 kfzteile24 APR Motorsport both retired.

Zandvoort will be hosting round two of the ADAC GT Masters, 9-11 May.

Photo credit: ADAC GT Masters

ADAC GT Masters: kfzteile24 APR Motorsport testing Audi R8 LMS ultra at Hockenheim

By Johan Laubscher

kfzteile24 APR Motorsport was out testing at Hockenheim on Wednesday.

The German team, run by MS Racing, was preparing for the 2014 ADAC GT Masters season opener, which will be held at Oschersleben this upcoming weekend, 25-27 April.

The newly liveried #100 Audi R8 LMS ultra will be driven by two of MS Racing’s regular drivers, Daniel Dobitsch and Florian Stoll.

Photo credit: MS Racing