Audi Motorsport-Newsletter 39/2013

At the penultimate race of the Audi R8 LMS Cup in China, Audi factory driver Rahel Frey became the first lady to win a race and stake her claim in all-time winners list of the popular one-make series. The former DTM driver triumphed in the tenth race at Shanghai by 1.144 seconds from championship leader Alex Yoong. Alex Yoong extended his lead in the standings to 24 points after winning the first race ahead of his arch title rival Adderly Fong and Cong Fu Cheng and also be taking second place in the second race ahead of Marchy Lee and Fong. The title battle will be decided at the eleventh and final race at Macau on November 10.

The 30th Auto e Moto d’Epoca exhibition in Italy also featured Dindo Capello. In Padua, various race cars which the former Audi factory driver relied on in his career were showcased on the weekend – such as the Audi 80 competition (1994) and Audi A4 (1998) super touring cars, the Audi R8 LMS ultra (2013) and the car that won the Sebring 12 Hours in 2012, the Audi R18 TDI. On Sunday, Capello signed plenty of autographs for his many fans.

The experience and judgment of Audi factory driver Tom Kristensen were in demand yet again in Formula One. One week after Audi’s title win in the WEC race at Fuji, the Dane traveled to the Indian Grand Prix. As a steward of the meeting appointed by the FIA he assisted in evaluating crucial racing situations under sporting regulations.

The Audi TT RS developed by quattro GmbH rounded off the finale of the VLN Endurance Championship Nürburgring with a perfect result in customer racing: the front-wheel driven race car remained unbeaten in its category this year. In each of the nine rounds, the two-liter turbocharged version of the car prevailed in the fiercely contested SP3T class. Manuel Metzger and Heinz Schmersal won the final round ahead of two other teams relying on the Audi TT RS. The best Audi customer racing drivers in the overall championship classification were Elmar Deegener/Christoph Breuer in another Audi TT RS. They finished sixth in the field of more than 600 classified entries, missing the title by just 2.51 points. This driver combination, together with Dieter Schmidtmann and Jürgen Wohlfahrt, had also clinched SP3T victory in the toughest endurance race of the year, the Nürburgring 24 Hours. In that event held in May, the SP4T class win went to Franjo Kovac/Martin Tschornia/Fredrik Lestrup/Kurt Thiim in a TT RS powered by a 2.5 liter engine. This model version also clinched six VLN class wins this year.

Marc Basseng/Laurens Vanthoor/Christian Mamerow completed the best endurance season of the Audi R8 LMS ultra on the Nürburgring Nordschleife with a win. The German-Belgian driver combo clinched pole position and won the final round in the customer racing car entered by Team Phoenix Racing. Thus, for the first time the R8 LMS ultra scored four overall wins in a single season in its VLN Endurance Championship Nürburgring career that spans five years – no other car scored as many wins there this year. Ernst Moser’s outfit that is based in nearby Meuspath had won the DTM title with Audi already and celebrated its third VLN victory this season. Team Twinbusch had contributed one more Audi customer trophy two weeks ago.

Leena Gade will actively support ‘Tomorrow’s Engineers Week 2013’ in the UK from November 4 to 8. The Audi engineer, who brought Marcel Fässler/André Lotterer/Benoît Treluyer (CH/D/F) to victory in the 2011 and 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours as their race engineer, aims to promote awareness of engineering studies among school-age youth. “I’d like to particularly inspire the enthusiasm of female students for engineering subjects because this type of education opens up fascinating career opportunities,” says Gade.

Champion Mike Rockenfeller was back in the cockpit of his Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM and stepping on the gas only three days after the DTM finale at Hockenheim. At the Audi factory in Neckarsulm, ‘Rocky’ spooled off numerous demonstration laps in front of the enthusiastic employees. Rockenfeller as well as members of his Audi Sport Team Phoenix and Audi Sport accepted an invitation from Factory Manager Fred Schulze and Norbert Rank, Chairman of the work’s council at the Neckarsulm facility.