Audi Motorsport Newsletter – 9.14.2013
‘Rocky’ top in combine harvesting
Championship leader Mike Rockenfeller ‘harvested’ his first victory of the weekend on Friday morning before the DTM race at Oschersleben: during the sixth round of the Audi DTM Challenge 2013, the Audi factory driver competed against stablemate Edoardo Mortara in a combine harvester race – and won by a large margin. “In my youth, I drove agricultural machinery around my grandparents’ farms. So, it’s fair to say that I had a clear advantage over Edo. However, he did a very good job,” said ‘Rocky’ praising his challenger. During the show of strength with the 600,000 Euro expensive agricultural machines, the two Audi drivers actually had to tame more horsepower than the Audi RS 5 DTM has at its disposal: the large 16-liter V8 combine harvester engines produce 507 hp.
Loïc Duval ties the knot
Audi factory driver Loïc Duval got married last Saturday. The current Le Mans winner and his girlfriend Gaëlle have been a pair since the year 2000, and now they finally tied the knot in Velleron. Duval owns a summer holiday home in the 3000 inhabitant community not far from Avignon in southern France. Audi team mate Benoît Tréluyer was among the guests at the ceremony.
Abril and Lunardi celebrate twin wins in France
During the fifth French GT Championship race weekend at Magny-Cours, Vincent Abril and Dino Lunardi celebrated two wins in the Audi R8 LMS ultra fielded by Team Speed Car. The two Frenchmen, who are already credited with three victories this season, moved from tenth to third in the championship standings.
David Hallyday and Grégory Guilvert in the Saintéloc Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra completed the successful weekend for Audi customer team with second place in Sunday’s race.
Championship lead in Belgium
Anthony Kumpen, Bert Longin and Maarten Makelberge claimed yet another podium position in the Belgian Racing Car Championship (BRCC). In the 600-kilometer race at Spa-Francorchamps, the Belgian trio started third on the grid and finished third in the Audi R8 LMS ultra fielded by the PK Carsport team. Thus the Audi trio leads the championship by five points before the final round.
DTM advertises in Braunschweig
The DTM advertised on the Schlossplatz in Braunschweig on Saturday for the eighth race of the season at Oschersleben (September 13-15). The 50,000 spectators in Braunschweig could admire close up the DTM racecars of the three premium manufacturers. Audi factory driver Mattias Ekström answered questions about the forthcoming race in the Magdeburger Börde at an official press conference and during a round of interviews for the DTM radio partners. Afterwards, the DTM driver tirelessly signed autographs and chatted with the fans.
More than 1,000 Audi mechanics keep their fingers crossed
The Audi squad receives strong support next weekend during the DTM race at Oschersleben: for the eighth race of the season, more than 1,000 Audi mechanics from the Audi partner workshops of the region north have announced they will attend the event. They will all keep their fingers crossed for the drivers and can be easily recognized in the grandstands in their red Audi caps. The mechanics visited the Lausitz last year.
Jan Brunstedt wins Swedish GT Championship
Championship battle in Sweden resolved: the Swede Jan Brunstedt clinched the Swedish GT Championship title in an Audi R8 LMS at the penultimate race of the season. It is the 20th title for a team with the Audi R8 LMS since Audi started its customer racing project in 2009. Brunstedt and Christer Lindholm celebrated a commanding victory by the large margin of 39 seconds during the fifth race weekend at the Ring Knutstorp. As a result, Jan Brunstedt has won all six races before the season finale at Mantorp Park on September 21.
Three podium positions at Dijon
Dietmar Haggenmüller and Suzanne Weidt enjoyed a successful weekend with the Audi R8 LMS ultra in the DMV Touring Car Challenge. At the seventh race weekend of the series at Dijon, the duo finished second in their class in the AvD 100 mile race. In the individual DMV races, Weidt finished third in the first race, while Haggenmüller was third in race two.
Summer party at Rosberg
Audi Sport Team Rosberg got in the mood for the end of season spurt in the DTM during its annual summer party. In addition to the near 80 employees in the racing team and the sister company Rosberg Engineering, their families and friends and partners of the company in Neustadt an der Weinstraße made the most of the excellent summer weather to party into the early hours. Things get serious for Audi Sport Team Rosberg again on September 15, when the DTM stages its third last race of the year at Oschersleben.
Audi engineer Leena Gade is new FIA ambassador
Leena Gade is new ambassador of the FIA Commission for Women in Motorsport. The race engineer of the number ‘1’ Audi R18 e-tron quattro won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2011 and 2012 as well as the FIA WEC World Championship title with Marcel Fässler/André Lotterer/Benoît Tréluyer. The 37-year old Briton accepted her role as ambassador for 2014 on Wednesday, when she supervised a workshop in Paris for the commission to promote young aspiring female engineers in motorsport.