December 11, 2011
Source: Audi Motorsport
· Victory for two-time DTM Champion in snowmobile race in Saalbach
· Two prizes for Le Mans winners Marcel Fassler, another for Audi
Ingolstadt, Germany – Dream weekend for Timo Scheider: the two-time DTM Champion won the “Battle of Champions”, which ran through the streets of the holiday resort Saalbach Hinterglemm, astride a snowmobile.
Ice king: Timo Scheider felt completely at home during the Snow Mobile in Saalbach Hinterglemm and enjoyed the snowmobile race through the Austrian ski resort’s town center. “Although every muscle hurt a day later, this combination of fun and victory was a fantastic way to end the season,” said the Audi factory driver after winning with his “Goasstall Racing Team”. Scheider claimed pole position for the team and competed against prominent fellow racers like Nick Heidfeld and Kimi Raikkonen in Saturday’s race staged in front of almost 25,000 spectators.
Kart Masters in Bercy: Romain Dumas, Le Mans winner 2010 with Audi, and also Audi DTM driver Filipe Albuquerque joined the grid in electric karts at the ERDF Kart Masters. In addition to all the fun, Albuquerque took fourth place on Saturday; Dumas won the repechage on Sunday.
Two prizes for Marcel Fässler: the Audi factory driver received the Silverstone-Le Mans Challenge Award on Monday at the Annual Awards Luncheon held by the British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC). The Swiss shared the prize, awarded for the best combined performance in the ILMC races at Le Mans and Silverstone, with Sébastien Bourdais and Simon Pagenaud. On the previous Friday the Swiss motorsport authority Auto Sport Schweiz GmbH honored Marcel Fässler with the Auto Sport Award 2011 for his Le Mans victory in June.
Award for Audi Sport: the Italian specialist magazine Autosprint awarded Audi a “Casco d’oro” (Golden Helmet) for its tenth Le Mans victory in June. The award was accepted on behalf of the brand by factory driver Dindo Capello, who has been loyal to Audi for 18 years.
First quartet complete: United Autosports already has four drivers under contract for the 24 hours of Dubai. The Anglo-American customer racing team contests the season opener in the Gulf State between January 12 and 14 with two Audi R8 LMS. The first cockpit is shared by budding talent Matt Bell from Great Britain, the USA domiciled South African Mark Patterson, Frank Yu from Hong Kong and New Zealander Roger Wills. Seventy seven entries have been received for the race so far. An impressive 33 cars representing nine brands start in the leading class A6 for GT3 models like the Audi R8 LMS.
Successful test: the new Audi R8 GRAND-AM was tested at Daytona on Tuesday and Wednesday. In preparation for the 24 hours of Daytona in January, Frank Stippler concluded set-up work on the race car for the Audi customer teams.
Animal versus machine: Rahel Frey was involved in an unusual competition at a charity event on Sunday in Kühtai. In the Tirol Cross Mountain event the Audi factory driver competed in an Audi R8 GT Spider against actor Till Demtrøder who steered a team of ten huskies. Four wheels just beat 40 paws in the end.
Book launch with two Audi drivers: Rahel Frey and Marcel Fässler were guests at book preview in Switzerland on Thursday. Surrounded by various aircraft and race cars author Stefan Lüscher presented the 28th edition of the “Rennsport Schweiz” book in a hangar belonging to Pilatus Flugzeugwerke in Stans. The cover picture’s main motive is the Audi R18 TDI number 2 with which Fässler and his team mates André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The race winning car was one of the main attractions at the presentation.
Time travel: Audi factory driver Allan McNish revisited an important chapter in Audi’s motorsport history for the British Magazine Autosport. The two-time Le Mans winner drove a near 500 hp Audi Sport quattro S1 for a Group B article printed in the specialist magazine. His unrivalled comments about the turbocharger, drift angle and four-wheel drive can be read in the latest edition of the magazine published on December 8.
Journey to South America: Audi factory driver Miguel Molina leaves for Peru on Monday. The Spaniard spends a week undertaking various media and marketing appointments for the national Audi importer.
A word from … Marcel Fässler
You have received two prizes within a week – the Silverstone-Le Mans Challenge Award presented by the BRDC and the Auto Sport Award from Auto Sport Schweiz. Were you expecting these two awards?
“It’s obviously wonderful to receive these awards. I’m delighted about them both. I didn’t expect the award in England. I was given a standing ovation when I accepted the award in Switzerland. It was really a fantastic feeling. The prize helps acceptance of endurance racing in our country. However, in such moments you should never forget that behind the performance of a Le Mans winner is not one, but in fact three drivers and the fantastic teams from Audi Sport and Audi Sport Team Joest.”
After starting in single-seaters and touring car racing you became, with Audi, the first Swiss to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a prototype. How do you view this for your career?
“Winning with André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer in the Audi R18 TDI at Le Mans was by far the highlight of my career up to now. However, the GT3 class win and third overall in the 24 hours Nürburgring with Marc Basseng and Frank Stippler in the Audi Sport Team Phoenix Audi R8 LMS also means a great deal to me.”
Is there anything else you could wish for in the time after the winter break?
“What winter break? I had much more time off over the winter in the past! Audi has obviously started early with preparation for the 2012 season. I’d be delighted if my team mates and I could defend our Le Mans victory with Audi next year. I’ve also got nothing against a few more endurance trophies …”
Coming up next week
14.12. Romain Dumas, 34th birthday
18.12. Sao Paulo (BR), Brazilian GT, round 10
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