Motorsport Newsletter 4/26/13

Winning start

The newly formed Audi customer team Prosperia C. Abt Racing started the ADAC GT Masters season with a victory. In the first race, Christopher Mies and René Rast drove their Audi R8 LMS ultra from 15th on the grid to a clear victory at the etropolis Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. Final driver René Rast took the lead, which he never relinquished, ten minutes before the end of an exciting one-hour race. The duo retired from the second race after a collision.

Good dress rehearsal

In the second round of the VLN endurance championship at the Nürburgring, the Audi customer team G-Drive Racing by Phoenix completed a successful dress rehearsal for the 24-hour race at the same venue on 19-20 May. Marcel Fässler and Frank Stippler won the second race of the championship as the black-white Audi R8 LMS ultra made its debut in their hands. Despite the difficult weather conditions, which included rain, fog and temperatures just above freezing point, the duo, drove from second on the grid to claim a dominant victory thanks to fast lap times and a perfect pit stop strategy.

Eight Audi R8 LMS ultra cars in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring

The Audi brand was prominently represented by its customers at the press conference for the Nürburgring 24 Hours on Tuesday. Last year’s winner Markus Winkelhock presented himself in Cologne with the Audi R8 LMS ultra of Team G-Drive Racing by Phoenix. Johannes Stuck was on location as well with the race car he will be driving on May 19 and 20 at the 41st running of the race. An Audi RS 6 Avant complemented the line-up. The high-performance model is part of the fleet of official cars, which quattro GmbH is making available to the organizer, ADAC Nordrhein, on the race weekend. Audi customer teams have nominated a total of Audi R8 LMS ultra for the classic endurance event.

Johan Kristoffersson in the Audi R8 LMS ultra

In the Italian GT Championship, Audi Sport Italia relies on the latest evolution of the Audi R8 LMS ultra, four promising drivers and a new look designed by an Audi fan. New to the team is the Swede Johan Kristoffersson, who won the Super Stars Touring Car Series in the Audi RS 5 last year. He is sharing the cockpit with the Roman Alex Frassineti. The second R8 is driven by the former Audi factory driver Dindo Capello and his Italian compatriot Andrea Sonvico.

Dindo Capello receives original race car


On Thursday, Dindo Capello experienced what has been Audi’s most unusual vehicle delivery so far. The former Audi factory driver and owner of three Audi partner companies in the Piedmont region received an authentic LMP1 race car, the R18 TDI. In the car with chassis number 102 that was actually fielded in races, Capello together with Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish celebrated his last victory as a factory driver at the Sebring 12 Hours in 2012. The permanent loan is Audi’s way of saying thank you at the end of his successful career. The Italian was a factory driver for the brand from 1994 to 2012. For Audi Sport Italia, he continues to contest GT races in an Audi R8 LMS ultra.

A word from … Adrien Tambay



At the season opener at Hockenheim you’ll be advertising the movie “Iron Man 3” on your Audi RS 5 DTM. How do you like the graphics of your car?
Next week I’ll see the original graphics on the car for the first time. But even the photos really look cool. I’m happy to have the chance of driving this car because it’ll probably attract the attention of many new viewers who may not normally be watching our sport closely to the DTM and to me.

Do you generally like comics?

Actually, I prefer movies that are a little closer to reality. But I did watch the first two “Iron Man” movies and was thrilled with the brilliant special effects. There’s an incredible amount of complex technology behind them and that again can be compared with the DTM.

In the movies, the Iron Man superhero drives a car with a rocket engine. Is that something you’d like to have in your race car as well?

I certainly would but my competitors probably wouldn’t like it (laughs). But seriously, I love the tough competition in the DTM and that only works because we’re battling with nearly identical weapons.

What are your expectations on entering the first race of the season at Hockenheim?

Above all, I want to cross the finish line, which I didn’t manage to do in the two races in 2012. But of course it’s also about being in contention. It would be nice to finish the race in the points.

How do you like the race track at Hockenheim?

I like it very much. For one, the track challenges a driver in several respects and for the other I’ve got a very personal relationship with Hockenheim too. In 1982, my father won his first Formula 1 race here and I celebrated my first victory in a formula car at Hockenheim in 2007. But especially at the start of the season the atmosphere is always very special there. You can practically feel that the fans are really excited about the DTM returning after the long winter break. And of course we drivers are happy to finally be able to race again as well.