Audi Makes Its R8 LMS GT4 Debut at Daytona With All-Women Team

History Repeats

Audi's female driving duo of Ashley Freiberg and Gosia Rdest made their debut at the first IMSA race of the season over January 26-28 at the Daytona International Speedway. The team will be campaigning Audi's new Audi R8 LMS GT4 throughout this year's Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge. Though women aren't nearly as common as they should be in competitive automotive endeavors, the 2018 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona is far from the first time Audi fielded female drivers in their premier racing cars. In 1982, French driver Michèle Mouton claimed four victories driving for the factory Audi team in the World Rally Championship, ultimately finishing second in the drivers' championship and helping Audi secure the manufacturers' championship. Mouton also counts the 1985 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb among her victories, and she's joined by Vanina Ickx, Katherine Legge, and Audi Sport Team Phoenix driver Rachel Frey (who finished third at the 2017 Nurburgring) in the annals notably fast females in Audis.

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Dream Team

The team of American driver Ashley Freiberg and Polish driver Gosia Rdest comprise the first ever all-female team to race in the GS class of the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge. The pair comes to the Audi team with impeccable credentials. In 2010 Frieberg was the first woman to win the Skip Barber Racing championship, as well as the first female overall winner in both the IMSA GT3 Cup and Continental Tire SportsCar Challenges, while Rdest is an Audi Sport TT Cup veteran.

>>Join the conversation about the R8 LMS GT4 Team right here in the AudiWorld Forum!

Dream Ride

The new Audi R8 LMS GT4 Freiberg and Rdest drove at the Daytona made its debut in earlier in January, and it's one special automobile. Audi designed the race-only version of their V-10 powered R8 street car with competition-thirsty customers in mind. The R8 LMS GT4 is easily configured for any of several racing series, including GT3, GT4, and TCR. The rear-wheel-drive LMS GT4 is built in the same factory as the road-going V-10 R8, and shares more than 60 percent of the same base. Audi's literature stresses the safety of the platform, as well as a connection to the broader tradition of sports-racing specials found throughout the history of motorsport.

>>Join the conversation about the R8 LMS GT4 Team right here in the AudiWorld Forum!

Team Spirit

Prior to running Daytona, Ashley Freiberg shared her thoughts: "Women are few and far between in motorsports, so the opportunity to join an all-women team with Audi is really exciting. My gender doesn’t make a difference when I’m behind the wheel. I still have to do a good job, and drive the car hard; the data and lap times don’t lie." Freiberg continued, "I think we’ll be a strong team, not because we’re female, but because we’re drivers that are ready to do the job well." 

>>Join the conversation about the R8 LMS GT4 Team right here in the AudiWorld Forum!

Leader Board

Freiberg couldn't have been more right. Out of the box, in the team's first drive together in a brand new car, they not only finished, they finished a mere 3 laps behind the class winners. Freiberg and Rdest finished 19th in class with 103 laps completed and a fastest lap of 01:56.862, while the class-winning Porsche Cayman GT4 MR, driven by Spencer Pumpelly and Dillon Machavern, finished 106 laps, with a fastest lap of 01:56.276. Not only was the female team the highest placing R8, they also finished ahead of their male counterparts at GMG Racing, the guys taking their R8 LMS GT4s to 20th and 25th in class. You can see the full results for the race here, and follow their results all season long in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge.

>>Join the conversation about the R8 LMS GT4 Team right here in the AudiWorld Forum!

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