Victories for the Audi R8 LMS at the Red Bull Ring and title in Italy

• First win of the season for Land-Motorsport in the DTM and for Scherer Sport PHX in the ADAC GT Masters
• Tresor Attempto Racing wins endurance championship in Italy
• Audi drivers in excellent positions ahead of the final races in several TCR touring car series

In mid-September, the Audi R8 LMS is in top form, with victories and another championship title in several European racing series as well as in Australia. At the same time, a number of customer teams are battling for titles in the upcoming final races in TCR Europe, TCR Italy, and TCR Eastern Europe.

Audi R8 LMS GT3

Top results in Austria, Italy, and Australia: Land Motorsport’s impressive upward trend continued in the DTM. The team celebrated its first victory in its debut DTM season at the Red Bull Ring in the seventh event with the Audi R8 LMS and collected 27 points, more than ever before. Ricardo Feller secured second place on the grid for the second race. The Swiss driver chased the leading Dutchman Thierry Vermeulen in his Ferrari for 13 laps on Sunday before overtaking him. Feller did not relinquish first place until the finish after 37 laps. The pit crew also played a key role in the 25-year-old Swiss driver’s third DTM career victory: Christian Land’s team completed both mandatory pit stops flawlessly, taking just 7.2 and 7.8 seconds respectively. After 130 DTM victories for Audi by the end of Class 1 in the 2020 DTM season, the Audi R8 LMS has now secured 13 DTM victories in the customer racing era since 2021. This means that drivers with the four rings have crossed the finish line as winners in a total of 143 DTM races since 1990. The Red Bull Ring was also the perfect track for the Audi R8 LMS in the ADAC GT Masters. After a lot of hard work, Team Scherer Sport PHX secured pole position for the first race. Just one weekend earlier, the team’s GT3 sports car had been severely damaged in a practice accident and was unable to compete in either of the two races at the Salzburgring. At the fifth event at the Red Bull Ring, 21-year-old Nico Hantke built up a lead of almost ten seconds in the first half of the race before handing the Audi over to his team-mate. Despite deteriorating tires, Denis Bulatov maintained a 5.4-second lead over a Ford from the Haupt Racing Team on the Alpine circuit until the finish. It was the first victory of the season for this driver pairing. After 2021, the Campionato Italiano Gran Turismo Endurance title went to an Audi customer team for the second time. Second place in the GT3 Pro class at the finale in Mugello was enough for Team Tresor Attempto Racing to win the overall title for the first time. The two Italians, Riccardo Cazzaniga and Rocco Mazzola, crossed the finish line with their German team-mate Fabio Rauer 16.9 seconds behind the winners after three hours of racing. Due to regulations, they had to serve an 18-second handicap during the driver change. Taking into account a drop score, this lineup is ten points ahead of a trio of drivers from the Ferrari team AF Corse. The team laid an important foundation for its championship success with its overall victory at the season opener in Misano in May. After winning a title in New Zealand in the first half of the year, this is already the second GT3 overall title this season for the Audi R8 LMS, in addition to class titles in the southern hemisphere. For the fourth time this year, an Audi R8 LMS has prevailed in the GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS. At the fifth event of the racing series at The Bend circuit in South Australia, the driver pairing of Alex Peroni and Mark Rosser secured a dominant victory with a 13-second lead over a Ferrari. Rosser had already gained a position at the start and was second behind Aston Martin driver Liam Talbot. When the leader slid into the tire barrier, the way was clear for Mark Rosser. He handed the car over to his team-mate Alex Peroni in the lead during the pit stop. The Australian built up a big lead, while his pursuers Jaxon Evans in a Ferrari and Broc Feeney in the Kelso Electrical Team MPC Audi fought a long battle for second place behind him. Feeney, who shares the Audi with Brad Schumacher, ultimately crossed the finish line in third place. For Alex Peroni and Mark Rosser, as well as the BRM/ACM Finance team, this was their second victory of the season following their success in Queensland in June. In the second race, Ryan Wood/Steve Brooks were the best Audi driver team in the field, finishing second for the Wolfbrook Team MPC. Third place went to Feeney/Schumacher. Audi Sport customer racing also enjoyed success in two other categories. In both races, the trophy classification went to Matt Stoupas/Gary Higgon in the KFC Team MPC Audi R8 LMS. Solo driver Renee Gracie finished second in the amateur classification in the Only Fans Team MPC Audi in the first race. In the second race, she won her class by four seconds and is now uncatchable in the amateur championship standings ahead of the final. Memo Gidley continued his series of podium finishes in the GT America powered by AWS racing series. The American drove the Ski Autosports team’s Audi R8 LMS to second place in both races at Barber Motorsports Park. In the first race, he initially led for eight laps on a wet track, fell back to sixth place during the pit stop, and finally improved to second place again. In the second race, the 54-year-old privateer held second place from the first to the last lap. In the International GT Open racing series, defending their title remains a realistic goal for Christopher Haase and Simon Reicher after an eventful sixth race weekend at the Red Bull Ring. In the first race, the German-Austrian driver pairing started from 14th position in the Eastalent Racing Audi R8 LMS and ultimately finished in third place. Haase overtook three competitors in the last six laps alone. Haase/Reicher took the lead in the standings on Saturday with a three-point advantage. Sunday’s race was unfortunate, as the Audi was relegated from second to eleventh place on the starting grid for exceeding the track limits. After a tire failure in the race, the driver duo finished without points. However, the championship situation remains promising: with two events still to go, the Audi drivers are only three points behind championship leader Levente Révész. The I.S.R. team contributed another podium finish. Libor Milota/Filip Salaquarda were the second-best Pro-Am driver team in an Audi R8 LMS from the Czech team in the first race. In the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie, Juta Racing secured victory in the SP9 Pro-Am class in the eighth round with Selv/Frank Stippler/Alexey Veremenko. The équipe vitesse team contributed two further podium finishes. Michael Heimrich and Arno Klasen drove the team’s Audi R8 LMS to third place in the SP9 Am class in the seventh round and improved to second place in the eighth round the following day. In the Central European GT Cup Series, the Fullinrace by Interaction team scored two class podium finishes with the Audi R8 LMS in Brno. In the endurance race, Petr Fulín and Aliyyah Koloc secured third place in the GT3 category. In the second sprint, Fulín was the second-best GT3 participant. In the South African Extreme Supercars Driven by Dunlop racing series, the Audi R8 LMS achieved three podium finishes. In the first sprint at Killarney International Raceway, Paul Hill finished third in Class A with Team Promigen. In the second race, Marius Jackson also took third place in this class with Team MJR Motorsport. In the final third race, the South African improved to second place in his class in the Audi R8 LMS.

Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)

Open final races: In TCR Italy, the title battle is coming to a head ahead of the final round. Nicola Baldan traveled to Mugello for the fifth event with a six-point lead over Nicolas Taylor, but over the course of the weekend, his lead shrunk to just three points. In the first sprint, Baldan was the best of eleven Audi RS 3 LMS drivers in the field, finishing third for Aikoa Racing. This increased his lead to 13 points on Saturday, as rival Taylor only managed fifth place. In the second race, Taylor celebrated his fourth victory of the season. Matteo Poloni from Gear Works in second place and Baldan in third completed a 1-2-3 victory for the Audi RS 3 LMS. However, the current points gap does not reflect the full complexity of the situation: the system traditionally used in Italy of discarding the two worst results from twelve races means that, taking this drop score into account, Canadian Taylor would currently have to discard 24 points, while Baldan would lose 36 points. This would put Taylor ahead of Baldan. Nicolas Taylor started Sunday’s race in third place and overtook a Honda on the ninth lap. With five minutes to go, he overtook Poloni’s Audi from the slipstream. Matteo Poloni and his team could still be satisfied with second place: a serious accident the day before had almost meant the end for the RS 3 LMS, which the team repaired overnight. Poloni, who is third in the standings, achieved his podium result after the accident despite a swollen left foot. Several Audi drivers also impressed in other categories at Mugello. Sandro Pelatti won the Master category for PMA Motorsport on Saturday and finished second on Sunday ahead of Denis Babuin in the Planet Motorsport Audi. Carlo Alberto Bocca was the second-best rookie on both days in the BF Motorsport Audi. In the Under-25 classification, Pietro Alessi finished second for BF Motorsports on Saturday ahead of Nicolas Taylor, who won this category the following day. The TCR Italy DSG for touring cars with dual-clutch transmissions also held its fifth round at Mugello. Mattia Lancellotti from Planet Motorsport finished second in the Audi RS 3 LMS on Saturday ahead of team-mate Gabriele Torelli. On Sunday, Lancellotti won by 0.2 seconds ahead of Torelli. The Master classification went to Gustavo Sandrucci in the Casals Motorsport Audi in both races. The best rookie in both races was Giacomo Prandelli in the Audi from Aikoa Racing, while Mattia Lancellotti was second best on Saturday and best driver in the Under-25 classification on Sunday. The fifth round of TCR Europe shook up the standings so fundamentally that no fewer than twelve drivers have a chance of winning the title at the series finale in Barcelona. The best Audi driver at the Red Bull Ring was Nicolas Taylor. The Canadian secured second place in the Audi RS 3 LMS from PMA Motorsport in a turbulent first race, which was interrupted by a red flag after a mass accident involving five cars. It was Taylor’s first podium finish in this racing series. At the same time, he was the second-best driver in the Young Driver category, finishing third in this class in the second race. Teddy Clairet, who had come to Austria as the championship leader in an Audi from the Clairet Sport team, had a disappointing weekend, finishing twelfth and seventh. However, the Frenchman is only seven points behind Marco Butti and Eric Gené, who are now tied for the lead. 70 points are still up for grabs in the final race on the last weekend of September. With Jimmy Clairet in fifth place, Nicola Baldan in seventh, and Nicolas Taylor in eighth, three other private Audi drivers still have a mathematical chance of winning the title. Things are also getting exciting again in TCR Eastern Europe. At the fifth event in Brno, Martin Kadlečik celebrated his best race weekend of the season so far in the Aditis Racing Audi RS 3 LMS. After winning the second and third rounds, the Czech driver won both sprint races in Brno for the first time. Initially, the two Hyundai drivers Adam Kout and Jiří Zbožínek dominated the first race. At the halfway point, Kadlečik overtook Zbožínek in front of him, and then passed Kout two minutes before the end. On Sunday, Kadlečik started from seventh place and was already fourth after two laps. A battle then ensued with championship leader Kout, which Kadlečik won with a clever maneuver on the final lap. This allowed the Audi driver, who is second in the championship standings, to significantly reduce the gap in the standings at his home race. Ahead of the finale at Balaton Park in Hungary, the gap narrowed from 20 to just eight points. Max Kruse Racing had a convincing weekend at the Nürburgring in German endurance racing. In the seventh round of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie, the team won the AT3 class with the Audi RS 3 LMS driven by Timo Hochwind/Christoph Lenz/Jasmin Preisig. The sister car driven by Christoph Lenz/Marcus Menden/Nico Otto finished second, 8.1 seconds behind, after four hours of racing. The Audi RS 3 LMS of the Goroyan RT by sharky-racing team won the SP3T class with Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky/Ivars Vallers. The same team also prevailed in the TCR class. Danny Brink/Artur Goroyan/Oleg Kvitka won this classification ahead of Møller Bil Motorsport with Atle Gulbrandsen/Anders Lindstad/Kenneth Østvold. The two Audi RS 3 LMS cars were separated by one lap at the finish. The following day saw a similar picture in the eighth race: once again, Hochwind/Lenz/Preisig were the best participants in the AT3 class, while Vallers and Åhlin-Kottulinsky shared victory in the SP3T class with Gabriel Rindone. The TCR victory went to Brink/Goroyan/Kvitka for the second time in a row. At the fifth weekend of the Italian club racing series Coppa Italia Turismo in Mugello, there was no way past the numerous Audi privateers. Koray Kamiloglu from the Erven Madem H2K Racing Team won the first race in an Audi RS 3 LMS ahead of Giuseppe Bodega and Ramazan Kaya, two drivers from BF Motorsport in two other Audis. In the second sprint, Denis Babuin from Planet Motorsport in an Audi prevailed over Fulvio Ferri in an RS 3 LMS from BF Motorsport. In the DSG classification for race cars with dual-clutch transmissions, Giacomo Orioli from Planet Motorsport was the winner twice. Third place in the first race went to his teammate Tiziano Bergamasco and in the second race to Temel Camlidag from BF Motorsport, both also in Audi cars. Team Chengdu RevX Racing made a strong showing in the fourth round of TCR Asia with the Audi RS 3 LMS. Chang Chien Shang finished third in the first race at the Inje circuit in Korea. In the second race, a four-way battle for victory unfolded at the end, with Audi driver Chang overtaking Hyundai driver Junui Park in the penultimate corner of the final lap to secure victory.

Audi R8 LMS GT4

Podium results in club racing: In the French Ultimate Cup Series, Herrero Racing and Team Speedcar recorded a total of seven podium finishes in the UCS4 class. At the fourth round of the series in Aragón, Spain, Pierre Arraou finished second in both of the first two sprint races in Herrero Racing’s Audi R8 LMS GT4 and won the remaining two sprints. Olivier Huez finished third in the second race and second in the fourth race in Speedcar’s Audi R8 LMS GT4. In between, his teammate Marine Pidoux finished third in the third race. The Audi R8 LMS GT4 also won trophies in South Africa. In the Extreme Supercars Driven by Dunlop racing series, Giacomo Giannoccaro finished third in class C in the first two of three sprints with Team G&H Transport.

Coming up in the next weeks

19–20/09 Christchurch (NZ), round 1, South Island Endurance Series
19–21/09 Valencia (E), round 5, GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup
19–21/09 Jerez (E), round 4, TCR Spain
19–21/09 Sepang (MAL), round 4, Thailand Super Series
19–21/09 Jerez (E), round 4, Campeonato de España GT
19–21/09 Indianapolis (USA), round 9, IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge
19–21/09 Barcelona (E), round 7, International GT Open
19–21/09 Vallelunga (I), round 3, TCR European Endurance
20–21/09 Wuhan (CHN), round 4, GT China Cup
20–21/09 Vallelunga (I), round 4, TCR European Endurance
20–21/09 Donington (GB), round 5, GT Cup Championship
26–27/09 Nürburgring (D), round 9, Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie
26–27/09 Barcelona (E), round 6, TCR Europe
26–28/09 Imola (I), round 3, Campionato Italiano GT Sprint
26–28/09 Barcelona (E), round 5, 24H Series European Series
26–28/09 Balaton Park (H), round 6, TCR Eastern Europe