Audi Sport customer racing managed a strong showing across Europe with its customers. While Comtoyou Racing remained unbeaten in TCR touring car racing at Le Castellet, LP Racing won a race with the Audi R8 LMS GT2 for the second time. Cups in the DTM, GT Open and DTM Trophy complete the tally.
Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)
Perfect weekend for Comtoyou Racing: The Belgian Audi customer team Comtoyou Racing popped the corks at the second event of the TCR Europe. Dutchman Tom Coronel started the first race at Le Castellet in the Audi RS 3 LMS from pole position. His Argentinean teammate Franco Girolami, coming from fifth place, was already third after the first turn. One lap later, he also overtook second-placed Hyundai driver Felice Jelmini. Comtoyou Racing held the double lead until the finish of the ten-lap sprint. Coronel managed his first win of the season by just under eight tenths of a second ahead of his South American teammate. In the second race with a reversed starting grid for the first ten drivers, Viktor Davidovski, the third Comtoyou Racing driver, was on pole position. The North Macedonian held off pursuer Klim Gavrilov for ten laps and won by half a second. This made Davidovski the first driver in the Diamond category to achieve an overall victory in the TCR Europe. Over the course of the first two events, each of the three Comtoyou drivers has thus claimed an overall victory. Girolami, as overall leader, has extended his lead in the standings from nine to 13 points, with Tom Coronel the new runner-up. Comtoyou Racing is 58 points ahead of its nearest rival in the team standings. Viktor Davidovski is 51 points ahead at the top of the Diamond classification for drivers who compete as amateurs and are at least 35 years old.
Audi R8 LMS GT2
In top form in the Alps: The Audi customer teams were again among the fastest teams on the second weekend of the GT2 European Series at the Red Bull Ring. In the first 50-minute race in Styria, French solo driver Henry Hassid in Team LP Racing’s Audi R8 LMS GT2 crossed the finish line in second place and was thus the best Am driver in the field. The two Belgians Peter Guelinckx and Bert Longin in another Audi managed to move up from ninth on the grid to position three, thus claiming another trophy. In the second race, Audi’s customers even achieved a double victory. Elia Erhart in the LP Racing Audi had to be stationary for 30 extra seconds at the pit stop after his regular teammate Michael Doppelmayr was unable to start due to unforeseen circumstances. In his drive, the Franconian stormed from fourth place to the top after the long pit stop and celebrated his first win of the season. Stienes Longin and Nicolas Saelens from PK Carsport, whose race had started in tenth place, completed the result in second place with a gap of just eight tenths of a second to a 1-2 victory for Audi customers.
Audi R8 LMS GT3
First podium result since his return: René Rast stood on the podium for the first time this year on the second race weekend of the DTM. The three-time champion, who returned to the series this year, had started the race at the Lausitzring from second place on the grid. His Kempten-based team significantly improved the set-up of his R8 LMS from Saturday to Sunday, enabling him to start from the front row. After 36 race laps, Rast in third place was only 1.817 seconds short of the winner. The Audi brand, which is represented in the DTM by the ABT, Attempto Racing and Rosberg teams, ranks second in the manufacturers standings after two of eight events.
Convincing performance at Le Castellet: Team Olimp Racing celebrated its best result to date at the second round of the International GT Open. Although the Audi R8 LMS of the Polish customer team had only started the race in eleventh place, Marcin Jedlinski and Karol Basz improved to second position. After the pit stop on lap 13 Karol Basz returned to the track in ninth place and towards the end engaged in a thrilling battle with two cars from Ferrari and a McLaren. During this race to catch up, he managed the fastest race lap in the field of 20 GT3 sports cars. On lap 26, the Pole was in third place for the first time. Three laps later, he overtook the car in front and secured second place. This made the team the best Pro-Am team at the finish.
Audi R8 LMS GT4
Successful start to the season for Heide-Motorsport: The DTM Trophy started with two podium places for Audi’s customers. Thiago Vivacqua had secured second place on the grid for the first race in the Audi R8 LMS GT4 at the season opener at the Lausitzring. Shortly after the start, the Brazilian from Team Heide-Motorsport was just ahead but the eventual winner Tim Heinemann had caught the more favorable track and overtook him again. At the end of his first participation in the DTM Trophy, Vivacqua was second, 3.053 seconds behind. Position three also went to an Audi customer team. T3 Motorsport from Dresden achieved this podium result at its home race with American John Paul Southern. After the first of seven events, Vivacqua is second best of 20 drivers in the standings, while Heide-Motorsport is second in the field of ten teams.
