JB Motorsport has taken their second consecutive win in the Swedish GT Championship, remaining unbeaten so far this year. Round two of the Championship was held at Mantorp Park this weekend.
The team performed well all weekend long and claimed pole position for the sixty minute race on Saturday. The race itself saw the JB Motorsport Audi R8 LMS, which was driven by Jan Brunstedt and Christer Lindholm, head on to a comfortable victory ahead of the field.
It was a great result for the Swedish team and they are looking forward to round three of the series, which will take place at the Göteborg City Arena on June 29.
Detroit is hosting the fourth meeting of the Pirelli World Challenge season, a temporary street course at Belle Island.
Race 1 has already been held today, with some good performances from the GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS cars. The Detroit race weekend has a smaller grid when compared to the previous rounds, with only 9 cars in the upper GT class. Right from the start the safety car made its appearance after a KIA crashed on the front straight. The cars were forced to stay behind the safety car for several minutes. The race went back to green and James Sofronas, the series leader with his #14 Audi R8 LMS, started to battle with Cadillac's Andy Pilgrim for third place. A few minutes later there was another crash and the safety car was deployed again, for a long yellow flag period. When the race resumed Sofronas was very fast and continued to push Pilgrim, but the Audi driver was simply out of time. James Sofronas finished the race in fourth. The race win went to Johnny O'Connel in the Cadillac CTS-V ahead of Randy Pobst's semi-works Volvo S60 in second and Andy Pilgrim's Cadillac CTS-V in third.
Another GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS doing well was the #24 car of Duncan Ende. Despite being far from the leading group, Ende battled well for fifth place against a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG and a Porsche 997 GT3. Ende finished the race in seventh place.
Race 2 is set for tomorrow, a 50-minute sprint format. We wish the best of luck to James Sofronas and the whole GMG Racing Audi team.
By Johan Laubscher The third round of the Australian GT Championship took place at Phillip Island last weekend. The two Audis from Melbourne Performance Centre and Minda Motorsport performed very well. Two sets of top ten finishes were achieved by the Audi R8 LMS and ultra teams. Other Side Productions has produced another Australian GT highlights video for the series. The highlights package featuring round three hat Phillip Island as been embedded below:
Once again, sport-auto had invited an illustrious selection of members of the pedal to the metal industry to the Tuner Grand Prix 2013 and almost all came to the Motordrome Short Course to show what's what when it comes down to metres and tenths of a second. The selected track measures not quite 2.6 kilometres, which is demanding for test drivers and machines alike.
Driving the Audi R8, Florian Gruber, MTM's chief racer and test driver, emphatically answered every question about who was the day's fastest with a lap time of 1:06.695 minutes. Nobody in the field of 66 starters was able to better it. In addition to its dominant role on the track, the 606 hp ten cylinder engine has also received the blessing of the TÜV (German Technical Inspection Authority) for use on the public highway; equipped with a height-adjustable chassis with three-part BBS wheel rims with central locking and tyres to match (Michelin Pilot Sport Cup - VA 295/30 - 18, HA 345/30-19) and a passenger seat.
All the same, Florian Gruber recorded a best time of 1:14.0 at the wheel of the MTM A1 quattro, enabling him to break into the ranks of the next higher class dominated by hot VW Golfs.
Roland Mayer, MTM's Managing Director and petrol head in one and the same person, voiced his satisfaction with the performance: "Armed with a stopwatch and under comparable conditions it's always good to show what a car prepared by MTM is capable of. On some another occasion, we will then demonstrate that our success is built not just on peak performance but on our reliability as well.
This year a racing edition of the MTM R8 is putting in an appearance at the international GT Sprint Series but with 40 hp less than the road version because of restrictions imposed by the rules. Up-and-coming racer Thomas Schöffler is available to the MTM team, as he was last year. Who will be driving the second MTM R8 at the next race meeting at the Slovakia Ring (8 - 9 June 2013) near the capital Bratislava will be decided shortly. The 10-cylinder naturally aspirated engines with their 560 hp will then have to prove themselves against international competition with illustrious names such as Porsche, Maserati and Ferrari. Noblesse oblige.
Minda Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 Rnd#3, Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli Phillip Island, Victoria (24-26 May)
Three rounds into the 2013 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli, Minda Motorsport’s reigning Trophy Class champions continue to punch above their weight in the Equity-One Audi R8 LMS. Team-mates Dean Koutsoumidis and Andrew McInnes continue to improve with every outing to be right in the championship fight amongst an array of much newer 2013-specification cars.
“We weren’t sure what to expect from the ‘upgrade’ from the Lamborghini we ran last season to the newer specification 2011 Audi R8 LMS, especially given the large number of new and upgraded cars we are competing against this year,” Dean Koutsoumidis explained. “But so far, we’ve been able to mix it with some of the newer cars and be right in the thick of the action, and here we are at the mid-point of the season, and we’re doing very nicely thank you very much!”
Despite almost three months since the Adelaide round with the V8 Supercars, the team had been able to turn some practice laps during test sessions at Phillip Island, with both drivers ‘in the groove’ ahead of the Phillip Island round, although by race day, Andrew McInnes was lamenting a lack of time in the car..
“Our arrangement is that whoever is the slower driver after qualifying buys dinner for the team that night,” McInnes explained. “Dean drove in two of the three practice sessions, the sponsor ride session and qualifying, and now he’s faster, so it’s my shout.. #&*%!”
Despite the unpredictable nature of the Phillip Island venue at this time of year, race one provided cool but dry conditions, although with a 3:55pm start under cloud cover, the fading light was always going to provide an added level of intensity.
Off the fourth row, alongside F3 star James Winslow in the 2012-spec Audi R8 ultra of Rod Salmon (the former car owner of the #71 R8 LMS), Dean made a great start to be in the thick of the battle over fourth position, although far enough back not to be caught up in Justin McMillan’s wild spin on the exit of the final corner on lap two.
From there he sat comfortably, not too far off the battle for fourth, to be sixth by the time he was due in for his compulsory pit stop [CPS]. Andrew rejoined in eighth position, but was quickly through on Jim Manolios and Rod Salmon to take over sixth, which became fifth after points leader Klark Quinn stopped again after damaging a tyre.
“That’s not a bad result,” Koutsoumidis grinned post-race. “It was nice to see Andrew have a bit of a go for a change.. [laughs].”
Clearly fired up by his team-mate’s comments, McInnes fired off the line in race two to give the recovering Justin McMillan and Ferrari’s Peter Edwards something to think about, the #71 Audi filling the mirrors of the two 2013-spec cars all the way to the pit stop, handing the car over to Koutsoumidis in fifth place.
Dean rejoined the race in seventh, which quickly became sixth after the demise of Roger Lago’s Lamborghini, but during his stint he was caught and passed by Winslow in Rod Salmon’s Audi, the Equity-One/Minda Motorsport Audi crossing the line in seventh place for more valuable championship points.
“The car was faultless all weekend,” Dean acknowledged afterwards. “It didn’t put a wheel wrong, and our lap times improved with almost every session. Consistency really is the key for us this year because we just don’t have the outright aero grip of the newer cars, but we’re always there, and with three rounds still to come, we’re still in the points race!”
For the Minda Motorsport team the next round of the championship will come in six weeks time at Sydney Motorsport Park (Eastern Creek) on July 12-14.
2013 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli Rnd#3, Phillip Island - Qualifying [May 25] 01. 36. Jack Le Brocq - Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 [CHAMP] - 1:26.5248R 02. 88. John Bowe - Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 [CHAMP] - 1:27.4308 03. 7. Tony Quinn - Aston Martin Vantage GT3 [CHAMP] - 1:28.0291 04. 23. Roger Lago - Lamborghini Gallardo LP560 GT3 [CHAMP] - 1:28.8855 05. 48. Justin McMillan - Lamborghini Gallardo LP600+ GT3 [CHAMP] - 1:29.0617 06. 1. Klark Quinn - Porsche GT3-R [CHAMP] - 1:29.1267 07. 71. Dean Koutsoumidis - Audi R8 LMS GT3 [CHAMP] - 1:30.5255 08. 6. Rod Salmon - Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra [CHAMP] - 1:31.3387 09. 75. Steve McLaughlan - Dodge Viper Competition Coupé [TROPHY] - 1:33.9012 10. 29. Jim Manolios - Chevrolet Corvette Z06.R [CHAMP] - 1:35.9553
Race #1 [May 25] 01. 36. Jack Le Brocq - Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 [CHAMP] - 39-laps 02. 7. Tony Quinn - Aston Martin Vantage GT3 [CHAMP] 03. 23. Roger Lago - Lamborghini Gallardo LP560 GT3 [CHAMP] 04. 88. John Bowe/Peter Edwards - Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 [CHAMP] 05. 71. Dean Koutsoumidis/Andrew McInnes - Audi R8 LMS GT3 [CHAMP] - 38-laps 06. 6. Rod Salmon/James Winslow - Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra [CHAMP] 07. 1. Klark Quinn - Porsche GT3-R [CHAMP] - 36-laps 08. 19. Mark Griffith/Jack Perkins - Ginetta G50 GT4 [Sport] 09. 29. Jim Manolios - Chevrolet Corvette Z06.R [CHAMP] 10. 73 Michael Hovey - Ginetta G50 GT4 [Sport] - 35-laps
Race #2 [May 26] 01. 36. Jack Le Brocq - Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 [CHAMP]- 38-laps 02. 7. Tony Quinn - Aston Martin Vantage GT3 [CHAMP] 03. 1. Klark Quinn - Porsche GT3-R [CHAMP] 04. 88. John Bowe/Peter Edwards - Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 [CHAMP] 05. 48. Justin McMillan - Lamborghini Gallardo LP600+ GT3 [CHAMP] 06. 6. Rod Salmon/James Winslow - Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra [CHAMP] 07. 71. Dean Koutsoumidis/Andrew McInnes- Audi R8 LMS GT3 [CHAMP] - 37-laps 08. 75. Steve McLaughlan - Dodge Viper Competition Coupé [TROPHY] - 36-laps 09. 29. Jim Manolios - Chevrolet Corvette Z06.R [CHAMP] 10. 19. Mark Griffith/Jack Perkins - Ginetta G50 GT4 [Sport]
A highlights package will be televised on SBS Speedweek on Sunday, June 9 from 2:00pm AEST (check local guides for confirmation).
Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli GT Championship points(after round three of six) 1. Klark Quinn (195 points), 2. Tony Quinn (141), 3. Roger Lago (135), 4. Craig Baird (133), 5. Peter Edwards/John Bowe (118), 6. Dean Koutsoumidis/Andrew McInnes (115), 7. Justin McMillan (111), 8. Jack Le Brocq (110), 9. Jim Manolios (70), 10. Rod Salmon (65), 11. Christian Klien (70), 12. Andrew Taplin (59), 13. Shane Van Gisbergen/Matt Kingsley (54)
2013 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli - calendar Rnd#1, 8-10 February - Bathurst 12-Hour, NSW Rnd#2, 28 Feb - 3 March - Clipsal, Adelaide, SA Rnd#3, 24-26 May - Phillip Island, Victoria Rnd#4, 12-14 July - Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW Rnd#5, 2-4 August - Queensland Raceway, Ipswich, QLD Rnd#6, 8-10 November - Highland Motorsport Park, NZ
Minda Motorsport is proudly supported by Equity-One Mortgage Fund.
For more information, please contact Minda Motorsport on 03 5995 3943.
By Johan Laubscher The annual TunerGP was held at Hockenheim this past weekend, the sport auto High Performance Days 2013. It is a very popular European event for Tuning companies. MTM (Moteren Technik Mayer) has taken part in this event for many years, and this year they added a special car to their entry.
The MTM team has been competing in the Italian Superstars GT Sprint Series this season, using an Audi R8 LMS race car. They have shown good pace and results so far this year. The team decided to enter their Audi R8 LMS at the TunerGP. The event requires modified streetcars, thus MTM modified the specification of their R8 LMS to make it eligible for the TunerGP. The modifications allowed the car to be registered for street legislation and it was entered in the C15-A class for "supersportler" cars. The changes to the car included: raised ride-height, added passenger seat and new BBS three piece rims with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires. Florian Gruber drove the Audi at the event. The car was named the MTM R8 RS, after its modifications for the TunerGP. Gruber was able to post very fast lap times, which ultimately won the event overall. The overall average winning lap time was 1:06.695. The results from the TunerGP can be seen HERE. It was a great result for MTM, and the car looked and sounded great circling the short version of Hockenheim. An onboard video and photos from the MTM website have been included below. Photo credit and more information: MTM website MTM on Facebook
GMG Racing introduced the Audi R8 LMS in the Pirelli World Challenge during 2012. That was the first North American appearance for the all-conquering Audi GT3 racer. This year GMG Racing is fully committed to the SCCA sanctioned series, with no less than four to five cars, achieving brilliant performances and results.
So far so good for Audi in the 2013 Pirelli World Challenge. James Sofronas, the team co-owner and driver, is leading the points standings. Sofronas, with his #14 Audi R8 LMS, won three out of the first five races so far this year. Victories in race 2 at St. Petersburg, at Long Beach and race 2 at the Circuit of the Americas. At first it looks easy for Sofronas, however the leading Audi driver is facing fierce competition from the full factory Cadillac CTS-Vs and the semi-works K-PAX Volvos S60s. All the races so far have seen great battles on track between the three brands, in a very competitive GT class field.
James Sofronas is currently ranked first with 661 points, ahead of the Cadillac duo of Andy Pilgrim (481 pts) and Johnny O'Connell (461 pts). In the manufacturers standing Audi is first with 43 points, Cadillac in second with 35 points and Volvo in third with 25 points. This is the first time that the Audi brand has been at the top of the SCCA World Challenge since the Champion Racing era with the Audi RS 6.
The other GMG Racing drivers are improving as well. Duncan Ende is seventh, Alex Welch is ninth and Bret Curtis is tenth. Jeff Courtney (JCR Motorsports), who is running the only Audi R8 GRAND-AM in the field, is currently twelfth overall.
The next round of the Pirelli World Challenge will be at the Grand Prix of Detroit. Audi, GMG Racing and James Sofronas will try to keep their lead against the locals and arch rivals from Cadillac.
AUSTIN, Texas (May 19, 2013)- In what has been an unbelievable 2013 Pirelli World Challenge Season, GMG’s James Sofronas took his third victory of the season during this weekend’s fourth and fifth rounds at Circuit of the Americas.
“Wow, what an incredible day,” stated Sofronas. “Yesterday’s race with Johnny showed we knew we had a good car, and once again luck was on our side today. The key to this entire season has been having a reliable and consistent car in the Audi R8 LMS, and a crew that has been relentless in looking over every detail. The support we’ve had from Audi on this program has obviously been instrumental, and the guys have been working non-stop to get us here. I’m glad we can celebrate with all of them.”
Following a successful test at the brand-new Austin, Texas facility, the entire Global Motorsports Group (GMG) came in to this weekend’s rounds of the championship knowing that they had a team capable of victory. With a series-record seven cars entered by the team, five of them being the Audi R8 LMS, Sofronas never lost a step in pursuit of his first series championship.
Starting Saturday’s fourth round from the second position, James’ No. 14 Mobil 1 / Children’s Tumor Foundation Audi R8 LMS had a fairly quiet race. Falling back during the standing start, a spirited battle between Sofronas and the No. 8 Cadillac of Andy Pilgrim as well as GMG teammate Duncan Ende led to race-leader Johnny O’Connell building a healthy lead over the field. While Sofronas would comfortably place himself in second during the later stages of the race, the pace of O’Connell’s No. 3 Cadillac was simply too much, with James finishing second; his fourth straight podium.
During today’s fifth round, however, the race would take a significantly different turn. Starting on the front row, the Audi R8 LMS would fall back to third behind the leading Cadillacs. By lap three, the Cadillac of O’Connell would pull to the side with mechanical gremlins. With Sofronas now in second, the balance over the course of the race for the Audi allowed the No. 14 to gain ground on the now-leading Cadillac of Pilgrim. Over time, the consistency of the No. 14 was simply too much for Pilgrim, with Sofronas taking the lead on lap eight and never looking back.
It would be the third victory in five races for James’ 2013 effort, and the Villa Park, California resident has never been off the podium this season.
For Duncan Ende’s No. 24 STANDD / Merchant Services, Ltd. Audi R8 LMS, a seventh and fifth-place finish were not indicative of the Californian’s overall showing.
After qualifying seventh for Saturday’s round, Ende made immediate work of the field in front of him, eventually finding himself glued to Sofronas’ rear-end during the middle stages of the race. Fighting his teammate hard for a podium position, a late re-start would allow Alex Figge’s No. 9 Volvo to put Ende behind, eventually fading back to seventh in the mix, and literally finishing 0.1 seconds behind Mike Skeen’s No. 2 Corvette in a last lap drag race.
For today’s round, Ende was determined to translate his third starting position into his first career Pirelli World Challenge podium. For much of the race it looked like that would finally materialize. Never losing site of his teammate, Ende pursued Sofronas during the entirety of the race. Finding himself in third after O’Connell’s retirement, Ende would spend a good deal of the middle portion of the race battling with the Cadillac of Andy Pilgrim, eventually making the pass with less than 10 laps to go. Sitting in second, a late-race caution would put Duncan right behind race leader James Sofronas for a three-lap shootout to the end. Unfortunately, a punctured left rear tire prior to the caution would create a handful for Ende, eventually leading to Pilgrim passing him on the re-start. Ende would nurse the car home for the final laps, eventually settling for fifth.
“Another crazy weekend, what do I say?” stated Ende. “I was disappointed with Friday’s qualifying, so it was great to come back on Saturday and immediately catch up to James. We didn’t have any mechanical issues and we were finally able to show our ability, but I just caught some bad breaks in traffic and fell back. Today was another great race, we just slipped at the end with the tire. I was really hoping to race James at the end and finally come home with some hardware, but I went wide to avoid crashing into Andy, and from there I was just trying to nurse the car home. It’s disappointing to miss the podium again, but at least we were in contention all weekend and free of mechanical issues.”
For Alex Welch’s No. 08 Spyder / Lasso Audi R8 LMS, a quiet weekend would net two top-10 finishes for the Colorado resident. On Saturday, Welch would run consistent and trouble free to an eventual ninth-place finish. Running one of the fastest laps in the field, Alex was part of a massive mid-field battle, never putting a scratch on the car in the process.
Looking for another top-10 on Sunday, Welch set his fastest lap of the weekend during the race’s third lap, once again fighting hard with the Corvette of Mike Skeen and the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 of Tim Pappas, eventually taking sixth.
“I’m pretty happy with the weekend,” stated Welch. “The strength of James’ and Duncan’s runs showed just how good the program is, and with a little less traffic I think we could have the No. 08 right there. It was great to run clean with Tim and Mike, and I think we found a few things that will help us this season. I definitely have my eyes set on a podium at my next race.”
For Bret Curtis, a mixed weekend was on hand for the Westlake Village, California resident. After showing strong during practice, Curtis showed the potential of the No. 32 Spectra Resources Audi R8 LMS by qualifying the car in fifth on Friday.
Unfortunately, the highlights stopped there as Curtis had a difficult race on Saturday. On lap five, an errant Porsche crashed hard in to the No. 32, causing unrepairable damage to Curtis’ vehicle and retiring in 16th place.
Hoping for better results on Sunday, a hard weekend of car repairs by the GMG crew would give Curtis another great car, however unfortunate luck would rear its head again. On the first turn of the race, another incident would cause damage yet again, this time allowing Curtis to continue on, though wounded, to a quiet ninth.
“We definitely could have used a little better luck out here,” stated Curtis. “I was really pumped after Friday. To qualify in fifth we showed our potential, the guys really gave me a good car. Saturday’s incident was really unfortunate. The other driver’s move was nothing I would have expected, and pretty frustrating. The guys did a great job getting the car turned around. Unfortunately, contact again today before I was out of the first turn kind of ruined any hope of doing well, but at least we were able to get a top-10 out of it. The potential is definitely there for some great results, hopefully it will show soon.”
Running a forgettable weekend was team newcomer Mike Hedlund. Driving the No. 40 Audi R8 LMS, the Woodside, California native showed considerable ability in a car he’d never driven prior to this weekend. Qualifying at a similar time to his teammates, Mike went in to the weekend with high expectations. However, a series of mechanical problems would prove otherwise. During Saturday’s race, an overheating issue while in sixth place would cause Hedlund to retire, eventually credited with 15th. Twenty-four hours later, the driver would retire again with gearbox issues.
“It definitely wasn’t the weekend we had wanted,” stated Hedlund. “It’s part of racing to have mechanical gremlins like this, hopefully it’s all out of the way now for next time. I really appreciate all the effort that the GMG guys put into the car, and it would have been nice to have had some results. Regardless, I appreciate the opportunity, and wish the team the best for the year!”
Finally, Bill Ziegler’s No. 95 Swisher Racing Pontiac would also have a very mixed weekend in the GTS category. Continuing to develop their machine, a promising series of runs in practice and qualifying were unfortunately marred by mechanical retirements on Saturday and Sunday.
“It definitely wasn’t the weekend we’d hoped for,” stated Ziegler. “Development is a big part of this program, and unfortunately it means you can have weekends like this one. I appreciate all the work that the GMG guys did to get us here, and we’ll get them at Detroit.”
With the team putting a very strong stamp on the Pirelli World Challenge GT Championship, there is little time to relax as the team prepares for the next round in just two weeks. The Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix will hold the sixth and seventh rounds of the championship on Saturday, June 1 and Sunday, June 2.
NBC Sports Network will feature television coverage of this weekend’s race at Circuit of the Americas on Sunday, June 16, at 5PM ET.
About GMG
Founded in 2001 by James Sofronas and Fabryce Kutyba, GMG has quickly established itself as North America’s premier performance tuning and racing facility. What began as a small 1200 sq. ft. shop, maintaining two race cars, has grown into a 30,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art performance tuning, racing and service facility located in (Orange County) Santa Ana, California. The staff's experience, attention to detail, and passion are what make GMG the choice of professionals and enthusiasts world wide. Whether you want to maximize the performance of your street car, or race wheel-to-wheel on both amateur and professional racing series across North America, GMG’s reputation for service and quality is unmatched. Learn more at www.gmgracing.com
About Mobil 1
Conventional oil is simply refined crude oil. Mobil 1 synthetic oil, however, is not only refined, but it is also distilled, purified, and broken down into its basic molecules. It is then rebuilt and added to, so that it can better protect against wear, high heat, cold weather and sludge buildup. Ultimately, this process helps your car’s engine run better for longer. You can explore more about these benefits below. Learn more at www.mobiloil.com
About Lasso
Lasso is a request-based, sharing network predicated on a very simple idea: You have something that I want—and you may not even know it until I ask for it. With so much content cluttering our phones, tablets, PCs and social networks, it can be difficult to seek out and find the specific items of interest to you. Friends or colleagues may not share this content with you directly because they’re drowning in data overload themselves. Often, these friends aren’t sure exactly what you want. Lasso makes it easy for you to round up the digital content you want from friends—simply by asking for it. By putting the onus on the requester, instead of the person holding the content, you’ll be in a much better position to actually receive the digital content you’re interested in.
Learn more at www.lasso.me
About Merchant Services Ltd.
In 2001 Merchant Services Ltd. was founded with three basic principles in mind: quality, service, and commitment. Inspired by our racing heritage we pride ourself in providing the highest level of customer service and support 24 hours a day 365 days a year. Merchant Services Ltd. develops long term relationships with both our merchants and banking partners allowing us to have the highest customer retention rate in the industry. Founded by a professional race car driver, innovation and efficiency have always been our core competencies, ensuring that our merchants receive the cutting edge solutions their businesses need.
Learn more at www.merchantservicesltd.com
About Spyder
Spyder was founded by avid skier and outdoor athlete David Jacobs. He rose to world-class rankings as a competitive skier, and stayed connected to the sport he loves by coaching, designing related products, and building one of the most powerful brands in the industry. His dedication to the sport of skiing and the Spyder brand is as inspiring as it is intriguing. Spyder's growth exploded over the turn of the century, and the company is now the largest ski-specialty brand in the world. David has recently discovered the adrenaline rush in racing classic Formula One cars, finding success - not surprisingly - in this new pastime. For a man who's thrived on sports, technology, and professional advancement, the world is sure to see David go a few more times around the track.
Learn more at www.spyder.com
About Spectra Resources
Spectra Resources is a specialized trading company designed for buyers and sellers to purchase and sell steel in any part of the world efficiently and economically.
Learn more at www.spectraresources.com
About STANDD
Stop Texting And Distracted Driving (STANDD) was founded by Diveeta Thompson, whose son Rodney lost his life while driving. There were numerous factors that played a factor - speed, music, and texting. In an effort to raise awareness about the dangers of texting and driving, Diveeta founded STANDD and has been working diligently throughout her home state of Indiana and nationally through Duncan Ende's motorsports program to spread the message of the dangers of distracted driving. STANDD also promotes the Rodney O. Thompson II Scholarship, which was established to help young people fulfill their goal of attending college after high school.
Learn more at www.standd.org
Learn more at www.racersroast.com
About Swisher
The company began in 1861 when David Swisher received a small cigar business in settlement of a debt. Back then, cigars were only a sideline for Swisher and his four sons, just one of many products that they hawked across the Midwest for the “rolling stores” or wagons. Today, Swisher International, Inc. is a leader in the tobacco business, accounting for one-third of the United States' cigar sales and is America’s largest cigar exporter.
Learn more at www.swisher.com
About United Steel Supply
United Steel Supply is a leading distributor and processor of steel products dedicated to the metal building industry in the United States. Learn more at www.unitedsteelsupply.com
The second round of the European Le Mans Series was held last weekend on the Italian circuit of Imola. During the previous race held over 3 hours on the British Silverstone circuit the Dylan Derdaele (B), Raffi Bader (CH), Kuba Giermaziak (PL) trio had claimed a first podium place in the GTC class. Despite the good prospects of clinching a second podium place in a row the Audi R8 LMS of the MOMO-Megatron-DF1 Team experienced a technical problem with its brakes. Everything was running smoothly up until the 60th lap! The front brake lining literally went up in smoke and the American Audi-Team was then confronted with a leaking oil line.
With a starting grid of 28 cars the GTC class was strongly represented with seven top cars. In varying weather conditions the MOMO-Megatron-DF1 Team concentrated on the set-up of the Audi R8 LMS for this difficult circuit. Their efforts were finally rewarded with an excellent third best time in GTC during the qualifying. It was once more to be a challenge for the young Derdaele, Giermaziak and Bader trio.
Raffi Bader: "After Silverstone we experienced a fair amount of bad luck during the race here in Imola. The brake cooling was set at "shortrun". This resulted in the brakes not being ideally cooled".
Kuba Giermaziak: "Unfortunately up against the new Ferrari and Lamborghini our Audi R8 LMS was no match regarding lap times".
Also Dylan Derdaele was not really satisfied with the performance of the Audi R8 LMS as compared to the competition: "There is work to be done. Through some heavy test sessions we need to improve the performance of the Audi R8 LMS before the next round of the ELMS on the Austrian Red Bull Ring in order to take on our rivals ", the fast young Belgian concluded.
The Circuit of the Americas is hosting the third round of the Pirelli World Challenge this weekend. The series is supporting the V8 Supercars in Texas. A full field of Audi R8 race cars have entered the demanding GT class with positive performances.
The 50-minute sprint race saw a great battle for the win, which went right down to the checkered flag. James Sofronas, the series points leader with his #14 Audi R8 LMS, finished in a close second place. The GMG Racing team owner and driver crossed the finish line right behind the winner, Johnny O'Connel, in the factory Cadillac CTS-V. The Austin track produced a great race and battles with a good quality field in both the GT and GTS classes. The other Audi R8 cars finished in seventh place with Duncan Ende and ninth with Alex Welch, both driving for GMG Racing. The only Audi R8 GRAND-AM in the field was driven by Jeff Courtney and ended in tenth place. Unfortunately Bret Curtis and Mike Hedlund faced troubles during the race.
The second race is set for tomorrow. We wish the best of luck for all six Audi R8 drivers.
The MTM team was obliged to contest the first race of this series, run at the beginning of April in Monza, with all its talent for improvisation and a thick wadge of experience garnered on the world's fastest tracks, since the decision to take part in this competition having been made at very short notice. "Top performance is best demonstrated in sports. That is part of our company philosophy" was how MTM boss Roland Mayer explained his recent involvement in an international competition. Olivier Mayer, an old stager of the Ingolstadt "pedal to the metal" guild and no relation of the MTM founder, whether by blood or marriage, fought his corner creditably, impressively demonstrating the potential performance of an MTM Audi R8 LMS in the face of the overmighty Ferrari 458 and Porsche 997.
The Wettstetten team has hit its competitive stride before the second race of the series, to be held next weekend in Brünn in the Czech Republic, and will be taking on its competitors with fresh drivers, new livery and a large racing car transporter. Thomas Schöffler, last year the stand-out rookie of the Superstar Series, and old hand Johan Kristofferson will each be driving an R8 LMS fielded by MTM. The phalanx of competitors should take the two Audi racing cars with their 10 cylinder naturally aspirated engines seriously. They have demonstrated their enormous performance in numerous races in every corner of the globe. With Schöffler's and Kristofferson's intervention in the GT Sprint Series action we have two drivers who are always in contention for podium places.
After the second race in Brünn there are another six races in the programme before the title is awarded. Slovakiaring, Zolder, Portimao, Donington, Imola and Vallelunga.
By Johan Laubscher The 2013 Nürburgring 24 Hours weekend has arrived. To kick off the weekend let us have a look at this legendary track during the darkness of the night. The video below features an Audi R8 LMS competing during the night in the 2009 Nürburgring 24 Hours. The video gives one a taste of the challenges of racing on this track in the dark. Phoenix Racing and Audi are the reining champions with the Audi R8 LMS ultra. This year eight Audi R8 LMS ultra are taking part in the event fielded by five different teams. A number of other Audis are also entered in the event which is set to be another great 24 Hours at the Green Hell.
The GT Asia series held its first round in Japan this weekend. Twin Ring Motegi hosted the event and a total of five Audi R8 LMS and ultra cars took part.
Absolute Racing were out in force with three 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra cars and a strong driver line-up. Two more Audis were entered by Dilango Racing and Hitotsuyama Racing, fielding one car each, an Audi R8 LMS ultra (2013) and an older R8 LMS respectively.
The Audis performed well during the sessions and achieved good qualifying positions. All five Audis qualified within the top ten for race one, being lead by the #7 R8 LMS ultra in third place. For race two three Audis were within the top ten grid, again being lead by the #7 in third.
Race one saw very wet and difficult conditions on Saturday afternoon. The Audis dropped back during the race, but an overall top five result was achieved by the #98 Absolute Racing entry driven by Philip Ma and Cong Fu Cheng. The other Audis finished outside of the top ten. Hitotsuyama Racing also finished within the top five of their class, finishing fifth in the GTM class. The first race was won by the #2 Asia Racing Team Porsche 911 GT3 R. The results from race one can be seen HERE.
A sunny day greeted the competitors for race two on Sunday. The race got underway on a dry track, a complete contrast to race one yesterday. The race saw an improvement as three Audis finished within the top ten. The highest placed Audi was again a fifth place finish overall, this time with the #7 Absolute Racing entry driven by Marchy Lee and Jeffrey Lee. The #888 of Francis Hideki Onda and Alex Yoong finished sixth followed by the #88 entry from Hitotsuyama Racing in ninth overall and second in the GTM class. Race two as won by the #007 Craft Racing Aston Martin Vantage V12 GT3. The results from race two can be seen HERE.
The second round of the GT Asia series will also take place in Japan, to be hosted at Okayama in June.
PK Carsport is one of the most prestigious and successful sportscar teams from Belgium. The team was revived this year after many years of absence. They have chosen to compete in the Belgian Racing Car Championship with the Audi R8 LMS.
Last weekend Circuit Zolder hosted the first round of the BRCC, a support event to the FIA GT Series. It was a perfect debut for PK Carsport with Audi. They qualified in fifth place. With the 2010 spec R8 LMS (ex Team Rosberg) of Anthony Kumpen, Bert Longin and Maarten Makelberge they won the 90 minutes endurance race, less than five seconds ahead the second placed Porsche 996 GT3-RS from ProSpeed Competition.
Anthony Kumpen, who also raced in the FIA GT Series on the same weekend with Phoenix Racing, was delighted after this fantastic victory: "I am very happy to finish this superb weekend on the highest step of the podium." (quotes sourced from BRCC)
The second round of the BRCC will be in France at Circuit Dijon-Prenois in May, with the three PK Carsport Audi drivers leading the overall points standings.
LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 22, 2013)- In yet another wild round of the Pirelli World Challenge, GMG’s James Sofronas came away from yesterday’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach with his second consecutive victory of the season.
“Wow, I am the luckiest guy in the world,” stated Sofronas. “I never want to see bad luck take anyone out, but at the same time it was a huge coup for us to win at our home track. We probably didn’t have the fastest car, but somehow Lady Luck gifted us another one today.” With the entire GMG organization being based just 30 minutes south of the famed Long Beach street circuit, Sofronas came in to the weekend looking to really deliver in front of his clients, family, and friends. Qualifying the car on pole position, today’s race was anything but smooth for the Newport Beach resident.
As the green flag fell for the series’ signature standing start, Sofronas’ no. 14 Mobil 1 / Children’s Tumor Foundation Audi R8 LMS had a solid run headed in to the first turn, but was no match for the Volvo S60 and Cadillac CTS-V.R entries, who have spent several seasons refining their ability to launch from a standstill. With the field settling in to its pace for the opening laps, Sofronas was in a familiar top-five position behind the leading no. 9 Volvo of Alex Figge and no. 3 Cadillac of Johnny O’Connell.
As the race progressed, Sofronas established a comfortable pace in third, however the Audi did not appear to have anything for the two leaders in front of him. The race nearing the end, Sofronas appeared to simply settle in to a third-place run, opting to preserve the car and focus on valuable championship points.
However, with four laps to go, the race would take a chaotic turn. Headed in to the first corner, a major mechanical failure on the rear end of race leader Alex Figge would send the no. 9 Volvo in to a dramatic spin down the corner’s escape road. With GTS driver Andy Lee incurring an unrelated accident simultaneously, the race would fall under caution.
With Figge out, Johnny O’Connell assumed the lead, with Sofronas now in second. A significant amount of track cleanup would be required and it was expected that the race would stay under caution until the end, thereby gifting O’Connell the victory.
With the Cadillac team on the cusp of their first victory in the 2013 season, a bizarre change of fortune would occur. As Figge’s Volvo suffered from its rear-end failure, pieces of debris from the car punctured the trailing Cadillac’s radiator, meaning O’Connell was losing water fast as his car circled during the final caution laps. With Sofronas not allowed to pass under caution, the Californian simply had to spend the final laps watching a smoking O’Connell limp his way to the finish.
However, with only a half-lap left, O’Connell’s engine finally gave up entirely, with the Cadillac driver being left with no choice but to pull over and get out of his retired car. Sofronas would cruise home to victory in the final five corners, literally taking the lead on the last lap, and under caution.
Furthering his championship point lead, Sofronas took his fifth career victory and second at Long Beach. “I absolutely hate it for Johnny and Alex, they were both the class of the field,” stated Sofronas. “However, everyone at the team deserved this. The guys put a lot of time in to making a great appearance at our home race, and we couldn’t have had a better result. We have such great momentum for Austin, but first I want to enjoy today with my family.”
Also finishing in the same position he started was Los Angeles-native Duncan Ende. However, much like Sofronas, Ende’s path to finishing where he qualified was not exactly easy. When the race started for Ende’s no. 24 Merchant Services Ltd. / STANDD Audi R8 LMS, a mechanical issue at the start would slow the car significantly for the opening lap. Driving with a handicap that essentially held back the cars overall speed, Ende found himself languishing at the back of the field by time he approached his second lap.
By time his second lap began, the issue had cleared itself, forcing Ende to once again fight his way from behind. Ende made impressive work of the field in front of him, steadily gaining position lap-by-lap, eventually finding his way to fourth at the finish.
“That was probably the hardest I’ve ever driven to finish where I started,” stated Ende, who took his first-ever Long Beach podium yesterday during his race in the American Le Mans Series. “We had a bit of an issue at the start and that really held me back, but luckily the issue cleared itself out. We had quite a few little hiccups during the course of the race, but somehow our good luck matched our bad to finish where we started. We’re one step closer to a podium, and I think the race in Austin should suit us well.”
Also taking his first top-five of the season, Bret Curtis would represent well for his home race. After being penalized for a rules violation at the start, Curtis joined Ende in making a brilliant come-from-behind drive in his no. 32 Spectra Resources / United Steel Supply Audi R8 LMS to finish fifth.
“The car next to me began to lurch forward during the standing start, and it tricked me in to doing the same,” stated Curtis. “As soon as I realized the race hadn’t started I immediately stopped the car, but it was too late. Once the race got going, I was actually happy with everything. We ran some really fast times, and chipped away at everyone in front of us. A top-five after all of that is a great finish, so I’m pretty happy.” Rounding out the team’s GT entries were drivers Brent Holden and Alex Welch. Holden had his career best finish in the Pirelli World Challenge, driving a steady and fairly quiet race to put his no. 44 machine in seventh. Welch was well-positioned to take a top-five, if not better, before a gearbox issue would relegate the Colorado-native to 12th.
For the team’s lone GTS driver, Bill Ziegler, another error free run would net the Floridian a 14th place finish. Driving the no. 95 Swisher Pontiac Solstice, Ziegler’s primary goal was to continue with the car’s development and have a solid run.
“It was a pretty steady race for us,” stated Ziegler. “With the yellows we learned a lot about how the car is with tire cycles. If we’d had a couple more laps I think we could have had a couple of the guys ahead of us, but we’ve definitely progressed with the program.”
While there is some celebration within the entire GMG organization, the party can’t last for long as they prepare for their next round just a few weeks away. Shipping out to the brand new Circuit of the Americas facility in Austin, Texas, the entire Pirelli World Challenge paddock is set for an exciting new venue in partnership with the Australian V8 Supercars series.
Television highlights of today’s victory at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach can be seen on Sunday, May 5, at 2:00PM on NBC Sports Network.
The series fourth and fifth rounds at Circuit of the Americas will take place on May 18 and 19.
