All 2012 Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS liveries

By Tarek Ramchani

Phoenix Racing has been loyal to the Audi brand for many seasons. They have raced for Audi Sport as a works backed team in both the DTM and long distance races. 2012 was a phenomenal year for the team and the Audi R8 LMS and the latest ultra version. A historical and magical triple was achieved with prestigious victories at the Bathurst 12 Hours, the Nürburgring 24 Hours and the Spa 24 Hours. The team also scored race wins in the VLN Endurance Series. Many races around Europe and beyond pushed the team to use many different paint schemes on their R16s. Here is a complete round up of the different and beautiful liveries of this Nürburgring based team on their Audi R8 LMS race cars during 2012.

"Kangaroo" Audi R8 LMS at Bathurst 12 Hours

"Spider" Audi R8 LMS at Bathurst 12 Hours

Audi ultra livery in VLN Endurance Series

Bilstein backed Audi R8 LMS ultra in VLN and the Nurburgring 24 Hours

PS Vita Audi R8 LMS ultra in VLN and the Nurburgring 24 Hours

Audi Sport performance cars at the Spa 24 Hours

Audi Sport performance cars at the Spa 24 Hours

"Your 2013 Drive" Audi R8 LMS ultra at the Nurburgring round of the Blancpain Endurance Series

Audi Sport performances cars in VLN Endurance Series

Artwork: '09 Audi R8 LMS of Spa 24 by Berzerkdesign.de

By Tarek Ramchani

In 2009 the Audi R8 LMS debuted in the famous Spa 24 Hours race. The car was entered by the German Phoenix Racing team in the G2 class, open for National GT cars. No GT3 class cars were allowed at the time in the Belgian endurance classic. The car did extremely well in the race and finished in an amazing third overall, way ahead of the whole FIA GT2 field and most of the top FIA GT1 competitors. A great result for the car in the hands of Marcel Fässler, Marc Basseng, Henri Moser and Alexander Margaritis. Here are nice artwork images of the #111 Audi R8 LMS by our friends at Berzerkdesign.de. They look great and almost photo realistic.

More information:
Berzerkdesign official website
Berzerkdesign official Facebook

Video: 2012 Spa 24 Hours with Audi Sport Team WRT

By Johan Laubscher

The Belgian W Racing Team (WRT) returned to the Spa 24 Hours as the defending champions. The 2011 event was won by the WRT team, taking Audi’s first Spa 24 Hours victory. The team was once again a factory effort for the event alongside the Phoenix Racing Audi team. WRT were armed with two Audi R8 LMS ultras, aiming for a repeat victory. The race was one of ups and downs. Both cars were at the front and battled for the race win. The #1 WRT car fought with the #16 Phoenix car for many hours. They kept spectators on the edge of their seats as they battled during the dying hours of the race. Tragedy struck the WRT team when the #2 car had a very big accident, which ended the team’s possible double podium and Audi’s 1-2-3 finish. Along with the demise of the #2 car came further incidents which swung the race in favour of the eventual winners, Phoenix Racing. WRT achieved a well deserved second place along with vital points for the team’s title ambitions in the Blancpain endurance Series.

Here is their traditional post event video review. It is another great example of WRT's excellent PR crew as they have produced yet another spectacular video documenting the Spa 24 Hours. It is a 47 minute video which is well worth the watch as they portray this emotional rollercoaster of a race. Enjoy:

More information:
WRT youtube channel

Belgian Audi Club official website

WRT official website

WRT official Facebook

Awesome 2012 Endurance Triple Win wallpaper from the Official Audi Sport FB page

By Johan Laubscher

The official Audi Sport Facebook page has released another awesome new wallpaper in their “Audi Sport HD gallery”. It is similar to the wallpaper they released a few months ago. The wallpaper is a breathtaking computer image of the three endurance winning Audi Sport race cars. It includes the Le Mans 24 Hours winning #1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro, the Nürburgring 24 Hours winning #3 Audi R8 LMS ultra and the Spa 24 Hours winning #16 Audi R8 LMS ultra.

The new triple win Audi Sport wallpaper 

The first Audi Sport wallpaper 

Get the wallpapers here:

The new triple win wallpaper link to the FB page: LINK to new Audi Sport wallpaper

Original Wallpaper link to the FB page: LINK to original Audi Sport wallpaper

Note to get the wallpaper in high resolution press on the download button and it will be downloaded from the official Audi Sport FB page, see link below.

More information:

The official Audi Sport FB page

Video: 2012 Spa 24 Hours official highlights film - The Audi victory

By Johan Laubscher

The 2012 Spa 24 hours was another outstanding success for Audi sport and Phoenix Racing. The #16 Audi R8 LMS ultra from Phoenix Racing crossed the finish line ahead of the #1 WRT Audi R8 LMS ultra after a tremendous battle.

Here is the Spa 24 Hours highlights film. Another great production which has been uploaded officially to the GT1World YouTube Channel, the official channel for the Blancpain Endurance Series, FIA GT1 and FIA GT3. Enjoy the film. 

More information: 

The official GT1World YouTube Channel

Note: These videos are uploaded officially onto the GT1World YouTube channel by the organisers of the series'. This is the official channel for the Blancpain Endurance Series, FIA GT1 and FIA GT3. It seems that the videos do have regional restrictions which unfortunately includes North America. 

You can watch the entire 2012 Spa 24 Hours broadcast again - The Audi victory

By Johan Laubscher

The 2012 Spa 24 hours was another outstanding success for Audi sport and Phoenix Racing. The #16 Audi R8 LMS ultra from Phoenix Racing crossed the finish line ahead of the #1 WRT Audi R8 LMS ultra after a tremendous battle.

The Blancpain Endurance Series continued with their brilliant live internet video broadcasting during the Spa event. Fans have the opportunity to watch all the SRO events such as Blancpain, FIA GT1 and FIA GT3 live on the internet. After each event they upload all the complete footage from all the races onto their YouTube channel, as part of their “Watch again” videos. They have done the same for the Spa event. You can now watch all of the Spa broadcast on YouTube, a total of almost thirteen hours of live footage. Along with this they also offer highlights films from each event. The Spa 24 Hours highlights film will be online soon. 

The live broadcast was split into four sections, based on the schedule below (Belgian local time). Enjoy reliving the race. 

28 July 2012

Race start: 1530-1930

Part 2: 2100-0000
29 July 2012

Part 3: 0900-1200

Race finish: 1400-1630

More information: 
The official GT1World YouTube Channel

Note: These videos are uploaded officially onto the GT1World YouTube channel by the organisers of the series'. This is the official channel for the Blancpain Endurance Series, FIA GT1 and FIA GT3. It seems that the videos do have regional restrictions which unfortunately includes North America. 

The next historic success for Audi

Audi Press Release

• One-two victory of Audi R8 LMS ultra at Spa 24 Hours

• Three 24-hour triumphs for Audi within just 71 days

• Successes at the Nürburgring, Le Mans and Spa

Ingolstadt/Spa-Francorchamps, July 29, 2012 – For the second consecutive time, the Audi R8 won the most important endurance race for GT3 sports cars – thus writing another chapter of motorsport history.

For the first time ever, an automobile manufacturer managed to decide the three most important 24-hour races in Europe in its favor: Nürburgring (D), Le Mans (F) and now Spa-Francorchamps (B) – within just 71 days.

66 sports cars from twelve different marques competed at the 54th running of the 24-hour race on the Grand Prix circuit in the Belgian Ardennes. After 509 laps on the 7.004-kilometer track two Audi R8 LMS ultra cars prevailed against their competition from BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Ferrari, McLaren and company. Andrea Piccini (I), René Rast (D) and Frank Stippler (D) triumphed in the R8 of Audi Sport Team Phoenix in front of their brand colleagues Christopher Haase (D) Christopher Mies (D) and Stéphane Ortelli (MC) from Audi Sport Team WRT.

The Le Mans winners Marcel Fässler (CH), Tom Kristensen (DK) and André Lotterer (D) in the second car of Audi Sport Team Phoenix after a spectacular recovery from position 63 finished in sixth place. The second Audi R8 LMS ultra of Audi Sport Team WRT with Marco Bonanomi (I), Edward Sandström (S) and Laurens Vanthoor (B) retired at the beginning of the 21st hour due to an accident in the famous “Eau Rouge” corner.

“Winning three 24-hour races within just 71 days is another milestone in the successful motorsport history of our company,” said Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich after the historic triumph. “The field at Spa was unique and enormously competitive. There were more than 20 vehicles in contention for victory. In the end, the combination of quality, reliability and speed for which Audi is known prevailed yet again. Everybody who was involved in achieving this historic triple can be proud – first and foremost of course our teams and drivers, but naturally all of our employees in Ingolstadt, Neckarsulm and Biberach as well.”

After a difficult first race hour, the Audi R8 LMS ultra cars following a correction of the tire pressure managed to improve position by position and put pressure on the BMW cars that were initially leading. Audi started to gather its first leading kilometers in the fourth hour. From the ninth hour on, the Audi R8 LMS ultra cars took command of the field at Spa for good – and at times in extremely difficult conditions with torrential rain, minimal vision and a total of 16 safety car periods.

During the race the Audi drivers did not give each other the slightest break either. Up to 30 minutes before the end of the race, the two Audi R8 LMS ultra cars – numbers “16” and “1” – of the two Audi Sport Teams Phoenix and WRT were fighting a fierce duel for overall victory. The lead kept changing between the two cars. The overtaking maneuver that pre-decided the outcome was achieved by Frank Stippler shortly before 3 p.m. In addition, the strategy of Audi Sport Team Phoenix to change the front brake pads a second time on Sunday morning during a safety car period proved to be right. The final decision was made 30 minutes before the end of the race when Stéphane Ortelli had to sit a drive-through penalty.

“Like at the Nürburgring 24 hours, despite the enormously high speed as in a sprint race we didn’t have the slightest technical problem,” said a pleased Werner Frowein from quattro GmbH which is responsible for the development and sales of the GT3 sports car. “This triumph is another piece of proof that the R8 LMS ultra is the bench mark on the endurance circuit.”

Marcel Fässler, Tom Kristensen and André Lotterer, who were among the quickest drivers in the field, were able to see the qualities of the mid-engine sports car for themselves as well. Shortly before the end of the first hour, Lotterer was hit by another vehicle that suddenly turned into the pit lane. After changing the tie rod on the front axle the Le Mans winners resumed the race with a gap of eleven laps on position 63. In the end, they had pushed forward to position six and made up three laps.

As the best Audi customer team, the British GT3 Racing squad with their Audi R8 LMS achieved a remarkable 14th place overall and ninth in the Pro Am class. “And right in our first 24-hour race and only our fourth running of this car,” said Team Director Aaron Scott, positively summing up the race.

Teams Sainteloc Racing, JB Motorsport and Alfab finished with their R8 LMS cars as well. The R8 LMS ultra cars from Sainteloc Racing and United Autosports retired due to accidents. The French Sainteloc squad was running in the sensational fifth place overall some of the time.

Audi wins Spa 24 Hours with Phoenix Racing

By Johan Laubscher

Audi wins another spa 24 Hours and successfully defends the race title after their first win in 2011. Audi Sport Team Phoenix took the victory with Frank Stippler, Andrea Piccini and Rene Rast driving the number #16 Audi R8 LMS ultra. It was Phoenix Racing’s first Spa 24 Hours victory with the Audi brand. The victory is extra special for the team as it has been a long time coming. The team has been competing at the Spa 24 with Audi since 2009. A terrific podium on the Audi R8 LMS’s debut in 2009 was followed by 2010 and 2011 where the team was the fastest but also very unlucky. 2012 finally saw the Phoenix winning drought come to an end as the #16 R8 LMS ultra crossed the finish line.

The Spa 24 Hours victory marks a very special achievement for Audi Sport. For the first time cars from the same manufacture have won the Nürburgring 24 Hours, Le Mans 24 Hours and the Spa 24 Hours in the same year. Factory teams from Audi Sport have claimed victory in all three these major European 24 Hour races, a spectacular achievement for the brand of the four rings. 

For Phoenix Racing this is the third endurance victory for the team this year. They have already won the 2012 Bathurst 12 Hours, the Nürburgring 24 Hours and now the Spa 24 Hours. This is a very special result for the German team.

It was an eventful race with typical Spa weather throwing everything it had to offer at the competitors. The first half of the race will be remembered for the changeable weather conditions and many safety car periods. After the cancelation of qualifying the grid was interesting with many of the top Audi cars starting further back. From the drop of the green flag the Audis soldiered steadily to the front. Unfortunately the Le Mans podium team of Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Tom Kristensen who had a brilliant start, were clipped by a McLaren and they lost many laps. The trio did perform the comeback of the race as they stormed back into the top ten by race’s end in their #6 Phoenix Audi R8 LMS ultra.

Amongst all the happenings a clear pattern had emerged at the front. The BMW and Audi cars were locked in battle for the top positions. It was a wet and wild race during the night with very high attrition. By the morning the sun was out and the factory backed cars from Audi Sport Team Phoenix and WRT had asserted their presence at the front. The #16 Phoenix car had been the top Audi for many hours and continued to lead into the morning followed by the two WRT cars who were battling with the BMWs. A puncture to the #16 car closed the gap and a battle ensued between #16 and #1. The positions of Audis in 1,2,3 continued during the morning hours.

The afternoon proceeded with Phoenix leading and WRT chasing. The Audi 1,2,3 was disturbed when the #2 WRT Audi had a high speed spin while it was heading through Eau Rouge. The resulting damage ended the #2 car’s race and the chances of an Audi 1,2,3 finish. The crash brought out the safety car which allowed time for the #16 car to change brake pads. #16 rejoined in second place and the battle for the lead continued during the rest of the afternoon. 

The two leading cars spent the rest of the warm and dry afternoon chasing each other very hard with the lead alternating on pitstops. The battle provided some great racing with the drivers pushing very hard, and this after almost 24 hours of hard racing. The race win was set to came down to the alternating pitstop strategies and who would be ahead. In the end with a safety car and a penalty for WRT the race finished in favour of Phoenix Racing as they crossed the line first for this historic victory. 

Along with the four factory cars there were a further six Audi cars entered from various private teams. The other teams did well in their respective classes through the long and hard race. Some of the teams were victims of the high attrition rate but in the end Audi was well represented by the factory supported and privateer Audi teams.

The race was been very good for the factory Audi teams. Phoenix have scored their first Audi Spa 24 victory and WRT have scored vital championship points for the Blancpain Endurance series championship. It has been another fantastic Spa 24 hours and another victory to remember for Audi Sport.

Results for the Audi teams

*Results according to live timing and scoring at the end of the race. Positions subject to change, for final results please see the Blancpain Endurance Series website HERE and the Spa 24 Hours website HERE.

Audi on second row at Spa

Audi Press Release

• “Super pole” cancelled at 24-hour race due to storm
• Stéphane Ortelli clinches grid position four for Audi

Ingolstadt/Spa, July 27, 2012 – The two fastest Audi R8 LMS ultra cars from Audi Sport Teams Phoenix and WRT will be starting into the 24-hour race race at Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) from grid positions four and 13 after the “super pole” qualifying session was cancelled due to rain. 

66 GT sports cars from twelve different marques are pitted against each other in the competition of the world’s best GT3 vehicles including a total of four Audi R8 LMS ultra cars fielded through Audi Sport Teams Phoenix and WRT plus six Audi customer cars. 

As expected, the most important GT3 race of the year features a uniquely competitive field as merely 1.544 seconds separated the fastest vehicles after the first qualifying sessions on Thursday night. Just a few hundredths ultimately decided who qualified for the so called “super pole” session at which the top 20 grid positions were to be awarded on Friday afternoon. 

With Christopher Haase/Christopher Mies/Stéphane Ortelli (Audi R8 LMS ultra #1) on position four and Marcel Fässler/Tom Kristensen/André Lotterer (Audi R8 LMS ultra #6) in 13th place, one vehicle of each of the two Audi factory teams managed the leap into the top 20. Stéphane Ortelli and Marcel Fässler achieved their fastest times in the first qualifying session which turned out to be decisive as in the second session held in darkness none of the drivers managed to advance into the top 20 anymore.

Yet the eagerly awaited battle for the top 20 grid positions fell through as the “super pole” qualifying had to be cancelled after torrential rainfalls. The results of the first two sessions were used for the grid formation.

“Naturally, it’s a shame that there was no real battle for the pole position,” commented Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “But the conditions were really extreme and the cancellation of the super pole was absolutely right. The grid positions are not so important at a 24-hour race anyway.”

Marco Bonanomi/Edward Sandström/Laurens Vantoor (Audi R8 LMS ultra #2and Andrea Piccini/René Rast/Frank Stippler (Audi R8 LMS ultra #16) will be starting into the race that Audi won for the first time last year from positions 21 and 29. Like their team colleagues, they were only able to start qualifying with a delay since new data logging software of the race organizer had immobilized the electronics of all R8 cars. 

The fastest time of a customer car was set by Filipe Albuquerque in the Audi R8 LMS ultra #40 of the French Sainteloc Racing team.

The race at Spa will start on Saturday at 1600 hrs (local time). Audi.tv will broadcast major portions of the race on www.audi-liveracing.com live on the internet starting at 1530 hrs. 

The grid positions at Spa

1 Lauda/Franchi/Kechele (BMW) 2m 19.473s

2 Paltalla/Leinders/Martin (BMW) 2m 19.552s

3 Parente/Barff/Goodwin/Wills (McLaren) 2m 19.729s

4 Haase/Mies/Ortelli (Audi R8 LMS ultra) 2m 20.026s

5 Lemeret/van Hooydonck/den Boer (BMW) 2m 20.031s

6 Verdonck/Mondron/Clarke/van de Poele (McLaren) 2m 20.085s

...

12 Fässler/Kristensen/Lotterer (Audi R8 LMS ultra)

21 Bonanomi/Sandström/Vanthoor (Audi R8 LMS ultra) 2m 20.790s

27 Albuquerque/Guilvert/Lunardi (Audi R8 LMS ultra) 2m 20.957s

29 Piccini/Rast/Stippler (Audi R8 LMS ultra) 2m 20.982s

42 Wilins/Belshaw/Scott/Keen (Audi R8 LMS) 2m 22.488s

48 Patterson/Meins/Li/Blundell (Audi R8 LMS ultra) 2m 23.643s

53 Behrens/Ros/Ohman/Skoog (Audi R8 LMS) 2m 26.599s

55 Brunstedt/Bender/Mangs (Audi R8 LMS) 2m 26.958s

61 Marie/Hissom/Hirschi/Demay (Audi R8 LMS) 2m 20.022s

Audi Sport Spa 24 factory liveries

By Tarek Ramchani

Audi won the Spa 24 Hours outright last year with the Audi R8 LMS. This weekend the Ingolstadt brand will try to defend its title with four officially entered Audi R8 LMS ultra cars. Two cars from Audi Sport Team Phoenix and two from Audi Sport Team WRT. Audi could make history as well by winning the three major 24 hour races in Europe in the same year: The Nürbrugring, Le Mans and Spa-Francorchamps 24 Hour races. The race itself is not only prestigious but it is also round 4 of the Blancpain Endurance Series, where only Team WRT compete on a full season basis. Here are the official liveries of the four Audi cars.

Audi Sport Team WRT:

#1 Audi Sport Team WRT: Christopher Haase, Christopher Mies and Stephane Ortelli

#2 Audi Sport Team WRT: Edward Sandstrom, Laurens Vanthoor and Marco Bonanomi

Audi Sport Team Phoenix:

#6 Audi Sport Team Phoenix: Andre Lottere, Marcel Fassler and Tom Kristensen

#16 Audi Performance Cars Team Phoenix: Andrea Piccini, Frank Stippler and Rene Rast

Video: WRT Audi Spa 24 Hours preview trailer

By Johan Laubscher

The 2012 Spa 24 Hours is fast approaching. WRT are heading to the event with one goal, to defend the title of Spa 24 Hour winners. The race is scheduled for the 28^th and 29^th of July and two WRT Audi R8 LMS ultra cars will be on the grid for the title defence.

Here is the WRT team’s video preview trailer for the event to increase the excitement for the race that is less than a week away. 

More Information:

WRT youtube channel

Belgian Audi Club official website

WRT official website

WRT official Facebook

Video: Stunning WRT 2011 Spa 24 Hour victory video

By Johan Laubscher

The Belgian W Racing Team (WRT) was victorious at the 2011 Spa 24 Hours. The 2012 edition of the Belgian endurance race is less than a week away and WRT will be back to defend their title with a pair of Audi R8 LMS ultra race cars.

The 2011 Spa 24 Hours was the first event where WRT produced an event review video. The video was brilliant and started the tradition of WRT producing videos after each of the team’s major event participations. All three parts of the 2011 WRT Spa video has been included below. It is a great video and offers a glimpse into the workings of the WRT team, enjoy:  

2011 WRT Spa 24 Hours Video

More Information:

WRT youtube channel

Belgian Audi Club official website

WRT official website

WRT official Facebook

Video: 2011 Spa 24 Hours Highlights video the first Audi win

By Johan Laubscher

2011 was the first victory for the Audi brand at the legendary Spa 24 Hours race. The Belgian W Racing Team (WRT) was victorious with the factory backed #33 Audi R8 LMS. The 2012 race is less than a week away and once again Audi returns with four factory backed cars from WRT and Phoenix Racing. Along with the four factory cars a further six Audi R8 LMS and ultra cars will be on the grid from other customer teams, taking the total Audi count to ten cars on the gird.

Here is a look back to the 2011 Spa 24 Hours race with the race highlights. It is a great review film which is split into four parts, all four are included below, enjoy:  

2011 Spa 24 Hours Highlights 

Will Audi achieve a third 24-hour victory in 2012?‏

Audi Sport Press Release 

·         Audi aims to score next endurance success at Spa-Francorchamps

·         Star-studded line-up with Le Mans winners Fässler/Kristensen/Lotterer

·         Title defense in the Ardennes on July 28 and 29

Ingolstadt, July 20, 2012 - Within the space of ten weeks, Audi will be competing in Belgium for the third victory at a 24-hour race following its successes at the Nürburgring on May 20 and at Le Mans on June 17.

Audi is currently contesting an extremely successful endurance racing season. Whereas the Audi R18 sports prototype won the first three races of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) including the Le Mans 24 Hours, the Audi R8 LMS ultra is a winner in its debut season as well. In May, Audi won the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring with it for the first time.

Spa-Francorchamps, not far from the Belgian-German border, will now be about achieving the next success - plus quite a bit more, as the classic event has the potential of producing additional accolades. For instance, Audi is returning with four R8 LMS ultra cars to the 7.004-kilometer roller-coaster in the Ardennes as last year’s winner. A year ago, Audi Sport Team WRT celebrated victory at its home round. The team thus laid an important foundation for subsequently winning the Blancpain Endurance Series (BES). This year, the team of Vincent Vosse is battling to defend the title - at the Spa 24 Hours as well as in the BES. Stéphane Ortelli (MC), Christopher Haase (D) and Christopher Mies (D) are currently the runners-up ahead of their WRT team-mates Laurens Vanthoor (B) and Edward Sandström (S), who will be competing at Spa together with Marco Bonanomi (I). As almost twice as many points as at the other rounds are achievable at the 24-hour race a success at Spa has particularly high value.

Audi’s factory line-up is completed by two Audi R8 LMS ultra cars of Audi Sport Team Phoenix. Ernst Moser’s squad won the classic in the Ardennes with a GT1 car in 2007. Two months ago, the Eifel-based team celebrated overall victory with the R8 LMS ultra at the Nürburgring 24 Hours. Frank Stippler (D), one of the victorious Nürburg racers is sharing a cockpit with Andrea Piccini (I) and René Rast (D).

The international spotlight is focused on their team-mates. They combine twelve Le Mans victories among themselves and despite their long-standing experiences are in for a few premieres again. For the first time, Marcel Fässler (CH) and André Lotterer (D), who celebrated their second consecutive Le Mans victory this year, are forming a team with Tom Kristensen (DK). In addition, the Dane and the German are driving an R8 LMS ultra in a race for the first time. For Le Mans legend Kristensen, after eight victories at La Sarthe, this marks the first 24-hour car race outside of France.

Aside from overall victory, Audi Sport Team Phoenix is aiming for a trophy that can additionally be won for the first time. The team that achieves the best aggregated results at the Nürburgring and Spa 24-hour races will receive this new trophy.

No matter who is expecting to have the best chances the conditions this year will be tougher than ever. With more than 50 cars in the field, the Spa 24 Hours was the most important GT3 race worldwide last year. This year, 80 entrants with twelve different marques have been nominated for the popular and production-derived category. Arguably, no other class in any motorsport discipline has such a well-filled field. The entrants banking on the Audi R8, in addition to Phoenix and WRT, include five customer teams.

Quotes by the officials

Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): "Last year, we won our first 24-hour race with the Audi R8 LMS at Spa. That is a very prestigious race. This year, the event will be even more thrilling and interesting as the number of entrants has reached an all-time high. We’re in for a very large field full of GT3 vehicles. And they’re Europe’s best GT3 vehicles. Our aim is to repeat last year’s success."

Werner Frowein (quattro GmbH): "A year ago, Spa marked the beginning of a grand march down victory lane for the Audi R8 LMS at major endurance races. Since then, our GT3 customer race sports car has celebrated three 24-hour races plus numerous single victories in various racing series worldwide. Audi has kept its word and in the R8 LMS ultra is offering its customers a fascinating, reliable and promising race car that meanwhile occupies a place in racing history."

Romolo Liebchen (Head of Audi Sport customer racing): "More than 80 entrants have been nominated for the Spa 24 Hours. At the moment, there’s arguably no single class anywhere in the world that is more popular. Under its factory commitment, Audi is entering four R8 LMS ultra cars, plus there are six customer vehicles. Audi Sport customer racing of course supports the customer teams, Alfab Racing, JB Motorsport, GT3 Racing, Saintéloc Racing and United Autosports, in both word and deed. For these teams, not only the overall result but the PRO-AM classification, the Gentlemen Trophy, the team classification and valuable points for the Blancpain Endurance Series are at stake."

Ernst Moser (Team Director Audi Sport Team Phoenix): "We love endurance races and we love Spa. This year, we’ve already won the Bathurst 12 Hours and the Nürburgring 24 Hours. Now we’re competing with the Le Mans aces Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Tom Kristensen. A tremendous challenge! In Frank Stippler we’ve got the Nürburgring 24 Hours winner on board who will be supported by Andrea Piccini and René Rast. That’s a strong team as well. And the Audi R8 LMS ultra runs perfectly at Spa. The aim is to clinch another victory for Audi. And this time hopefully for Audi Sport Team Phoenix ..."

Vincent Vosse (Team Director Audi Sport Team WRT): "The Spa 24 Hours are very emotional for me. In 1995, I participated as a driver for the first time - in an Audi 80 competition. In 2010, I ended my own career there in an Audi R8 LMS. A year ago, our young team was successful and exactly ten years ago I won this race myself. Plus, I’m living very close to the track. Audi is perfectly prepared and WRT is totally committed as well. In addition, we’ve got a top-class driver line-up. In the previous Blancpain race at Le Castellet, our three victorious drivers in terms of their average lap times across the whole distance were separated by only a tenth of a second."

Facts and quotes by the Audi drivers

Marcel Fässler, Audi R8 LMS ultra #6 (Audi Sport Team Phoenix): 
-Won the race in 2007 together with Team Phoenix
-Celebrated his second consecutive Le Mans victory in June
"Spa is a special event. And this year it’s very special because I’ve got André Lotterer and Tom Kristensen as team-mates. I’m extremely fond of Spa and it’s my favorite track. We know how good our R8 LMS ultra is. It’s a nice further development of last year’s car. We want to win this race. That would be really great after the victory at Le Mans." 

Tom Kristensen, Audi R8 LMS ultra #6 (Audi Sport Team Phoenix):
-With eight victories under his belt, is the living legend of the Le Mans 24 Hours
-Is contesting his first 24-hour race at Spa
"It was easy to say yes when Audi asked me if I wanted to drive an R8 LMS ultra at the 24-hour race on the legendary track at Spa. The abbreviation R8 has a special meaning for me. I was on board at all the victories of the R8 LMP at Le Mans and achieved five of my eight successes in it. I was also one of the first customers of the road-going version of the R8, which I didn’t acquire as a ‘company car’ but privately, and which I still own. And now I’m going to race the GT3 version - a cool thing, especially with André and Marcel in Team Phoenix."

André Lotterer, Audi R8 LMS ultra #6 (Audi Sport Team Phoenix): 
-Grew up in Belgium and calls Spa his home track
-Finished the Spa 24 Hours in third place in the N-GT class ten years ago 
"I’m looking forward to this challenge with huge anticipation. At Spa, I virtually grew up in racing. When my father owned a race team I visited many of the 24-hour race events and took part in one myself in 2002. In Marcel and Tom I’ve got two top-caliber colleagues this time. And the Audi R8 LMS ultra is a strong car. I’m hoping for us to manage a good showing. I want to surpass my result from ten years ago this time."

Andrea Piccini, Audi R8 LMS ultra #16 (Audi Sport Team Phoenix): 
-Took third place in the FIA GT1 World Championship last year
-Was the runner-up in the Audi R8 LMS ultra in the Blancpain race at Silverstone 
"In the past years I tried to win the Spa 24 Hours for Phoenix several times. In 2006, we were leading for a long time before dropping to second place. In the past two years, I was on the grid in the Audi R8 LMS for Phoenix at Spa. We were quick but something kept getting in our way. It would be great if we finally had the necessary racing luck this year. Ernst Moser has a strong team. He’s a superb motivator and always has several driver squads on the grid that are in contention for victory. And the Audi R8 LMS ultra is a car for position one. I’d really like to give this great team a victory."

René Rast, Audi R8 LMS ultra #16 (Audi Sport Team Phoenix): 
-Won the Daytona 24 Hours in the GT class in January
-After three victories this season, is the leader of the standings in the Porsche Supercup
"My mood is outstanding. At Daytona, our team celebrated a class victory in the 24-hour race. At the Nürburgring, we were leading with the Audi R8 LMS ultra when we were struck by a mishap. At Spa, my team-mates Frank Stippler and Andrea Piccini are bringing a lot of experience to the team. And Ernst Moser has forged a squad in Audi Sport Team Phoenix that projects a strong ‘we’ feeling. There are arguably no mechanics in the whole pit lane that perform better and quicker stops. That can become an important key to success at Spa."

Frank Stippler, Audi R8 LMS ultra #16 (Audi Sport Team Phoenix): 
-Won the Nürburgring 24 Hours in the Audi R8 LMS ultra
-Celebrated a VLN endurance race win on the Nordschleife in June
"After our victory at the Nürburgring 24 Hours we received massive responses and cordial congratulations from all over the world. That’s great motivation for the next 24-hour race with its huge field. We’ve got extremely strong team colleagues but the competitive situation is tough in general too. The GT3 class continues to be in great demand. I like Spa because it’s an old-school type of circuit. Natural spectator stands similar to those along the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, a long track, many vertical differences and thrilling turns - that’s what I love."

Christopher Haase, Audi R8 LMS ultra #1 (Audi Sport Team WRT): 
-Won the Nürburgring 24 Hours in the Audi R8 LMS ultra
-At Le Castellet celebrated his first victory of the season in the BES
"Obviously, our victory in the past Blancpain race at Le Castellet is giving us a boost. We’re the runners-up in the standings now and at Spa up to 49 points are awarded. Naturally, our aim is to clinch a victory for Audi - no matter which driver team wins the race. Last year, I competed for Phoenix there, and this year for WRT. Both are top-caliber professional teams with a very individual approach. And we’re a good driver squad because Christopher Mies, Stéphane Ortelli and I are a perfect fit. Christopher and I benefit from Stéphane’s immense endurance racing experience."

Christopher Mies, Audi R8 LMS ultra #1 (Audi Sport Team WRT): 
-Won the Bathurst 12 Hours in the Audi R8 LMS
-Has never been on the grid at Spa 
"At Spa, I’m experiencing a premiere. I’ve never driven a race there and only tested once. The loads which the car withstands in Eau Rouge are incredible. I won at Bathurst in February, drove the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring and am now traveling to Spa - these are three of the nicest circuits in the world. A year ago, we saw that the car and Audi Sport Team WRT are able to win at Spa. I think that the drivers and the weather are the factors that will decide the outcome this year." 

Stéphane Ortelli, Audi R8 LMS ultra #1 (Audi Sport Team WRT): 
-Won the Spa 24 Hours in 2003
-Was the Le Mans winner in 1998
"The Spa 24 Hours is a great single event but I’ve been driving there for championship points as well for many years. This year, the title in the Blancpain Endurance Series is at stake. Twelve months ago, the Audi R8 LMS of Team WRT that won at Spa also clinched this title in the end. For me personally, the Le Mans 24 Hours is the most prestigious race but the Spa 24 Hours is the nicest run. I’ve won both races before and am eager to see what’s possible this year." 

Marco Bonanomi, Audi R8 LMS ultra #2 (Audi Sport Team WRT): 
-Finished on the podium at Le Mans in his first 24-hour race
-Was the runner-up in the Blancpain season opener at Monza 
"I’m in a very special position at Spa. My two team-mates are battling for a good championship spot in the Blancpain Endurance Series. But because I skipped the second race of the season due to my Le Mans program with Audi I’m lacking points. So I’m putting myself completely at the service of the team. At Spa, I was previously on podium this year, at the second WEC round. But the differences between our Audi R18 ultra and the R8 LMS ultra are huge. The braking points for a GT3 sports car are totally different. It even almost feels as though you’re driving more turns per lap in the R8 because you can drive the R18 flat-out in more places."

Edward Sandström, Audi R8 LMS ultra #2 (Audi Sport Team WRT): 
-Was the runner-up in the Spa 24 Hours last year
-Took second place in the BES races at Monza and Silverstone
"It’ll be a tremendous battle at Spa in the world’s toughest GT3 race. If you prepare well and approach the race with a calm hand, you’ve got good chances. But, at the Nürburgring we also saw how quickly you lose ground after a single mistake. Last year, I chased Audi on my 24-hour Spa debut and finished in second place. This year, I’m driving for WRT. The team is giving us drivers the wonderful feeling of being truly welcome."

Laurens Vanthoor, Audi R8 LMS ultra #2 (Audi Sport Team WRT): 
-Is racing a double program in the Audi R8 LMS ultra
-Was on podium twice in the Blancpain Endurance Series
"This is the first 24-hour race in my career. Also, I’m not as familiar yet with the track at Spa as one might expect a Belgian to be. I’ve been there only once in Formula 3 and drove a touring car race as well. But as pros we quickly adjust to new conditions. I’m receiving a lot of valuable information about the track and the race from my team-mates. I’m already looking forward to the event and am expecting many friends, my family, fans and familiar faces at Spa."


The schedule at Spa-Francorchamps

Thursday, July 26
09:45-11:15 Free practice
18:20-19:20 Pre-qualifying
20:20-21:35 Qualifying 1
22:05-23:20 Qualifying 2

Friday, July 27
15:35-15:55 Super Pole

Saturday, July 28
09:05-09:25 Warm-up
16:00 Start

Sunday, July 29
16:00 Finish