By Johan Laubscher
1. The Weekend
Focussing this week on the weekend of 2 - 3 March 2013
2. The Events
- Australian GT
- Grand Am
- SVRA
- Jamwest Circuit Attack
- V de V Test
2.1. Australian GT
Round two of the Australian GT Championship took place on the streets of Adelaide. It was the Clipsal 500 weekend and the GT Championship was acting as a support event. Two Audis were entered, the Audi R8 LMS ultra of Rod Salmon and the Minda Motorsport R8 LMS. The cars placed in the top ten during practice with the Minda Motorsport car achieving a top ten qualifying spot. During race one the Minda Motorsport entry made its way into the top ten to finish eighth. Rod Salmon retired from the race following a crash where he was a passenger in turn eight, causing a late race safety car. The damage to the Salmon R8 LMS ultra unfortunately put it out for the rest of the weekend. The Minda Motorsport team repeated their race one position by finishing eighth again during race two, completing a top ten weekend.
2.2. Grand Am
Following the Daytona 24 Hours the second Grand Am round was held at the new Circuit of the Americas in Austin. Four Audis took part at Daytona, however only one Audi was entered for round two. APR entered the black #52 Audi R8 GRAND-AM which was driven by Ian Baas and Matt Bell. They qualified seventh. During the race the team ran very well. Within the last half an hour they were battling in the top five until an incident with a Ferrari put the APR Audi out of the race.
2.3. SVRA
The SVRA held The Spring Vintage Classic at Sebring this weekend. There were two Audis among the various categories. Audi R8 (chassis #606) of Travis Engen was present, as well as the Audi S4 Competition of Mike Fisher. Divina Gallica, an English sportswomen and race driver, had the opportunity to test drive the Audi R8 at Sebring. She took part in one of the afternoon practice sessions and completed nine laps in the Audi. Engen later suffered a large crash during practice where he tangled with a Mustang. The car was heavily damaged at the rear but it has been reported that the chassis was intact and the car is salvageable. Despite the car being fixed, Engen was out for the weekend due to the series rules regarding accidents.
2.4. Jamwest Circuit Attack
The Circuit Attack event was held at Jamwest Speedway in Jamaica this weekend. The headliner for the event was the return of Doug Gore in the ATL Automotive ABT-Audi TT-R. This was the car's first race event since it returned to Jamaica following repairs in Germany. Gore was immediately fast during all the sessions this weekend and took pole position with a new Jamwest lap record. Race one saw Doug take victory followed by a second victory and an improved lap record during race two.
2.5. V de V Test
The French V de V Championship held a test weekend at Magny-Cours. The AB Sport Auto team attended the two-day test with their Audi R8 LMS.
VdeV FB page
2.6. Other Audi News
It has been known for quite some time that Audi will be entering two cars at Sebring, a 2012 Audi R18 e-tron quattro and an updated 2013 Audi R18 e-tron quattro. The set of six drivers have also previously been announced, and now Audi Sport has announced the final car combinations this week. The 2013 specification car will be driven by the #2 crew of Kristensen, McNish and di Grassi. The 2012 car will be driven by the #1 crew of Treluyer, Jarvis and Fässler.
Audi Sport will have a press conference at Geneva. The press conference will be streamed live on the internet via the Audi Media Services TV. The live video stream will be available on Tuesday 5 March at 16h30 local time (CET). It can be viewed via this link HERE.
The Nigeria Racing Eagle team have announced that they will debut their Audi R8 LMS in the British GT Championship. The car will be driven by South African Adrian Zaugg and Cameroonian Christian Ebong.
The ATL Automotive team held its press launch on Thursday ahead of the race meeting at Jamwest this weekend. This was the first time that the car’s new livery was shown in public following the car’s return to Jamaica.
Mr Le Mans, Tom Kristensen, was inducted into the Motor Sport Hall of Fame. The eight-time Le Mans winner was inducted at the London Royal Opera House on Monday.
Audi Sport Media
One of the Audi Sport Italia Audi R8 LMS ultra cars was on display at the Brianza Motorshow in Italy this weekend. The car was seen in its 2012 livery.
Andrea Sonvico FB page
Møller Bill Motorsport, a Norwegian Audi team, have taken delivery of their Audi TT RS race car. The team will compete in the VLN championship this year. The car will debut at the VLN test day later this month.
Møller Bil Motorsport FB page
United Autosports held a competition which allowed fans to submit livery designs for their Audi R8 LMS ultra. The winner was announced a few weeks ago. The car arrived back from Australia this week, where it competed in the Bathurst 12 Hours. It is currently being refurbished ahead of the British GT Championship. The new livery has also been applied along with a visit from the winning fan who submitted the livery design.
United Autosports FB page
Octane Magazine released a video this weekend featuring the 2011 and 2012 Le Mans winner, Andre Lotterer. The video, and written feature in their latest issue, sees the Le Mans ace driving an Audi Sport quattro S1 E2.
Octane Magazine quattro video
Hitotsuyama Racing were the first team to announced that they have taken delivery of a 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra. Along with the first public delivery they are now also the first team to have tested their new race car. The team was testing at Fuji Speedway this weekend, ahead of the Japanese Super GT season.
Hitotsuyama Racing FB page
3. Next Weekend’s events (9-10/03/2013)
- TBA
All photos are hosted at their respective website which are listed within the Weekend Round Up
