Audi World Champions after fourth race of season

Audi Press Release

• Marcel Fässler/André Lotterer/Benoît Tréluyer take second win
• Puncture throws Tom Kristensen/Allan McNish back
• Audi wraps up Manufacturers’ Championship title early at Silverstone *

Ingolstadt/Silverstone, August 26, 2012 – Audi with perfect record at half-way stage: In an exciting battle of the concepts the hybrid technology in the Audi R18 e-tron quattro also proved victorious in the fourth race of the FIA World Endurance Championship, WEC. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Audi wrote history after taking victory with a hybrid car for the first time, now the second win followed. At both events Marcel Fässler/André Lotterer/Benoît were at the wheel of the victorious car with start number ‘1’.

Audi builds the most efficient sportscars – this was clearly visible at round four of the WEC. During the six hours of the race Marcel Fässler/André Lotterer/Benoît Tréluyer required only six pits stops with their hybrid car and thus two less than the second-placed Nicolas Lapierre/Kazuki Nakajima/Alexander Wurz who use another hybrid concept. The result is all the more remarkable because the triumphant Audi was awarded a stop-and-go penalty by the race director. The reason: Benoît Tréluyer was involved in an unfortunate accident with a GT car just before the end of the first third of the race. The car of the three Le Mans winners lost 32 seconds as a result, at the finish the winning margin was still 55 seconds.

In addition to the fourth race victory, Audi also has another reason to celebrate: the brand from Ingolstadt holds an unassailable lead in the WEC Manufacturers’ Championship. After four titles in the Rally World Championship between 1982 and 1984 as well as victory in the FIA Touring Car World Cup in 1995, Audi has once again won another World title. *

In contrast, the excitement in the drivers’ classification increases following a change of leaders: after their second win Fässler/Lotterer/Tréluyer head the standings for the first time this season. At the half-way stage they hold a small 4.5 point lead from former leaders Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish.

The Danish-Scottish duo was plagued by bad luck on their way to third place at Silverstone. The two Audi works drivers had to settle for third place in their Audi R18 ultra after having to make an unscheduled pit stop. Only a few minutes after McNish had taken over driving duties a slow puncture on the right rear forced him to make a tire change. As a result, the sportscar, powered by a conventionally powered V6-TDI engine, lost a lap early in the race and thus any chance of playing a bigger role in the intense battle of the concepts. The car still reached the finish only 19 seconds behind the second placed Toyota.

Audi starts the fifth round of the WEC in only three weeks time. Local matador Lucas di Grassi reinforces the Audi driver line-up as team mate to Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen.

* Subject to the official publication of the results by the FIA

Race result

1. Fässler/Lotterer/Tréluyer (Audi R18 e-tron quattro), 194 laps
2. Wurz/Lapierre/Nakajima (Toyota) + 55.675s
3. Kristensen/McNish (Audi R18 ultra) + 1m 14.427s
4. Belicchi/Primat (Lola-Toyota) - 5 laps
5. Leventis/Watts/Kane (HPD-Honda) - 5 laps
6. Prost/Jani (Lola-Toyota) - 5 laps
7. Brabham/Chandhok/Dumbreck (HPD-Honda) - 7 laps
8. Martin/Charouz/Graves (Oreca-Nissan) - 11 laps
9. Potolicchio/Dalziel/Sarrazin (HPD-Honda) - 11 laps
10. Panciatici/Ragues/Rusinov (Oreca-Nissan) - 11 laps

Audi S4 quattros deliver racing action at Zwartkops‏ in SA

Press Release from Audi South Africa 

THREE action-packed races at round seven of the WesBank Super Series at Zwartkops saw four Audi S4 quattros in the battle for points. The event proved a valuable day in the office for Bridgestone Production Car Class A championship leader Michael Stephen (A1 – Engen Xtreme / Tsogo Sun).

With just two more rounds to go in the championship, Stephen made good use of the opportunity to defend his title by finishing first overall for the day.

“It was a good weekend,” says Stephen. “We did what we could with an overall win for the day and extended the championship lead. The next round, at Killarney, could play into our hands and be an advantage at this late stage in the season. I'm happy with the weekend.”

Race one saw Stephen cross the finish line in second place and, with the inverted grid of the first four finishers for race two, he started in third – and raced to keep this spot on the podium, opting for points rather than risks. Race three again saw Stephen on the second step of the podium, just over a half-second behind the race winner.

For Stephen's teammate, Tschops Sipuka (A2 – Engen Xtreme / Tsogo Sun) the Zwartkops event saw him claim third place overall. Sipuka's results improved steadily throughout the day, with a sixth in race one, a fourth in race two and third place in the final race of the day.

“The early stages of race one was a bit of a battle, but once things settled down, I started picking through the competitors,” says Sipuka. “There was a bit of a fight between Melvill and I in the third race, but overall it was a smooth race. I think we will be strong again at Killarney, we've made a few tweaks this weekend and it kept us strong in the final race.”

For Melvill Priest (A7 – Mueller Sport Medicine) a fourth place overall for the weekend was not the result he wanted, but still a finishing position many competitors would love to have claimed for themselves.

“We've been testing quite a bit and that has been successful,” says Priest. “We were second fastest in the first session on Friday, but we didn't build from there, so we battled this weekend. Two fifths and a fourth place are not ideal results.”

Priest will get a chance to push for the results he ideally wants when the team head to the penultimate round of the championship in the Western Cape in September.

Gennaro Bonafede (A32 – Ferodo Racing) is the newcomer to the Audi S4 quattro camp and Zwartkops was his first opportunity to find out what awaited in the class. He has decided that the remaining part of 2012 will be used for practise and setup purposes in the build-up to the 2013 season.

Bonafede completed the first race in seventh place – and then a variety of issues kept him away from the chequered flag for the rest of the day.

“It was a tough day today,” says Bonafede. “We showed promise, and there was good place, we started last and got up to sixth at one stage, but a broken suspension caused us problems.”

While Bonafede and his team had already decided they would be rebuilding the car, the outcome of the Zwartkops event looks like they will tackle this project earlier than anticipated.

The are just two more opportunities this year to see the Audi S4 quattros in action and the first of these will take place at Killarney on Saturday, 22 September. This circuit often favours the quattro system of these Audi race cars, so race fans can look forward to a day of exciting racing.

Audi South Africa

Photos by www.motorpics.co.za and Steve Wicks

More information:

Audi South Africa

Audi Motorsport in South Africa FB page

Unofficial Audi Sport FB page

Bridgestone Production Cars Website

Bridgestone Production Cars FB page

Michael Stephen A1 - Audi S4 - Terry Moss Racing

Tschops Sipuka A2 - Audi S4 - Terry Moss Racing 

Melvill Priest A7 - Audi S4 - VMP Motorsport

Gennaro Bonafede A32 - Audi S4 - Ferodo Racing Team / VMP Motorsport 

Video: The legendary Frank Biela BTCC Audi A4 returns to Knockhill

By Johan Laubscher

Knockhill hosted the annual Scottish BTCC round this past weekend. The track held a very special twenty years of BTCC anniversary. Amoungst the legendary machines at the track was the Audi A4 STW which was driven by Audi legend, Frank Biela, during the 1997 BTCC season.

It is very special that this Audi A4 is included in the anniversary celebrations as the quattro technology is very much a part of Knockhill’s history. It debuted in 1996 and provided Audi Sport UK with a 1-2 finish. The final appearance of the four wheel drive technology came in 1997 when the Audis achieved a double 1-2 finish on the day. Quattro was perfectly suited to the short twisty nature of the Knockhill circuit and held the lap record for quite some time. 

Below are some great photos from the BTCC anniversary along with the race footage from 1996 and 1997. Enjoy viewing these beautiful Audi race cars again in these photos and videos. 

1996 BTCC Round 17 at Knockhill

1997 BTCC Round 15 and 16 at Knockhill

Thanks to the official Knockhill Facebook page and Power Images Photography for the beautiful photos from this weekend. 

More information:
Power Images website
Power Images FB page

Knockhill FB page

Knockhill wesbite

Audi one-two-three victory at Zandvoort

Audi Press Release

• Second victory of the season for the new Audi A5 DTM
• Edoardo Mortara wins ahead of Mike Rockenfeller and Mattias Ekström
• First points for DTM youngster Adrien Tambay

Ingolstadt/Zandvoort, August 26, 2012 – Audi is the first manufacturer to have achieved a one-two-three victory in the 2012 DTM. At Zandvoort (The Netherlands) Edoardo Mortara (Playboy Audi A5 DTM) triumphed in front of his two brand colleagues Mike Rockenfeller (Schaeffler Audi A5 DTM) and Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi A5 DTM). With that, a driver from all three Audi teams was on the podium.

39,000 spectators (throughout the weekend) watched a spectacular DTM race in extremely difficult conditions. Rain showers from the nearby North Sea repeatedly moved across the race track that was never wet enough, though, to switch to rain tires. “In such crazy conditions, you can fly off the track in any corner,” said Edoardo Mortara, who celebrated his second victory of the season and reduced the gap to leader of the standings Gary Paffett to 35 points. “It would be raining some of the time and then again it wouldn’t. I’m very happy. I want to thank everyone at Audi Sport and Audi Sport Team Rosberg for the superb work. It was a fantastic race!”

In a fierce duel, Edoardo Mortara prevailed against Mike Rockenfeller (Audi Sport Team Phoenix) who had taken the lead at the start and commandingly controlled the race for a long time. However, when rain set in again, Mortara managed to close the gap to his brand colleague and overtook him on lap 32 in the famous “Tarzan Bocht.” “I didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks,” commented Rockenfeller. “When it starts to rain it’s easier when you’re the car that follows – ‘Edo’ took advantage of this.”

Mattias Ekström (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline) perfected Audi’s one-two-three result. The Swede was fighting a nail-biting duel across several laps with leader of the standings Gary Paffett which he decided in his favor, also thanks to a good strategy and quick pit stops by his team.

Adrien Tambay (Audi ultra A5 DTM) scored his first points in the DTM. The 21-year-old youngster shone by taking fifth place in difficult conditions and even held up to the pressure from the two-time season winner Bruno Spengler, who had also been the runner-up in the standings up to now.

Filipe Albuquerque was classified in 15th place although he was forced to park his TV Movie Audi A5 DTM in the pits after 34 laps. The Portuguese had to drive through the gravel trap of the “Tarzan Bocht” when Martin Tomczyk and Gary Paffett collided directly in front of him. In the incident, the front splitter of his A5 was damaged.

The quickest in qualifying, Timo Scheider, experienced a pitch-black day. At the start, the two-time DTM Champion dropped from first to 14th place and in a collision with David Coulthard damaged the front of his AUTO TEST Audi A5 DTM.

Right on the starting lap, the race was over for Miguel Molina (Red Bull Audi A5 DTM) and Rahel Frey (E-POSTBRIEF Audi A5 DTM). While heading for the first turn the Spaniard collided with Robert Wickens, who a few turns later proved to be Rahel Frey’s undoing too. The Swiss was unable to evade the Mercedes of the Canadian that was standing sideways on the track after a spin and was forced to retire.

Despite the four retirements it was a great day for Audi at Zandvoort – on a track on which the brand with the four rings has now clinched as much as its sixth victory since its return to the DTM in 2004. “It’s good to see that the performance is there,” said Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “Now we’re back in the position we always want to be in: in contention for victory. Here at Zandvoort, we were strong as a whole team. I’m happy for the guys who have been working hard to make this success possible.”

Video: The Return of the Four Rings - Audi 1996 BTCC

By Johan Laubscher

The 1996 British Touring Car Championship was headlined by the return of Audi to British saloon car racing, and the subsequent quattro domination. Quattro took the world by storm in 1996, taking seven national Super Touring titles: Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia, Belgium, South Africa and Great Britain. Leading the 1996 British Audi effort was the 1995 World Champion, Frank Biela. In their first year back in British saloon type racing since 1981 and the silver machines from Audi dominated the series. Despite heavy penalties during the season, the cars from Audi, armed with four wheel drive, soldiered on towards the triple-crown (drivers, teams and manufactures titles).

Audi Sport UK produced an excellent documentary which covered the entire 1996 season. It was aptly titled: The Return of the Four Rings. The video was produced and distributed after the end of the 1996 season. It is a brilliant documentary which provides great insight into the 1996 Audi Sport UK BTCC campaign. 

Audi targets a fourth 24 hour win in 2012

By Tarek Ramchani

In addtion to the world famous Spa 24 Hours, Belgium has a second twice around the clock endurance event, the Zolder 24 Hours. Audi has achieved an unprecedented "Triple Crown" this year, by winning the Le Mans 24 Hours, the Nurburgring 24 Hours and most recently, the Spa 24 Hours. Next month another car from the Ingolstadt brand will try to add a fourth magical 24h victory. 

2011 Belgian Audi Club WRT victory

Last year the WRT Belgian Audi Club won the race overall with drivers François Verbist, Enzo Ide, Bert Longin and Xavier Maassen after a great battle with a ProSpeed Porsche and a Mercedes-Benz SLS. This year the customer Audi team is back to defend its title. A single Audi R8 LMS ultra for a very strong four driver line-up. The car will feature three WRT regualrs, Laurens Vanthoor from Belgium, Edward Sandström from Sweden and the Audi works driver Marco Bonanomi from Italy. These three drivers have already been racing together in the Blancpain Endurance Series, where they have suffered extreme bad luck with a DNF last month at the Spa 24 Hours. The three drivers will be joined by a familiar name, Anthony Kumpen. The Belgian driver raced for WRT in 2010 and won the Belcar Endurance Championship that year. 

WRT at the Nurburgring 24h 2012

During the last couple of years the race has suffered from a lack of competitors, but major changes are happening this year  for the Zolder 24 Hours. The race is no longer open only for production based GT cars and touring cars. Smaller prototypes called "CN" are allowed to compete, and the 2012 entry list is expected to be the best in years. The Audi R8 LMS ultra will have to fight hard against these much lighter prototypes. However, as it has been proven many times the reliability of the R8 LMS is its ultimate weapon. Adding to that the extreme motivation at WRT who are trying to win a 24h race this year after two unlucky attempts at the Nurburgring and Spa. Audi will be among the big favorites for the overall win and add a fourth outstanding 24 hour win in the same year.

Photo credit: Belgian Audi Club

More information:
Belgian Audi Club official website
Zolder 24 Hours official website

Gallery: Audi cars at VLN Endurance Series round 8

By Tarek Ramchani

The eighth round of the VLN Endurance Series at the Nürburgring saw a fantastic 1-2 Audi outright victory. Raeder Motorsport's Audi R8 LMS ultra won just ahead of the Phoenix Racing Audi. Here is a great photo gallery from our friend, Norbert Kratz. A lot of Audis were at the event, not just only R8 LMS ultra cars.

Our round 8 race review