Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)
Close decision: Audi privateer Teddy Clairet had contributed to the most exciting finale since the start of TCR Europe in the 2018 season and narrowly missed out on the title after two unpredictable races. For the first time in eight years, the championship ended with a tie on points. The Frenchman, who had led the series after the second and fourth race weekends in the Audi RS 3 LMS, finished the season in Barcelona level on points with the new champion Jenson Brickley from Cupra. Both drivers had the same number of wins this season, with two each, so the higher number of second places tipped the scales in favor of the Briton. In a chaotic first race marked by accidents and sporting penalties, Jimmy Clairet improved from sixth on the grid to third in his Audi, while his brother Teddy moved up from ninth to fourth in another Audi. On the crucial Sunday, five drivers still had a mathematical chance of winning the title. Teddy Clairet, who started in second place, was ultimately ranked second ahead of his brother Jimmy after a sporting penalty was imposed on Ruben Volt, the Honda driver who had originally finished second. While Teddy Clairet took second place in the drivers standings ahead of his brother, their team, Clairet Sport, also finished second in the team standings. In TCR Eastern Europe, too, an Audi customer team was in contention for the title at the finale in Balaton Park, Hungary. Martin Kadlečík, second in the standings in the Audi RS 3 LMS, kept his chances alive going into Sunday’s finale by finishing second in Saturday’s race ahead of teammate Bartosz Groszek. In the early stages, Kadlečik had a duel with his title rival Adam Kout in a Hyundai, which resulted in body contact, and briefly took the lead before falling back to second place. On Sunday, a rough attack by Croatian driver Žarko Knego sent both his own Hyundai and Kadlečík’s Audi off the track in the second lap. In the end, Czech Audi driver Kadlečík finished second in the overall standings and won the junior classification, while his team, Aditis Racing, was the second-best team in the series. Several Audi customer teams were successful in the third round of the TCR European Endurance series. Alessandro Alcidi/Yuri Brigliadori finished third overall in Vallelunga in the BF Motorsport Audi RS 3 LMS. This allowed Brigliadori to maintain his lead in the standings with a six-point advantage ahead of the final round. The DSG classification for race cars with dual-clutch transmissions was won by Emilio Damante/Edoardo Maccari from Tuder Motorsport ahead of Berk Kalpaklioglu/Umut Göktas from Texaco Team AMS. Both drove a first-generation Audi RS 3 LMS DSG. In the ninth and penultimate round of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, Audi customer team Precision Racing LA celebrated a podium finish with second place. Ryan Eversley and Celso Neto had qualified the Audi RS 3 LMS for second place in the TCR category in Indianapolis. During the two-hour race, the American-Brazilian driver lineup was at the front at times, but ultimately had to settle for second place, 6.9 seconds behind the winner. In the TCR China Challenge, Liu Zichen secured the title ahead of schedule in the fifth round in Shanghai. The Chinese driver won his category in the first race in the 326 Racing Team’s Audi RS 3 LMS and finished third in the second race. This gives him a 101-point lead over Honda driver Sun Ju Ran. The Max Kruse Racing team celebrated a one-two victory in the AT3 class with Audi at the ninth round of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie. After four hours of racing, Timo Hochwind/Christoph Lenz/Jasmin Preisig in the Audi RS 3 LMS had a one-lap lead over the sister car driven by Christopher Allen/Andrew Engelmann/Robert Mau. Armando Stanco/Dario Stanco also won the SP3T class in an Audi RS 3 LMS. Second place went to the Audi from Goroyan RT by sharky-racing with the driver trio Moritz Rosenbach/Ivars Vallers/Jens Wulf. In the TCR category, Møller Bil Motorsport with Anders Lindstad/Kenneth Østvold was the best Audi team in second place. They were followed by Goroyan RT by sharky-racing with Danny Brink/Artur Goroyan/Oleg Kvitka/Roman Mavlanov in another Audi RS 3 LMS. Lorenzo van Riet was among the best performers in the SuperSport Division at the sixth round of the Supercar Challenge in Zandvoort. After finishing second in the first race with his Audi RS 3 LMS, the Ferry Monster Autosport driver celebrated class victories in both of the following races.
Audi R8 LMS GT2
Two trophies in Spain: In the GT2 European Series, the Audi R8 LMS GT2 scored two podium finishes at the fifth event. Luca Pirri drove the sports car, fielded by his own team LP Racing, to second place in the Am Cup in both races in Valencia. In the second race, the Italian even finished second overall after a spectacular duel with the Mercedes of Czech driver Petr Lisa, who had to settle for third place.
Audi R8 LMS GT4
Podium results in club racing: Tobias Erdmann and Bernd Schaible celebrated a victory with Seyffarth Motorsport in the fifth round of the DMV NES GP racing series. At the Lausitzring, they built up a one-lap lead over their BMW rivals in the two-hour race with their Audi R8 LMS GT4. Two further podium places were added in the sprints for the DMV Super Touring GT Cup at the same event. Erdmann won the Cup 4 category in the first race and took second place in the second sprint together with Schaible. In China, too, an Audi customer team returned from the China GT Championship finale in Shanghai with trophies. In the GTS Pro-Am class, Incipient Racing with He Baifeng/Li Jiahao finished second in both races in the Audi R8 LMS GT4.
Coming up in the next weeks
03–04/10 Teretonga (NZ), round 2, South Island Endurance Series
03–05/10 Hockenheim (D), round 8, DTM
03–05/10 Hockenheim (D), round 6, ADAC GT Masters
03–05/10 Le Castellet (F), round 5, GT4 France
06–08/10 Shanghai (CHN), Shanghai 8 Hours
08–11/10 Road Atlanta (USA), round 10, IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge
10–11/10 Zwartkops (ZA), round 5, South African Endurance Series
10–11/10 Nürburgring (D), round 10, Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie
10–12/10 Barcelona (E), round 5, GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup
10–12/10 Barcelona (E), round 6, GT4 European Series powered by Rafa Racing Club
10–12/10 Misano (I), round 6, TCR Italy
10–12/10 Zolder (B), round 5, Belcar Endurance Championship
11–12/10 Snetterton (GB), round 6, GT Cup Championship
