Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)
Strong performances in top racing series: The Audi RS 3 LMS was also among the winners on the third weekend of the TCR Europe. After Jimmy Clairet in the season opener and his brother Teddy Clairet on the second weekend, Felice Jelmini popped the champagne corks in Hockenheim. The Italian won the second race for PMA Motorsport with a lead of 8.1 seconds. The Italian had started from eleventh place as the only participant on wet tires. On a damp track and with occasional showers, this was the right choice, so that Jelmini took the lead for the PMA Motorsport team on the second lap and never relinquished it. As in the first race, Jimmy Clairet finished third in the Audi of the Clairet Sport team. As a result, the Frenchman extended his lead in the standings over his brother Teddy to 24 points at the halfway point of the season. The Audi customer teams in the TCR Eastern Europe returned from the Salzburgring with five trophies. Czech driver Martin Kadlečik won the first sprint in an Audi RS 3 LMS for Aditis Racing by 5.9 seconds ahead of his Polish teammate Bartosz Groszek. Latvian Ivars Vallers followed around seven seconds behind in an Audi from LV Racing after two of his rivals had to pit with technical damage. In the second race, Groszek took second place ahead of Kadlečik after the duo had started from seventh and eighth place. The Czech is currently second in the standings ahead of the Pole and also leads the Junior classification. Audi customer teams were also successful in a third Europe-wide TCR racing series. Yuri Brigliadori/Giuseppe Cartia took second place in the Audi RS 3 LMS from BF Motorsport at the second round of the TCR European Endurance at the Slovakiaring. They thus won the classification for second-generation racing cars with sequential gearboxes. The corresponding class victory for first-generation racing cars went to Ibrahim Okyay/Sinan Ciftci in the Audi RS 3 LMS of Texaco Team AMS. In the DSG classification for racing cars with dual-clutch transmissions, their teammates Berk Kalpak/Onat Telkenar achieved third place in another Audi. Team VP Racing celebrated its second victory in a row in the Belcar Endurance Championship. Nick van Pelt/Olivier Bertels drove their Audi RS 3 LMS to class victory in the Supersport category on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. The Belgian driver duo had a one-lap lead after around two hours of racing. Manfred Lewe returned from the second round of the Cup- und Tourenwagen-Trophy with two class victories. The German in the Audi RS 3 LMS won the first competition on the Assen circuit in the Netherlands with a one-minute lead and even had a 1.32-minute gap to his rival’s Seat at the finish of the second race.
Audi R8 LMS GT4
Podium results in Europe: Pierre Arraou finished on the podium four times at the third round of the Ultimate Cup Series in Portimão. The Frenchman finished third in his class in the first sprint on the Portuguese Algarve. In the three subsequent sprints, the Herrero Racing driver in the Audi R8 LMS GT4 was second best in the UCS4 category. The DMV Super Touring GT Cup also held its third round. At the Nürburgring, Seyffarth Motorsport finished second in its class in the first race with driver duo Tobias Erdmann/Bernd Schaible in the Audi R8 LMS GT4. Schaible won the second race by a thousandth of a second ahead of Christoph Malbertz, who drove an Audi R8 LMS GT4 from the Georg Motorsport team.
Coming up in the next weeks
13–14/06 Hampton Downs (NZ), round 2, North Island Endurance Series
13–15/06 Valencia (E), round 3, TCR Spain
14–15/06 Croft (GB), round 4, TCR UK
19–22/06 Nürburgring (D), Nürburgring 24 Hours
19–22/06 Watkins Glen (USA), round 5, IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge
20–21/06 Hampton Downs (NZ), round 3, North Island Endurance Series
20–21/06 Zwartkops (ZA), round 4, Extreme Supercars Driven by Dunlop
20–22/06 Monza (I), round 2, Campionato Italiano GT Endurance
20–22/06 Spa (B), round 3, GT4 France
20–22/06 Tianjin (CHN), round 3, GT China Cup
20–22/06 Monza (I), round 3, TCR Italy