By Johan Laubscher
1. The Weekend
Focussing this week on the weekend of 13 - 14 October 2012
2. The Events
- FIA WEC
- Blancpain Endurance
- Spanish GT
- Brazil GT
- POC
- DMV TCC
- Kerrick Sports Sedans
- Hillclimb
- Dover
- Rally Legend
2.1. FIA WEC
The FIA World Endurance Championship held its penultimate round in Japan. The land of the rising sun is home to Toyota and Audi knew they would face another strong challenge. The gaps at the front were very close during the sessions. Audis managed second and third during qualifying. The race itself had many issues for the Audi team. Incidents involving contact, off-road excursions and penalties dropped both cars behind the Toyota. Fuel strategy help the Audis close the gap. With minutes remaining the #1 Audi tried to catch the Toyota but it was not enough. The Toyota Team took a sensational win at home in Japan followed by the #1 and #2 Audis respectively.
2.2. Blancpain Endurance Series
The season finale of the Blancpain Endurance Series took place at Navarra in Spain. All the regular Audi entries took part. WRT was fighting for both the driver's and team's championships this weekend. To assist them with their goal they entered a third WRT car. Qualifying went went well for WRT with two cars in the top ten. The race was very busy, the WRT cars crept towards the front as rain began to fall. As the race entered the final hour WRT were looking good for both titles. Within the last hour the rain became torrential and the safety car was called. The #1 was in second followed by the #6 Audi and the #3 championship rivaling BMW. If the BMW finished ahead of the #6 they would be drivers champions. In the end the race was red flagged due to the rain and the second and third places were enough for WRT to win both the team's and driver's crown, for the #1 car. The other Audis in the field also did well, inlucding the JB Motorsport team who won the Gentlemen's Trophy in their Audi R8 LMS.
2.3. Spanish IBER GT
The penultimate round of the Spanish GT was held at Jerez. Team Nova Driver arrived with both its Audi R8 LMS ultra cars and claimed pole position with the #21. During the endurance race the team did very well and finished with a 1-2. The #1 car finished ahead of the #21.
2.4. Brazil GT
The Brazilian GT Series had round six scheduled for this weekend at Campo Grande. However this event did not take place and the next round will be at Gaupore at the end of October. Despite the event not taking place another event for many of the teams did occur. Twenty cars, including the Ebrahim Motors Audi R8 LMS were on display at Autódromo Juan y Oscar Gálvez, in Argentina. The event included running some of the cars on track in front of a large audience.
2.5. Porsche Owners Club (POC)
GMG Racing entered all three of their Audi R8 LMS cars in a Porsche Club event at Laguna Seca this weekend. The event was part of the Porsche Owners Club (POC) as a special event named - Unlimited Sound. Some of the fastest Porsche race cars in North America took part. The three cars from GMG Racing finished 1-2-3 in race one. This was followed by two GMG cars taking part in race two and finishing 1-2.
2.6. DMV TCC
The German DMV TCC series headed to Hockenheim for the season finale. Various Audis on the grid lined up for the two races. Roth Racing once again entered the Audi A4 DTM R11 and the Audi A4 STW. Prosperia uhc Speed again entered one R8 LMS at this round. It was another double victory for Edy Kamm in his Audi A4 DTM.
2.7. Kerrick Sports Sedans
It was the title deciding final round of the Australian Kerrick Sports Sedans, held at Wakefield Park. Darran Hossack and his Chevrolet powered Audi A4 was fast this weekend and achieved podium results and the new lap record.
2.8. Hillclimb
The Markro Racing Team took part in the Cividale-Castelmonte Hillclimb this weekend. They won their class and finished fifth overall as the best placed touring car in the field. This was the team's last event for the 2012 season.
2.9. Dover Heroes of Speed
The annual Heroes of Speed event was held at Dover in Jamaica on Monday, after this past weekend. Doug Gore has become well known for driving the blue ABT-Audi TT-R at Caribbean motorsport events, however his Audi is still in Germany undergoing repairs following a large crash at Dover earlier in the season. Doug has not entered any of the subsequent events until this weekend. Doug and his sponsor ATL entered a standard Audi S5 Sportback into the B45 class (for near standard cars). The car was equipment with high performance tires and a livery which included the number 24, just like his TT-R which will be back on track next year.
2.10. Rally Legend
The tenth edition of the Rally Legend event was held in San Marino this weekend. Many Audi quattro rally cars were entered in the event.
2.11. Other Audi News
The 2012 Macau GT Cup entry list was released this week. Three Audi R8 LMS ultra cars have been entered for the event that also hosts the final round of the GT ASIA Championship. 2011 victor Edoardo Mortara will return this year to defend his title in the #1 Audi R8 LMS Cup entry. Also entered for the Audi R8 LMS Cup team is Jeffry Lee in the #7 car, he is lying third in the GT Asia standings and will be looking for more points. The third Audi is the white Audi R8 LMS ultra of Philip Ma from Team Hong Kong Racing. Absolute Racing is involved with the running of all three entered cars.
Rob Austin Racing revealed that some exciting news will be shared soon. This photo of Rob’s BTCC Audi A4 NGTC shows a new yellow livery being applied to the car. We speculate that the team have found a new sponsor which would be excellent news for the team and the prospect of seeing more of Rob Austin Racing in the BTCC.
The Audi R8 LMS Cup in China has announced the addition of an extra round to end off the 2012 season. The series will race as a support event at the Shanghai FIA WEC round held at the end of October 2012.
3. Next Weekend’s events (20-21/10/2012)
- DTM
- BTCC
- Australian GT
- Italian GT
- STT
- RCN
- FRD Asian GT Series
- Audi Endurance Experience
- BRCC
- Cup & Tourenwagen Trophy
- Istook at Circuit of the Americas opening
All photos are hosted at their respective website which are listed within the Weekend Round Up
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