21.3.2019. Audi Sport customer racing is holding a best value in the Intercontinental GT Challenge, the world’s most prestigious GT3 racing series. The Audi R8 LMS is in California 8 Hours in the USA so far unbeaten.
After two Wins in a row, Audi will his run of success at Laguna Seca on the 30th. March continue. For the first time the new evolution of the Audi R8 LMS in this race series starts.
Never before has the competition been so hard: Eight car brands are registered in the season 2019 in the Intercontinental GT Challenge. “This is a challenge that we accept as the defending champion in the manufacturers’ classification, but we have also seen how difficult the task is, in this year,” says Chris Reinke, head of Audi Sport customer racing.
In the season opener in Bathurst, Australia, in early February, the Teams and drivers of Audi Sport several setbacks and collected only three points. Thus, a race to catch up begins now around the globe. In each case a long-distance race in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa completed until November of the calendar of the series.
The upcoming California 8 Hours on the course of Laguna Seca, Audi is combining sports with special memories. The mountain-and-valley-railway, about 200 miles South of San Francisco combined to only 3.6 kilometres in length, various curve radii, and considerable differences in altitude. The Corkscrew curve, with its severely sloping left-to-Right Passage is unique in the world and all of the racers popular.
On this track, the Le Mans prototypes of the Audi R8 and Audi have retracted R10 TDI between 2000 and 2008, a total of eight victories in the previous North American sports car series, American Le Mans Series. In the year 2017, held for the first time, California is 8 Hours chosen in the first year, Pierre Kaffer/Kelvin van der Linde/Markus Winkelhock with the Audi. Winkelhock, the driver’s standings of the race series, and Audi won the brand championship. A year later the Audi R8 LMS what is once again unbeatable: Kelvin van der Linde celebrated last October, together with Christopher Haase and Christopher Mies, after eight exciting hours of Racing, a victory in front of Robin Frijns/Dries Vanthoor/Markus Winkelhock in another Audi R8 LMS.
This year, six pilots from Audi Sport at the Start. Christopher Haase starts with Dries Vanthoor and Frédéric Vervisch for the Audi Sport Team WRT. In the previous year, the victorious Audi Sport Team in the country has once again Kelvin van der Linde and Christopher Mies on Board. Markus Winkelhock completed this Driver line-up.
After three individual time training, as well as a Shoot-out Qualifying for the top 15 in the starting line-up on Friday, 29. In March, follows the race on Saturday. Race start is at 8.30 am local time (CET -8 hours).
Audi R8 LMS #29 (Audi Sport Team in the country), Kelvin van der Linde/Christopher Mies/Markus Winkelhock, Audi R8 LMS #10 (Audi Sport Team WRT), Christopher Haase/Dries Vanthoor/Frédéric Vervisch
(Photo: AUDI AG)
