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GT Racing
GT: Audi Gunning For Nürburgring 24 Glory
Seven Audi R8 LMS ultras set to do battle in this weekend's Nürburgring 24...
Audi returns to the Nürburgring with seven R8 LMS ultras, including two under the factory banner. (Photo: Audi Motorsport)
For the past three years, the Nürburgring 24 has been a bitter-sweet experience for Audi. While having won its class and finishing on the overall podium since the R8 LMS car’s debut in 2009, the German manufacturer has still yet to achieve outright honors in the world’s most challenging endurance race.
That can all change this weekend, though, as revised rules, an evolution of its mid-engined sports car and the focus on a single factory team could put Audi in the cat bird’s seat for overall glory in the 40th ADAC Zurich 24h-Race.
After years of battling a brace of more powerful GT2-spec machinery, along with cars entered in the experimental category, the most recent being Porsche’s 911 GT3 R Hybrid, Audi heads in on equal footing with the rest of its competition, as GT3 entries take center stage for the first time.
"In recent years, we celebrated major successes with the Audi R8 LMS at the Nürburgring in the GT3 class. This year, the big aim is to shoot for overall victory,” said Dieter Gass, Head of Racing Commitments for Audi Sport. “We’ve got a very strong lineup of teams and drivers plus an updated vehicle.”
While facing the likes of BMW, Mercedes-Benz and defending overall winners Porsche, Audi has turned up with an armada of seven R8 LMS ultras, the latest evolution of the world’s most successful GT3 car, with Audi Sport Team Phoenix leading the charge alongside four customer racing-supported efforts.
The R8 LMS ultra, which debuted last month in the FIA GT1 World Championship and Blancpain Endurance Series, features an updated transmission, new exhaust, optimized cooling system, new aero bits and a larger front tire.
The latest evolution of the championship-winning GT3 car were put to the test in the opening VLN rounds of the season by the Ernst Moser-led Phoenix squad, which placed second overall in last month’s final warmup to the 24-hour with Christopher Mies and Markus Winkelhock at the wheel.
“Our drivers have perfectly adjusted to the new car in the VLN races” Phoenix team principal Moser said. “24-hour races are our passion, and this particular one is our home round. With the new Audi R8 LMS ultra and our driver squads we’ve got every chance this time of finishing at the very top after several attempts."
Phoenix’s two-car squad hardly lacks in driver talent, with defending Le Mans champion Marcel Fassler joining Mies, Rolex 24 GT winner Rene Rast and lead development driver Frank Stippler in the No. 2 entry. Stippler is also listed in the sister No. 3 car with Winkelhock, Marc Basseng and Christopher Haase.
"It’s all about a well-balanced driver line-up, a good team, spending as little time as possible in the pits and taking as few risks as possible,” Winkelhock said of the keys to the race.
“My teammates are excellent and the Phoenix team has already won this race twice. I’ve personally done a lot of endurance training such as cycling and jogging. The race gets physically and mentally tiring towards the end, but I feel well prepared."
While the R8 LMS ultra has yet to tackle a 24-hour race, Team WRT boasts the most experience with the latest evolution, having swept the opening weekend of the FIA GT1 World Championship in Nogaro and also competing in last month’s Blancpain season-opener in Monza.
And despite not carrying full factory status here this weekend, the Belgian squad, winners of last year’s 24 Hours of Spa, will likely be in the thick of the battle. Audi factory driver Oliver Jarvis, fresh off a podium in the FIA WEC Six Hours of Spa, joins Andrea Piccini, Edward Sandstrom and Allan Simonsen in WRT’s single entry.
That can all change this weekend, though, as revised rules, an evolution of its mid-engined sports car and the focus on a single factory team could put Audi in the cat bird’s seat for overall glory in the 40th ADAC Zurich 24h-Race.
After years of battling a brace of more powerful GT2-spec machinery, along with cars entered in the experimental category, the most recent being Porsche’s 911 GT3 R Hybrid, Audi heads in on equal footing with the rest of its competition, as GT3 entries take center stage for the first time.
"In recent years, we celebrated major successes with the Audi R8 LMS at the Nürburgring in the GT3 class. This year, the big aim is to shoot for overall victory,” said Dieter Gass, Head of Racing Commitments for Audi Sport. “We’ve got a very strong lineup of teams and drivers plus an updated vehicle.”
While facing the likes of BMW, Mercedes-Benz and defending overall winners Porsche, Audi has turned up with an armada of seven R8 LMS ultras, the latest evolution of the world’s most successful GT3 car, with Audi Sport Team Phoenix leading the charge alongside four customer racing-supported efforts.
The R8 LMS ultra, which debuted last month in the FIA GT1 World Championship and Blancpain Endurance Series, features an updated transmission, new exhaust, optimized cooling system, new aero bits and a larger front tire.
The latest evolution of the championship-winning GT3 car were put to the test in the opening VLN rounds of the season by the Ernst Moser-led Phoenix squad, which placed second overall in last month’s final warmup to the 24-hour with Christopher Mies and Markus Winkelhock at the wheel.
“Our drivers have perfectly adjusted to the new car in the VLN races” Phoenix team principal Moser said. “24-hour races are our passion, and this particular one is our home round. With the new Audi R8 LMS ultra and our driver squads we’ve got every chance this time of finishing at the very top after several attempts."
Phoenix’s two-car squad hardly lacks in driver talent, with defending Le Mans champion Marcel Fassler joining Mies, Rolex 24 GT winner Rene Rast and lead development driver Frank Stippler in the No. 2 entry. Stippler is also listed in the sister No. 3 car with Winkelhock, Marc Basseng and Christopher Haase.
"It’s all about a well-balanced driver line-up, a good team, spending as little time as possible in the pits and taking as few risks as possible,” Winkelhock said of the keys to the race.
“My teammates are excellent and the Phoenix team has already won this race twice. I’ve personally done a lot of endurance training such as cycling and jogging. The race gets physically and mentally tiring towards the end, but I feel well prepared."
While the R8 LMS ultra has yet to tackle a 24-hour race, Team WRT boasts the most experience with the latest evolution, having swept the opening weekend of the FIA GT1 World Championship in Nogaro and also competing in last month’s Blancpain season-opener in Monza.
And despite not carrying full factory status here this weekend, the Belgian squad, winners of last year’s 24 Hours of Spa, will likely be in the thick of the battle. Audi factory driver Oliver Jarvis, fresh off a podium in the FIA WEC Six Hours of Spa, joins Andrea Piccini, Edward Sandstrom and Allan Simonsen in WRT’s single entry.
FIA GT Nogaro
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