After the record of twelve Audi R8 LMS in the previous year, 13 sports cars with the four rings will be on the grid at Spa for the first time this year. “In the largest GT3 field of the year, Audi is up against seven other well-known automobile brands,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Rolf Michl. “The race is of global importance and attracts drivers and teams from numerous nations. We are delighted to be able to welcome a purely Chinese driver team in an Audi at Spa for the first time.” The UNO Racing Team from China, the Belgian Audi Sport Team Comtoyou and CSA Racing from France are all making their debut in the endurance race in the Ardennes with the GT3 vehicle. The experienced teams Tresor Attempto Racing, Saintéloc Racing as well as Scherer Sport PHX and Boutsen VDS field the remaining Audi R8 LMS. Today’s Scherer Sport PHX organization emerged from Phoenix Racing, the team that celebrated Audi’s second victory at Spa in 2012. With the R8 LMS, Audi Sport Team Saintéloc clinched the brand’s fourth and most recent triumph in this race in 2017.
“Past – present – future”: a motorsport journey through time with Audi
“Following the great enthusiasm for our historic designs for the 40th anniversary of Audi Sport GmbH at the Nürburgring, we have also presented our racing history over a longer era in accordance with the long-standing racing tradition here in the Ardennes,” says Chris Reinke, Head of Audi Sport customer racing . “Our three racing cars from Audi Sport customer racing visually cover almost 100 years of motorsport history of the four rings under the motto ‘past – present – future’. In terms of sport, the focus for us is of course on fighting for our fifth win in just twelve years in a top-class environment.”
The starting number 25 of the Audi Sport Team Saintéloc harks back to the era of the streamlined racing cars of the Auto Union with the classic racing color silver, the four rings framed in gold, a red color marking on the front and optically indicated openings above the wheels. Simon Gachet, two-time Nürburgring winner Christopher Mies and Patric Niederhauser, all Audi Sport drivers, take turns in this cockpit. The number 40 reflects the present in the 40th year of the existence of Audi Sport GmbH: Audi Sport Safe Orange1 relies on a striking design. While the colors are new, the geometric pattern picks up the design from the premiere of the current generation R8 LMS evo II. The Audi Sport drivers Mattia Drudi, Ricardo Feller and Dennis Marschall go in pursuit of times in this GT3 sports car.e-tron , the S1 e-tron quattro Hoonitron and the all-electric RS e-tron GTX study, which as the leading car led the 2020 field into the race. Audi Sport Team Comtoyou uses this R8 LMS for three Audi Sport drivers: Christopher Haase, the 2017 Spa winner and, like his teammate Frédéric Vervisch, a two-time Nürburgring winner, and young driver Gilles Magnus form a team.
competition in many classes
A fourth line-up of pure pro drivers will be entering the race for Team Scherer Sport PHX. Audi Sport driver Luca Engstler and the experienced professionals and former 24-hour Nürburgring winners Nicki Thiim and Kelvin van der Linde form the squad. The UNO Racing Team has a special feature with another R8 LMS: the team from China is sending an all-Chinese team of drivers into the race. Adderly Fong, 2013 champion in the Audi R8 LMS Cup, Xiaole He, David Pun and Rio, last year’s champion of the GT Super Sprint Challenge in China with Audi, will start together in the bronze classification for the first time.
Valuable championship points are at stake for the other Audi teams in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS. No fewer than eight racing drivers from the customer teams are coming to Spa in four classes as the leaders of the standings full of expectations. In addition, Audi teams are at the top of three team classifications. In the endurance category of the racing series, Sam Dejonghe/Loris Hezemans/Finlay Hutchison lead the Silver Cup after their victory in Monza. In Spa they start together with Lucas Légeret. At the same time, their Comtoyou Racing team is in first place in the silver team classification. Ten points behind this trio of drivers, Tresor Attempto Racing’s Alex Aka/Pietro Delli Guanti/Lorenzo Patrese are second. Fourth are Andrea Cola/César Gazeau/Roee Meyuhas in the Boutsen VDS Audi, who will be joined by Loris Cabirou at Spa. In the Gold Cup, Audi Sport driver Max Hofer and his teammates Nicolas Baert and Maxime Soulet have a 24-point lead as championship leaders after two wins this season at Monza and Le Castellet. Your team, Comtoyou Racing, also leads the team ranking here. Adam Eteki/Alberto di Folco/Aurélien Panis are currently fourth in the table for Boutsen VDS and will start in Spa with Thomas Laurent. In addition to these squads, CSA Racing also faces a class competition: the French start with Erwin Creed/Jean Glorieux/Arthur Rougier in the bronze classification. Adam Eteki/Alberto di Folco/Aurélien Panis are currently fourth in the table for Boutsen VDS and will start in Spa with Thomas Laurent. In addition to these squads, CSA Racing also faces a class competition: the French start with Erwin Creed/Jean Glorieux/Arthur Rougier in the bronze classification. Adam Eteki/Alberto di Folco/Aurélien Panis are currently fourth in the table for Boutsen VDS and will start in Spa with Thomas Laurent. In addition to these squads, CSA Racing also faces a class competition: the French start with Erwin Creed/Jean Glorieux/Arthur Rougier in the bronze classification.
Attractive overall rating from endurance and sprint
Spa is the third of five rounds on the Endurance calendar. With separate ratings after six, twelve and 24 hours of racing, the longest race of the season traditionally has a particularly high weight in the distribution of points. The endurance category also forms an overall classification together with the sprint category. Here again, Aka/Patrese lead in the Silver Cup ahead of Dejonghe/Hezemans/Hutchison, while Tresor Attempto Racing is the best team. In the Gold Cup, Baert/Hofer/Soulet are ahead of di Folco/Panis, fourth is Eteki. “It is precisely this diversity that makes this racing series so appealing for our teams,” says Chris Reinke. “Several of our customers are in promising positions. We wish them all every success in a competition of over 70 racing cars.”
The fans can follow the 75th edition of the motorsport classic in the organiser’s live stream. Audi reports live from Belgium on its social media channels. In addition to previews, interim reports and a summary of the race, the media team also keeps a constantly updated stock of high-resolution images for media purposes in the audi-mediacenter.com database.
Source – Audi
