Audi customers score GT3 and TCR victories on two continents.
25-07-2024 17:49 - MOTORSPORT
The third weekend of July saw Audi customers celebrating trophies on either side of the Atlantic. The highlights of the success for the Audi R8 LMS in GT3 racing include overall victories and drivers leading their respective championships following races in France and the USA, as well as a strong 1-2 class result in Germany. In the TCR category, the Audi RS 3 LMS was again on top in Canada and took an additional win in TCR Spain.
Audi R8 LMS GT3
Another victory and the championship lead: Having already scored two race wins in the International GT Open this year, the Eastalent Racing team again had reason to celebrate in Le Castellet. At the fifth race weekend of the season, Simon Reicher started the first heat from tenth on the grid in sunny conditions on Saturday afternoon. Reicher pitted from ninth place and handed over to teammate Christopher Haase, who proceeded to put in a hard charge. Haase moved up to fourth by the time that the front-runners had completed their pit stops, less than 10 seconds behind the leader. From here, Haase passed the competitors ahead of him and took the lead on the penultimate lap to clinch victory for the team in France. One day later, Haase and Reicher were back on the podium after finishing runner-up in a wet race. These strong results saw the Austrian-German duo taking the lead in the drivers’ standings. In neighboring Germany, Audi customers celebrated a 1-2 Gold class victory in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS at Hockenheim, the third round of the Sprint Cup season. In the second race, Tresor Attempto Racing won the Gold Cup class with an Audi R8 LMS driven by Lorenzo Ferrari and Lorenzo Patrese, who finished ahead of Simon Gachet and Lucas Légeret from CSA Racing. In the overall standings, combining the sprint and endurance races, Audi customer team Saintéloc Racing continues to lead the teams’ standings of the Gold Cup, while its driver duo of Gilles Magnus and Paul Evrard also remain in front of the drivers’ classification in the class. On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, the GT3 model from Audi Sport customer racing added more silverware to the tally of the SKI Autosports team and its driver Johnny O’Connell. The American ace finished third in the opening race of the GT America Powered by AWS weekend at the Virginia International Raceway. In the second heat, O’Connell started from pole position and defended well to take his second victory of the year and now leads the SRO3 class drivers’ standings after 10 of 16 races. Rounding off the GT3 success this weekend was a podium result for Juta Racing in the team’s home country of Lithuania. At the annual Aurum 1006 km race in Palanga, the outfit finished runner-up overall after eight hours of racing on the fast and tight street circuit. The Juta Racing driver trio of Justas Jonušis, Simas Juodviršis and Eimantas Navikauskas competed under the banner of the Circle K miles Plus Racing Team.
Audi R8 LMS GT3
Another victory and the championship lead: Having already scored two race wins in the International GT Open this year, the Eastalent Racing team again had reason to celebrate in Le Castellet. At the fifth race weekend of the season, Simon Reicher started the first heat from tenth on the grid in sunny conditions on Saturday afternoon. Reicher pitted from ninth place and handed over to teammate Christopher Haase, who proceeded to put in a hard charge. Haase moved up to fourth by the time that the front-runners had completed their pit stops, less than 10 seconds behind the leader. From here, Haase passed the competitors ahead of him and took the lead on the penultimate lap to clinch victory for the team in France. One day later, Haase and Reicher were back on the podium after finishing runner-up in a wet race. These strong results saw the Austrian-German duo taking the lead in the drivers’ standings. In neighboring Germany, Audi customers celebrated a 1-2 Gold class victory in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS at Hockenheim, the third round of the Sprint Cup season. In the second race, Tresor Attempto Racing won the Gold Cup class with an Audi R8 LMS driven by Lorenzo Ferrari and Lorenzo Patrese, who finished ahead of Simon Gachet and Lucas Légeret from CSA Racing. In the overall standings, combining the sprint and endurance races, Audi customer team Saintéloc Racing continues to lead the teams’ standings of the Gold Cup, while its driver duo of Gilles Magnus and Paul Evrard also remain in front of the drivers’ classification in the class. On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, the GT3 model from Audi Sport customer racing added more silverware to the tally of the SKI Autosports team and its driver Johnny O’Connell. The American ace finished third in the opening race of the GT America Powered by AWS weekend at the Virginia International Raceway. In the second heat, O’Connell started from pole position and defended well to take his second victory of the year and now leads the SRO3 class drivers’ standings after 10 of 16 races. Rounding off the GT3 success this weekend was a podium result for Juta Racing in the team’s home country of Lithuania. At the annual Aurum 1006 km race in Palanga, the outfit finished runner-up overall after eight hours of racing on the fast and tight street circuit. The Juta Racing driver trio of Justas Jonušis, Simas Juodviršis and Eimantas Navikauskas competed under the banner of the Circle K miles Plus Racing Team.