By Johan Laubscher
The latest generation GT3 racer from Audi is quickly picking up where its predecessor left off. The original R8 LMS started winning races straight out of the box and the new R8 LMS ultra is doing exactly the same.
Less than a week after the R8 LMS ultra had its debut race and debut win in Malaysia the R8 LMS ultra lined up in the land of the rising sun. Two Audi R8 LMS ultras and two older R8 LMS cars were entered for the opening round of the 2012 Japanese Super GT series at Okayama. The Super GT is the top motorsport category in Japan and is well known for being a very competitive environment consisting of two race classes, GT500 and GT300. The 4 Audis all compete in the GT300 category.
The two new Audi R8 LMS ultras were fielded by GAINER and äpr racing while the two older cars, which will be upgraded to ultra spec later in the season, were fielded by Hitotsuyama Racing.
The first race of the Japanese GT season had a lot of Audi headlines. Firstly it would be the German marque’s long awaited debut in the Japanese series and also the debut of a certain star lady racer. The #21 R8 LMS from Hitotsuyama Racing would see Cyndie Allemann’s debut in the series alongside teammate Akihiro Tsuzuki. Cyndie’s arrival in the series has sparked a lot of media interest surrounding the Swiss race driver.
Qualifying was a bitter sweet affair with the #11 GAINER Audi in 3rd and the #21 Audi of Allemann and Tsuzuki in 12th. The other two Audis placed lower down the grid.
GT300 race start
The 300km race would see some very exciting racing which became very physical towards the end of the race. The battles for the lead were very tight in both the GT500 and GT300 classes. The GAINER R8 LMS ultra was amongst the GT 300 front runners all race long and endured a fantastic battle for the lead with the #911 Porsche 911. As the race drew to a close all eyes were fixed on the GT500 lead battle which went straight down to the line. In the background the #11 GAINER Audi R8 LMS ultra crossed the line to a well dissevered GT300 race victory. A brilliant debut race for the new car. The other Audis also had a strong showing with 3 of the 4 cars finishing in the top ten.
Victory in the debut race has shown the potential of the car yet again, and the R8 LMS cars will be a force to be reckoned with for the rest of the season. The next race of the season is set for the 500km race at Fuji on the 4th of May 2012.
Audi Results:
1st - #11 Audi R8 LMS ultra - GAINER - Tetsuya Tanaka and Katsuyuki Hiranaka
8th - #30 Audi R8 LMS ultra - äpr racing - Yuki Iwasaki and Yuya Sakamoto
9th - #21 Audi R8 LMS - Hitotsuyama Racing - Cyndie Allemann and Akihiro Tsuzuki
18th - #20 Audi R8 LMS - Hitotsuyama Racing - Michael Kim and Hideki Noda
Full Results HERE
More information:
Photos by Eric Gilbert and hosted at Motorsport.com
Race highlights Video:
#11 Audi R8 LMS ultra - GAINER - Tetsuya Tanaka and Katsuyuki Hiranaka
#30 Audi R8 LMS ultra - äpr racing - Yuki Iwasaki and Yuya Sakamoto
#21 Audi R8 LMS - Hitotsuyama Racing - Cyndie Allemann and Akihiro Tsuzuki
#20 Audi R8 LMS - Hitotsuyama Racing - Michael Kim and Hideki Noda
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