Video: Belgian Audi Club WRT Monza Report

By Johan Laubscher

The Belgian Audi Club WRT team have competed in their second major event of 2012, the first round of the Blancpain Endurance Series at Monza. The team very nearly won the event but due to various factors finished in the second and sixth positions.

As has become tradition WRT prepares a video of each of their race events. Here is the latest video, featuring the team at Monza. Enjoy:

 WRT Monza video trailer

WRT Monza video

More Information:

WRT youtube channel

Belgian Audi Club official website

WRT official website

WRT official Facebook

FIA GT1 World Championship official website

Second place finish for WRT and Audi at Monza

By Tarek Ramchani

The opening round of the Blancpain Endurance Series at Monza was really fought. Audi with Belgian Audi Club WRT finished in a very strong second overall.

A very wet wetaher at Monza, and the race started with the safety car leading the pack for many laps. Very difficult track conditions and after more than 30 minutes behind the safety car, the race "really" started. Right from the start it was a Porsche vs Ferrari affair. Best Audi car started from seventh on the grid, yet the two R8 LMS ultra were among the fastest on track passing the rivals. After the first waves of pits stops the Audi cars improved a lot, the two Belgian run cars were able to move up to second and third overall chasing the ProSpeed Porsche. Christopher Haase driving the #1 Audi R8 LMS ultra was almost the fastest putting great pressure on the Belgian GT3 R. Mean time the other Audi in hands of Edward Sandstrom was really flying. The second waves of pit stops started. The #1 lost too much time with a problem changing a wheel, that dropped the car in sthe standing while being in P2 right before. The #2 did better returing on track in third overall in hands of Laurens Vanthoor. The young Belgian, passed the second placed Porsche but couldn't catch the new leaders from Marc VDS BMW. Instead he was busy defending from Anthony Kumpen's assaults with his very quick AMG SLS. In the end the #2 of Vanthoor/Bonanomi/Sandstrom took the second place overall, while the sister #1 with Ortelli/Mies/Hasse landed in seventh.

The other Audis finished respectevly in 23rd with the #40 Sainteloc Racing, in 36th with #30 GT3 Racing, in 41st with the #41 Sainteloc Racing and in 51st with the #98 from JB Motorsport.

Round 1 of the Blancpain Endurance Series was quite good for the Audi squad. Finishing second overall is quite good in this world class GT3 entry list. Next round will be at Silverstone, and we expect another great battle on track with Belgian Audi Club WRT again among the big favorites.

Photo Credits: Markus Berns Blancpain Endurance Series

LIVE Right now - Blancpain Endurance Series Round 1 at Monza

By Johan Laubscher

It is round 1 of the Blancpain Endurance Series today. The race starts right now in Italy. A very large grid including 6 Audi R8 LMS cars from Belgian Audi Club WRT, Sainteloc Racing, GT3 Racing and JB Motorsport.

Enjoy the 3 hour race LIVE right here:

More on the Blancpain Endurance Series at the official Website 

Photo by Blancpain Endurance Series

Belgian Audi Club WRT qualified 7th at Monza's Blancpain Endurance Series

By Tarek Ramchani

The 2012 Blancpain Endurance Series season has started. The opening round is at Monza, Italy with no less than six Audi R8 LMS race cars on the entry list.

Leading the Audi squad is of course is the Belgian Audi Club WRT. The 2011 series champions are back in the top Pro-Cup class with a pair of Audi R8 LMS ultras and a very strong driver line-up. For the qualifying session the best ranked Audi ended in seventh overall, the #1 car of Christopher Mies, Christopher Haase and Stephane Ortelli. The sister #2 car of Marco Bonanomi, Laurens Vanthoor and Edward Sandstrom is far behind landing in 43rd place out of 56 cars. Pole position went to the #71 Ferrari 458 Italia from Kessel Racing, just followed by the #8 Porsche GT3 R from the Haribo Racing Team.

The other Audi cars are in both the Pro-Am class and the Gentlemen Trophy classes. The #30 Audi of the new comers “GT3 Racing” did a nice job with 27th place for their debut with the R8 LMS. The #98 Swedish run car from JB Motorsport was 33rd, while both Sainteloc Racing cars are grouped together with the #40 Audi which will start from 39th position and the sister #41 a further spot back in 40th position.

The race is a 3 hour event, exclusively open for GT3 spec cars. The Belgian Audi Club did dominate last weekend’s FIA GT1 World Championship round in France, but the team will face a larger entry list in Italy, mainly in the Pro-Cup class. With very well driven R8 LMS ultra cars, WRT will be among the big favorites for the overall win tomorrow. The same goes for the other Audi teams in both the Pro-Am and Gentlemen Trophy classes.

Photo Credits : Markus Berns Blancpain Endurance Series

#40 Audi R8 LMS - Sainteloc Racing

#98 Audi R8 LMS - JB Motorsport

Belgian Audi Club Team WRT determined to defend their ‘Blancpain’ titles

Belgian Audi Club Press Release

Only a couple of days after the season’s triumphal debut in the FIA GT1 World Championship at Nogaro, the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT is heading to Italy and to the legendary Autodromo Nazionale di Monza for the season-opener of the Blancpain Endurance Series, the other championship on the team’s busy 2012 agenda.

The Audis R8 LMS ultra of the Belgian squad have a key mission to accomplish in this highlycompetitive endurance series: to defend the Driver and Team titles conquered last year. To be the reigning champion gives the Belgian Audis the privilege to carry the most

coveted numbers, #1 and #2, on their doors but also entails new responsibilities that will be entrusted to two high-level driver line-ups: Ortelli-Haase-Mies and Bonanomi-Sandström-Vanthoor.

After the very successful debut in the FIA GT1 World Championship on Easter weekend at Nogaro, where Ortelli-Vanthoor and Stippler-Jarvis posted a double 1-2 victory, there is a logical sense of satisfaction in the team. As team manager Pierre Dieudonné explains, “to start the season well is always positive, because it eases the pressure a bit and gives reassurance about the work done. We have to take the good results as an encouragement to keep up the momentum, as it just the beginning of a very long season…”

This said, the Blancpain Endurance Series is a totally different challenge, as it is an endurance championship and this year’s level is expected to be unprecedentedly high. No less than 57 cars are entered for the full 6-event season, proving that the series format put together by Stéphane Ratel and his SRO team is a huge success.

Belgian Audi Club Team WRT team principal Vincent Vosse is conscious of the challenge ahead: “We are anxious to be back at Monza, because every motorsports fan loves Monza, and to the Blancpain, which has given us so many satisfactions last year, but it is obvious that defending the titles against such a competition won’t be an easy task. Our first challenge at Monza is to reset the cars and ourselves to endurance mode and get back to the Michelin tires, which we know well since last year. For the rest, it is clear that 57 cars on the track pose a number of challenges, in terms of traffic and strategy. We will have to be very careful with race management and all our strategic choices.”

Special attention has been given to the driver line-ups for the B.E.S., which see a perfect blend of competences, backgrounds and nationalities. In the number #1 car, Stéphane Ortelli will share the wheel with Germany’s two Christophers, Haase and Mies, a pair that was crowned FIA GT3 European Champions in 2009 and who have already driven for WRT. In the #2 car,

Belgium’s Laurens Vanthoor, the “kid” of the team, will share driving duties with Italy’s Andrea Bonanomi and Sweden’s Edward Sandström, who are at their first race with WRT. For Bonanomi, an Audi Sport official driver, who gained experience with the R8 LMS in the Italian GT championship, this will really be what can be called “home race”, as he was born in Lecco, a few kms away from the circuit.

The B.E.S. season-opener is scheduled on Sunday at 14:15 hours, on the 3-hour race

traditional format.

W Racing Team and Audi aiming to conquer

By Johan Laubscher

The Belgian W Racing Team has come a long way in the team’s first two years of competition. The team has been loyal to both Volkswagen and Audi since its inception but in 2012 the focus is clearly on the team’s participation with the four rings.

The team officially presented their 2012 program on 22 March 2012 at the Zolder racing circuit in Belgium. The team used the day to both present the 2012 program and conduct the first test session with their brand new cars. The cars look absolutely stunning with the new matt black appearance along with the traditional W Racing white and red colours. Four of the team’s drivers were on hand to drive the cars during the test sessions, Laurens Vanthoor, Stéphane Ortelli, Christopher Haase and Frank Stippler.

The team is preparing for a mammoth 2012 campaign that will see them try to defend various European titles and enter the world stage for the first time. The biggest commitment for the team in 2012 will be their two car effort in the FIA GT1 World Championship. The team will be using two brand new R8 LMS Ultras and a very strong driver line-up. Along with the FIA GT1 commitments the team will also contest the Blancpain Endurance Series and three 24 hour races, Spa, Zolder and the Nurburgring 24 Hours. Read the official W Racing team press release regarding their 2012 racing season here:

WRT press release: World and European Ambitions for the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT

Armed with brand new Audi R8 LMS ultra cars and a stellar driver line-up, W Racing team’s intentions are clear: The team wants to defend their previous successes and represent Audi with victory on the world stage.

Photos by Ronald Janssens from racingworld.be

More Information:

RacingWorld.be website

RacingWorld.be FB page

W Racing Team website

W Racing Team FB page
Belgian Audi Club

 Watch the WRT video from the Zolder testing

WRT Audi R8 LMS ultra during Zolder test session

Laurens Vanthoor, Vincent Vosse and Stéphane Ortelli at the WRT Zolder team presentation

World and European Ambitions for the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT

WRT Press Release

After winning the Driver and Team titles in the Blancpain Endurance Series, the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT is ready to start an even more international 2012 season. On top of defending its titles in the continental endurance series, the Belgian squad will represent the Ingolstadt manufacturer in the FIA World GT1 Championship. Finally, it will attempt to reconfirm its successes in the 24 Hours of Spa and Zolder, while aiming at conquering Audi's first win at the Nurburgring 24 Hours.

In only two years, the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT has experienced an extremely steady raise. After helping Greg Franchi and Anthony Kumpen conquering the Driver title in the Belcar at the end of its first year of existence, the team managed by Vincent Vosse, Rene´ Verbist and Yves Weerts has won last year the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and the Team and Driver titles (again with Greg Franchi) in the Blancpain Endurance Series. These achievements have further strengthened the bonds between Audi Sport and the Belgian squad, which aims at having again the four rings shine in 2012.

FIA GT1 World Championship : « A significant challenge »

This year, the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT will step up its efforts and compete in the new FIA GT1 World Championship, now featuring GT3 cars, with two Audis R8 LMS ultra. "The challenge ahead of us is significantly bigger than anything we have known in our first two seasons", acknowledges Team Manager Vincent Vosse. "We know what a World Championship means as a sports programme. Logistically, it also represents another dimension, but I am confident we can make it. This winter, we have taken time to reflect and analyse the functioning of our team. We have been focusing on the areas where we can further improve, such as logistics, the way we prepare the races, the team's organization... We have also strengthened the relations among all team members, including drivers, by organizing a constructive team-building exercise."

Let's talk about drivers, precisely. For the World Championship campaign, the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT has managed to perfectly mix youth and experience. Having played a key role in the development of the Audi R8 LMS ultra, Germany's Frank Stippler (soon a 37-year-old) will be partnering with Briton Oliver Jarvis (28), who will also be driving for Audi in the World Endurance Championship. At the wheel of the other car, the Monegasque Ste´phane Ortelli (42) will be able to share all his racing know-how with the youngest driver in the team, Belgium's Laurens Vanthoor (21), who comes straight from the Formula 3 Euro Series.

"We have an excellent poker of drivers", says a cheerful Vincent Vosse. "But it is difficult to set a precise objective for ourselves. We will have to deal with a number of unknown variables, as the new Audi R8 LMS ultra and the Pirelli tires. We'll therefore rely a lot on the experience of our drivers and on team spirit to climb as high as possible in the rankings."

Blancpain Endurance Series : « Reconfirm the titles »

The approach will be logically different in the Blancpain Endurance Series. "After winning the 24 Hours of Spa and the two titles, we cannot aim at less than doing as well as last year", says Vincent with a smile, "To that end, we have elaborated to top driver line-ups."

Besides his programme in the World Championship and in the French GT Tour (where WRT defends de colours of Audi France), Stephane Ortelli will also take part in the Blancpain Endurance Series. He will be associated with the former FIA GT3 Europe champions Christopher Mies (22) and Christopher Haase (24), both from Germany. Also Laurens Vanthoor will compete in the two series, but he will have different team mates in the Blancpain, as he will be associated with Italy's Marco Bonanomi (27 and an Audi Sport driver), to be replaced at Silverstone by Andrea Piccini, and Sweden's Edward Sandstrom (33).

Three 24 Hours in 2012

These two main campaigns will clearly form the skeleton of the 2012 racing programme of the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT. Still, there will be two additional 24-hour races in the agenda, on top of the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, already part of Blancpain Endurance Series calendar.

End of May, the Belgian team will enter one Audi R8 LMS in the "green hell", at the famous 24 Hours of the Nu¨rburgring. "For this race, we will have a trio of drivers that we know well: Edward Sandstro¨m, Andrea Piccini and Oliver Jarvis", confirms Vincent Vosse. "Following the Ring and the Spa 24 Hours end of July, we will defend our crown at the 24 Hours of Zolder, the other day-long race in Belgium. For that commitment, we still have to designate our drivers."

In conclusion, it won't be a restful season for the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT! "Everybody in the team is well aware that the third season is of the utmost importance", admits Vincent Vosse, "but nobody is willing to rest on past successes and we all are committed to continue to grow and improve. I am convinced that we are better prepared than last year and we are anxious to be at the first race!"

Photo Credit: Laurent Mercier www.endurance-info.com 

WRT Belgian Audi Club back to Blancpain Endurance Series

By Tarek Ramchani :

2011 was a great and successful season for WRT in the series. Despite only scoring a single victory last season, consistency was enough to give the Belgians both trophies in the end. The single race victory was at round three, the prestigious Spa 24 Hours. WRT won overall with Mattias Ekstrom, Timo Scheider and Greg Franchi. The team may only have won at Spa but the two R8 LMS cars of the team fought really hard at each race for victories. Many times unlucky while clearly being the fastest on track.

While mainly focusing on representing Audi in the FIA GT1 World Championship in 2012, the Belgians are returning to the Blancpain Endurance Series to defend both championship titles. Two brand new Audi R8 LMS ultra cars are entered for the full season. For now only Laurens Vanthoor is announced for the driver lineup. The other five drivers will be announced later. The Audi R8 LMS ultra will fight for overall victories, racing in the top Pro-Cup class. Rivals in the class will come from BMW with the Z4 GT3, McLaren with the MP4-12C and Porsche with the 997 GT3 R. While the theoretically lower class of Pro-Am Cup could also bring strong competition for the outright wins, with its very large entry list. As in 2011, WRT will be backed by the Belgian Audi Club, and will have full support from Audi Sport customer racing. Last year the team raced with Audi works drivers Filipe Albuquerque and Marcel Fassler for the full season. We expect the same this year as well, with some factory Audi drivers supporting the team.

In addition to the top WRT team, a third Audi R8 LMS will race in the series. An older spec car for JB Motorsport. A fully privateer team from Sweden. They will enter the amateur class, the "Gentlemen Trophy". The drivers will be Jan Brunstedt and Mikael Bender. Last year they raced in the Swedish GT Series and competed in a few VLN Endurance Series events supported by Phoenix Racing.

Six races are planned for the 2012 season including the stellar event of the series, the Spa 24 Hours at the end of July. The season opener is set at Monza on April 15th.

WRT Phenomenal 2011 Season With Audi

By Tarek Ramchani :

The W Racing Team, a Belgian Audi racing team in only its second year of existence completed a very successful 2011. Entering no less than four different series all over Europe. Despite spreading its efforts across four different championships, they were ultra competitive in each series. They were fighting for all four titles and collected many great victories and championship titles by the end of 2011. Along with being competitive in the various championships the team also won two major 24 hour races overall.

WRT entered the new Blancpain Endurance Series as Belgian Audi Club Team WRT with two factory backed Audi R8 LMS. Factory drivers Filipe Albuquerque and Marcel Fassler also joined the team for the five race season. For round three of the series, the prestigious Spa 24 Hours, the team received full factory support from Audi. Racing under the name Audi Sport Team WRT, the Belgians won the race overall. The first ever victory for Audi at the 24 Hours of Spa, with drivers Mattias Ekstrom, Timo Scheider and Greg Franchi. Greg Franchi also won the drivers title during the finale at Silverstone along with WRT winning the teams standing. A great result for this young team.

The team also competed in the FIA GT3 European Championship. Again entering two cars they and a season of highs and lows. The Belgians scored three race victories. By seasons end both drivers Greg Franchi and Enzo Ide were fighting for the driver’s title at Zandvoort. Enzo Ide finished third in the overall drivers standing after taking victory in the final race of the season. The final results could have been much better had it not been for a lot of bad luck during the 2011 FIA GT3 season. Along with bad luck for WRT the thieving bad Balance of Performance hit the Audi R8 LMS very hard in the European championship, limiting the capabilities of this thoroughbred race car.

WRT competing in France was a feather in the cap of the young team, in only their second year of competition WRT was approached to field a factory car on behalf of another European Audi importer, Audi France. WRT would enter a car in the French FFSA GT Tour under the name Team Audi France with drivers Stephane Ortelli and David Hallyday as the factory entry for Audi France in the series. It was a very strong 2011 season for the team who fought for the title all the way to the finale at Paul Ricard. Despite race victories and many podium spots the team was victim to a lot of bad luck. As at Albi they retired with 8 minutes to go while leading. Or at Paul Ricard the finale, where the Safety Car dropped them from leading the race to a lap down. In the end they claimed the runner up position in the points behind the Pro GT Porsche team. 

Along with WRT’s various European competition they also entered their home series, the Belcar Endurance Championship. With two cars for the full season, with drivers Enzo Ide, Francois Virbist, Xavier Maassen and Bert Longin. WRT achieved some good results including a maiden overall win in the premiere event of the series, the Zolder 24 Hours race with all four drivers in one car. However that was not enough to battle for the title against the ProSpeed Porsche team.

During 2011 WRT also ventured outside of Europe for the first time. WRT was approached to run the factory backed two car effort at the Sepang 12 Hours. The team did very well and was extremely competitive, but yet again it would be a case of bad luck befalling the Belgian team. With only minute remaining in the race, a puncture hit the leading Audi and robbed the team of overall victory, eventually finishing second behind the winning AMG Mercedes. To emphasize the bad luck, this puncture to the leading R8 LMS was the only puncture for any car in the entire event and it happened within the final minutes of the event. Despite the bad luck, the WRT team once again showed both its pace and class. 

2011 was only the second year of competition for the young new WRT team. It was a great one as the team is moving up to world class level competition. Belgian Audi Club WRT will represent Audi in the FIA GT World Championship with two brand new Audi R8 LMS ultra. 

Motorsport is full of “what could have been”, if it had not been for tremendously bad luck during the year, WRT could have made it a clean sweep in 2011. However this was not to be, but one thing is for sure, the team always showed its class and did notch up many great victories and championship titles. 2012 can only bring further improvement and success to this world class motorsport team.

Audi Sport Team WRT - Total Spa 24 Hours

Belgian Audi Club WRT - Belcar Endurance Series

Belgian Audi Club WRT - FIA GT3 European Championship

Belgian Audi Club Team WRT - Blancpain Endurance Series

Team Audi France - FFSA GT Tour

Belgian Audi Club WRT - Sepang 12 Hours

Photo Credits : Blancpain Endurance Series, Belcar Endurance Championship, FIA GT3 European Championship