Five Audi R8 LMS assault on French GT Tour

By Tarek Ramchani

The FFSA GT Tour series will start this weekend at the Ledenon circuit. Last year Audi missed out the championship title in the very last round. This year no less than five Audi R8 LMS race cars will enter the French national GT series.

Team Audi France:

As in the last couple of years Team Audi France will lead the Audi squad in GT Tour. Last year a single car was entered with support from the Belgians of WRT, this year it's the same again. A brand new Audi R8 LMS ultra for the team's regular drivers: Stephane Ortelli and David Hallyday. In 2011 the two drivers battled for the championship title until the last round at Paul Ricard. The official Audi France dealer team will be among the big favorites fighting for the series crown.

Sainteloc Racing:

Sainteloc Racing is a truly privateer team that has been racing with Audi since 2010. Last year they entered two cars and this year no less than three Audi R8 LMSs are joining the series from Sainteloc. Two brand new Audi R8 LMS ultra models in the "main" GT Championship. Gregory Guilvert and Lamic and Dino Lunardi and Bruno Hernandez will share the cars. Right before the French series starts, the two R8 LMS ultra also raced at an international level, doing quite well in both FIA GT3 European Championship and Blancpain Endurance

The third car is an older spec R8 LMS, it will enter the "amateur" GT Cup. Madelaine/Sourd will be the drivers. This car will be among the big favorites in the GT Cup division.

JWS Racing:

New comers to the series and to Audi, JWS Racing will enter the GT Cup with their old spec Audi R8 LMS. The car will be shared by William David and Jean-Marc Quintois. The team is young, but they are aiming high in the GT Cup battle.

For 2012, the GT Tour has a seven round calendar, with a visit to Navara in Spain. The series is set to use the same Balance of Performance as used by the FIA GT3 European Championship. We are hoping for  strong performances from the three Audi teams with the Audi R8 LMS ultra is being the strongest GT3 racer at the moment.

More Informations:

GT Tour official website

GT Tour official Facebook

A weekend to forget for Audi at Zolder

By Tarek Ramchani

Circuit Zolder hosted the second round of both the FIA GT1 World Championship and the FIA GT3 European Championship last weekend. Audi teams are competing in both series, in the end it was some bad luck and disappointing results from a very rainy weekend.

FIA GT1 World Championship:

After dominating the opening round at Nogaro with double victories, the Belgian Audi Club WRT aimed high for their home race at Zolder. All started well on Satruday, with very strong qualifying sessions. The #33 of Oliver Jarvis and Frank Stippler was second, the sister #32 car of Stéphane Ortelli and Laurens Vanthoor, the double winners in France, were fifth.

Right before the qualifying race, the pole sitting Porsche GT3 R of Exim Bank Team China was penalized and that gave the #33 Audi the pole position. It was a wet start to the race and the second placed Lamobrghini Gallardo jumped the start, passing Oliver Jarvis. The track began to dry and the pit window opened for the mandatory pit stop. Jarvis had had placed the #33 in the lead before the pit stops. Most of the front runners opted for dry slick tires but the WRT team chose wet tires. It was later revealed that a communication problem had prevented the team from hearing the drivers ask for slicks on the clearly drying track. This resulted in both Audi struggling and dropping way behind. The #18 BMW Z4 GT3 of Vita4One Racing won the race. The R8 LMS ultra cars finished together but only eleventh and twelfth.

The main Championship Race, was a kind of revered deja vu. Tire choice was a gamble at the start of the race with possible rain. Many cars opted for wets while WRT chose slicks this time round. WRT got the gamble wrong and struggled for pace when it started raining shortly after the race start. The WRT team pushed the cars to their limits and as the track began to dry they began making up places. WRT was the last team to do their mandatory pit stops. This had allowed them to make up a lot of ground but when they rejoined the track their cold slicks were no match for the other cars that had pitted earlier and now had warm slicks. Both Audis dropped back in the field but were still running together. Stéphane Ortelli and Oliver Jarvis battled hard for positions on track, and collided, with the #33 Audi R8 LMS ultra spinning. In the end the #32 Audi of Ortelli and Vanthoor finished in sixth. The sister #33 with Jarvis and Stippler landed in tenth. 

The Belgian weekend wasn't lucky for the WRT boys, however the team was able to keep the overall championship lead. Stéphane Ortelli and Laurens Vanthoor are the outright series leaders. Next time is at Portimao in Portugal. Last year WRT did very well there in the FIA GT3 European Championship by winning a race with their Audi R8 LMS. 

FIA GT3 European Championship:

Things weren't different in the FIA GT3 European Championship. The same as in the World GT1 event, the Audis did very well in both qualifying sessions with great double pole positions but the races did not go as planned.

For Race 1, the new comers to the series Team Nova Driver were able to take their first pole position. The other two Audis from Sainteloc Racing were further back. Before the start the #14 Portuguese Audi was penalized and dropped to third. The race was very wet with the #14 involved in a titanic battle for the lead. The track began to dry and it came down to tire choice at the pit stops. The Audi team again opted for slick anticipating more imminent rain. The rain did not arrive and the three Audi cars weren't able to match the Ferrari and AMG SLS pace. The cars finished in lower positions, sixth was the #14 Audi of Team Novadriver, the Sainteloc cars were grouped in tenth and eleventh.

Race 2 was almost the same as Race 1. Sainteloc Racing's R8 LMS ultra had locked out the front row after a great 1-2 in the qualifying session. Again wrong tire choices combined with various spins resulted in the cars dropping back and they finished almost a lap behind the winning AF Corse Ferrari 458 GT3. 

Overall it was a very difficult weekend for the Audi teams at Zolder. Next time both championships will head to Portugal and the challenging Portimao track. Belgian Audi Club WRT is leading in FIA World GT1 Championship and Sainteloc Racing is chasing the leaders in the FIA GT3 European Championship. We are hoping for better performances at the Algarve track, the Audi R8 LMS ultra is clearly among the best GT3 racers around, if not the best.

Photos hosted at Endurance-Info.com

Audi storming Zolder's FIA GT3 qualifying with double pole positions

By Tarek Ramchani

Circuit Zolder in Belgium is hosting the second round of the FIA GT3 European Championship. Three Audi R8 LMS ultra race cars are there, and they did really well right from the start, taking both pole positions.

For Saturday afternoon Race 1 the pole position went the Portuguese team Nova Driver. The #14 Audi R8 LMS car shared by Cesar Campaniço and Ni Amorim set the fastest time and will start in front of the field. The two Sainteloc Racing Audis struggled in this first qualifying session, the #16 set the ninth time in hands of Marc Sourd and Gregory Guilvert. The sister # 15 machine landed in tenth with Dino Lunardi and Jerome Demay.

Race 2 qualifying again saw Audi domination. The Sainteloc Racing team locked out an all Audi R8 LMS front row. A great battle between the team's stars Gregory Guilvert and Dino Lunardi for pole position. In the end it was the #15 of Lunardi setting the fastest time in front of the sister #16. Novadriver Audi will start from position eight on the grid.

The Audi R8 LMS did dominate the qualifying session, but will have to fight with strong rivals from Ferrari, AMG Mercedes-Benz and Lamborghini. The entry list isn't big, only eleven cars are entered in the Belgian round, but still we are expecting great battles on track as at Nogaro last time out. Hoping for strong performances from both Audi customer team.

Photo Credits: Markus Berns / SRO FIA GT3 European Championship

Pole position for Audi at FIA GT3 Nogaro qualifying

By Tarek Ramchani

The FIA GT3 European Championship 2012 season has started at Nogaro. Three Audi R8 LMS race cars are there, from Sainteloc Racing for cars #15 and #16 and the third one #14 from the Portuguese team Nova Driver. The three cars immediately did well in the South of France. 

A very strong performance from Sainteloc Racing with a nice 1-2 in the qualifying session for Race 2. Gregory Gulivert driving the #16 Audi R8 LMS is ahead of his team mate Bruno Lunardi in the #15 car. Both drivers set the respective fastest times in the second session, giving Audi an all R8 LMS front row for tomorrow's first Race. The #14 Audi car of Team Novadriver landed in seventh. Not bad for a debut from the Portuguese team in FIA GT3. Earlier in Race 1 qualifying the #16 Sainteloc Racing R8 LMS finished second behind the pole sitter #1 Mercedes-Benz SLS GT3 AMG. The #15 Sainteloc Audi landed in fifth, while the #14 Nova Driver R8 LMS is ninth.

The Audis were the fastest cars setting a great pace in the second session, however the Ferrari 458 GT3 cars were very close finishing in third and fourth. We are expecting great actions on track in both races despite the small grid of only twelve cars.

#15 Audi R8 LMS - Sainteloc Racing

#14 Audi R8 LMS - Team Nova Driver

Photos hosted at FIA GT3 European Championship Facebook page