Second place finish for Audi Sport Team Phoenix at VLN's round 3

By Tarek Ramchani

Round 3 of the VLN Endurance Series today at the Nurbrugring Nordschleife. The Audi R8 LMS scored its best result of the season so far with Audi Sport Team Phoenix.

A nice second place finish for Phoenix Racing and their #5 Audi R8 LMS ultra. The car shared by Christopher Mies and Markus Winkelhohck was right behind the winning Porsche GT3 R. The sister #15 car of the team finished in a good fourth place outright with drivers Marc Basseng, Christopher Haase and Frank Stippler. The Audi race experience with the #11 car landed in fifteenth place, while the other car from the team #22 R8 LMS finished in twentieth. The Belgian WRT team finished in nineteenth. Bad luck hit the #44 Raeder Motorsport and the #14 Mamerow Racing cars, both retired.

The SP4T class was an all Audi TT RS affair. The #272 from Raeder Motorsport won the class and did achieved amazing thirteenth overall. The #282 car of FH Koln Motorsport was in second and the #269 machine from Raeder Motorsport was in third.

Full race results

Today's race is the final one before the big 24 Hours of the Nurburgring next month.

#15 Audi R8 LMS - Audi Sport Team Phoenix

#36 Audi R8 LMS - WRT

#270 Audi TT RS - Besaplast Racing Team

Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra spotted at the Nürburgring

The brand new Spec Audi R8 LMS ultra raced during the opening round of the German VLN Endurance Series at the Nurburgring. It was run by team Phoenix Racing and it looks great.

Photos by our friend Norbert Kratz, more at his Flickr Channel

Audi unlucky season opener at Nordschleife's VLN

By Tarek Ramchani

The VLN Endurance Series started yesterday at the world famous Nordschleife. Three Audi R8 LMS race cars entered the first round of this unique sportscar championship.

A single brand new Audi R8 LMS ultra was entered by Phoenix Racing the #5 car of Oliver Jarvis and Rene Rast. The other two cars were older Spec R8 LMSs. The sister Phoenix #15 for Frank Stippler, Christopher Haase and Markus Winkelhock. Team Raeder Motorsport entered the third car with Frank Biela, Thomas Mutsch and Christian Hohenadel. 

Right from the start it was obvious the race would not be easy at all. The Porsche GT3-R cars dominated the early stages of the race battling with each other ahead of the field. The Audi cars had to chase and catch up. The #5 Phoenix was the best from the Audi camp racing in the top 5 overall in the first part of the race. Later the first disaster came, the #15 Phoenix car crashed while it was in the lead overall. A few minutes later and it was the turn of the #44 R8 LMS from Raeder Motorsport to crash. Bad luck didn't stop hitting the Audi squad and the #5 Phoenix Audi crashed as well. In less than 30 minutes all three cars faced crashes in very rainy weather and a very wet race track. The race was later red flagged with heavy fog on the track, making it impossible to continue. Victory went to the #19 BMW Z4 GT3 from BMW Team Schubert.

Audi was unlucky in the top SP9 class, but did dominate the SP4T class. A 1-2 victory for Raeder Motorsport with their Audi TT-RS. The #272 TT-RS finished as the best Audi car in an amazing 8th overall, ahead of many top GT3 cars.

The season opener wasn't easy for Audi overall. We all hope that the other nine rounds will be better for the Audi R8 LMS. Team Phoenix Racing and Raeder Motorsport will do the full season in VLN. Mamerow Racing and the Audi race experience will join for a part time effort and selected events.

Photo Credits: Norbert Kratz and Julian Schmidt

Two Audi R8 LMS ultra cars form spearhead at the Nürburgring 24 Hours

Audi Press Release

• Audi Sport Team Phoenix with two vehicles at Eifel marathon
• A total of five teams with seven Audi R8 LMS ultra cars on the grid
• Audi R8 LMS has been best GT3 car three times in succession

Audi has selected a new strategy for the 2012 24-hour race at the Nürburgring (May 19/20). After three consecutive class victories the factory line-up this year is concentrated on Audi Sport Team Phoenix that will be putting two Audi R8 LMS ultra cars with seven seasoned endurance racers on the grid. In addition, four customer teams are relying on Audi’s updated GT3 sports car at Germany’s major endurance race.

Exclusive appearance at the home race: For the first time, Audi Sport Team Phoenix will be representing Audi’s colors at the 24-hour race in the Eifel as the only factory team. Ernst Moser’s squad based in Meuspath in the immediate vicinity of the Nürburgring is fielding two new Audi R8 LMS ultra cars. One of the vehicles will be driven by the Germans Marc Basseng, Christopher Haase, Frank Stippler and Markus Winkelhock. The second GT3 sports car will be shared by the Le Mans winner and Audi factory driver Marcel Fässler (CH), and the two Germans Christopher Mies and René Rast plus Frank Stippler, who has been nominated for both cars.

“2012 is marked by numerous conflicting events for Audi Sport,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “They include the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring, which coincides with the DTM round at Brands Hatch in Great Britain. We were looking for the best way to simultaneously contest both events and believe that we’ve found it. Due to its successful history at this race and the fact that it’s at home at the Nürburgring Audi Sport Team Phoenix was a logical choice for us. In combination with the customer teams, Audi is again showing a strong presence at the Nürburgring 24 Hours this year.”

Beyond the factory commitment, the Audi R8 LMS ultra is proving its attractiveness as a customer sport race car in fierce competition yet again. Four teams are placing their trust in a total of five of the race cars from Audi Sport customer racing: Mamerow Racing, Raeder Motorsport, Team WRT and Audi race experience.

As long-standing Nordschleife experts, Mamerow Racing and Raeder Motorsport are bringing valuable experience to the track. Peter Mamerow’s team has clinched numerous class and overall victories at the Nürburgring endurance race. The successes achieved by the team of Martin and Nicolas Raeder last year included class victory at the Nürburgring 24 Hours and a VLN overall victory with the Audi TT RS. This year, both teams are relying on the powerful GT3 sports car with the four rings for the first time. The car’s final performance rating by the regulations is still pending. 

Team WRT is a newcomer to the Nürburgring, but the team of Vincent Vosse has been intimately familiar with the Audi R8 LMS for two years. Last year, it won the Spa 24 Hours and the Blancpain Endurance Series with it. In the Belgian team, Oliver Jarvis (GB) is sharing the cockpit with Andrea Piccini (I), Edward Sandström (S) and Allan Simonsen (DK).

Audi race experience is competing at the Nürburgring 24 Hours for the second time and fielding two R8 LMS ultra cars. For the first time, the team will be putting a separate line-up on the grid. One vehicle will be driven by the four international professional racers Warren Luff (AUS)/Alex Yoong (MAL)/Florian Gruber (D)/Luca Cappellari (I). In the second car, three customers of Audi race experience will be taking turns at the wheel with the three-time Le Mans winner Marco Werner.

“With Audi Sport Team Phoenix as the spearheading squad and the four customer teams Audi should be very well set for the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring this year,” says Romolo Liebchen, Head of Audi Sport customer racing. “I’m convinced that our customers, as well, will have perfect chances of being in contention for victory with the R8 LMS ultra. At Audi Customer Sport, we will do everything to provide optimum support to the customers.” 

The Audi teams at the 2012 24-hour race at the Nürburgring

Audi Sport Team Phoenix

Marc Basseng/Christopher Haase/Frank Stippler/Markus Winkelhock (all D)
Marcel Fässler (CH)/Christopher Mies (D)/René Rast (D)

Mamerow Racing

Michael Ammermüller/Christer Jöns/Armin Hahne/Christian Mamerow (all D)

Raeder Motorsport

Frank Biela/Christian Hohenadel/Luca Ludwig/Thomas Mutsch (all D)

WRT

Oliver Jarvis (GB)/Andrea Piccini (I)/Edward Sandström (S)/Allan Simonsen (DK)

Audi race experience

Warren Luff (AUS)/Alex Yoong (MAL)/Florian Gruber (D)/Luca Cappellari (I)
Marco Werner/Christian Bollrath/Pierre Ehret/Peter Venn (all D)

Phoenix Racing back to "Green Hell" and VLN Endurance Series

By Tarek Ramchani

Phoenix Racing has announced its full season commitment in the German Endurance Series. Also known as the VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring or simply VLN, exclusively run on the big Nordschleife.

The Nürburgring based team is no stranger to the Nordschleife and the VLN Series. While racing mainly in ADAC GT Masters in 2011, the team did selected VLN events and even won the season finale overall with their Audi R8 LMS. For the 2012 opener, team Phoenix will field two Audi R8 LMS race cars with a strong and competitive driver line-up. The #5 Audi R8 LMS will have Audi works driver Oliver Jarvis and young German Rene Rast. Both aren't new to the team, Jarvis drove for Phoenix in the DTM series in 2008 and 2009. Rene Rast was a Phoenix driver last year in ADAC GT Masters. The sister #15 car has got a strong squad. Markus Winkelhock, long time Audi factory driver in the DTM will be joined by two Phoenix regulars, Frank Stippler and Christopher Haase, who both have a lot of experience with the Audi R8 LMS.

The two Audi R8 LMS cars will race in the top SP9 class which is open for FIA GT3 spec cars. Phoenix Racing will without a shadow of doubt be among the strong teams targeting for the outright win. The opposition will come from another Audi team (Raeder Motorsport), but mainly from AMG Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Porsche teams with most of them being factory backed teams.

The VLN Endurance Series will have a ten round calendar. The first race of the season is this weekend with the 59 ADAC Westfalenfahrt, a 4 hour event.

More Information:

Phoenix Racing official website

Phoenix Racing official Facebook

VLN official website

Audi Privateer Monsters at the Nordschleife

By Tarek Ramchani :

The VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring or simply VLN, is the German Endurance Series racing exclusively on the legendary Nordschleife. Big entry lists at each round and a great mix between super fast GTs and Touring Cars. Various Audis are there as well, both factory supported teams running the works Audi R8 LMS and the Audi TT RS (quattro GmbH) and also true independents ones who built their own racing cars. Here is a quick look at the different privateer exotic Audi machines from the Green Hell.

Audi RS4 - Goetz Motorsport (SP8T class) :

Audi TTS - Raeder Motorsport (SP3T class) :

Audi TTS - Scuderia Colonia e.V. I ADAC (SP3T class) :

Audi S3 - MSC Adenau e.V.I. (SP3T class) :

Audi TT RS - Brandl Motorsport (SP4T class) :

Audi TT - Team Haakon Schjaerin (SP3T class) :

Audi A4 quattro - Tuning Akademie (AT class) :

Audi TTS - Pro Handycap e.V. Wolfgang Muller (SP4T class) :