Audi Sport customer racing finished the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup with its two drivers Nathanaël Berthon and Gilles Magnus with two victories. Meanwhile, two customer teams secured endurance racing class titles in Spain with the Audi RS 3 LMS and the Audi R8 LMS GT4.
Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)
Crowning finish: Team Comtoyou Racing won both races at the ninth and final round of the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup. Nathanaël Berthon started from pole position in the first sprint at Jeddah after setting the fastest time in qualifying. In the Audi RS 3 LMS fielded by Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport, the Frenchman withstood the attacks of rival Norbert Michelisz and increased his lead from a few tenths to 1.8 seconds over the course of 28 laps. The 33-year-old professional driver thus celebrated his second win of the season after his home victory in France in August and his third WTCR victory overall. Teammate Tom Coronel finished third. The second race was won by Gilles Magnus for Comtoyou Team Audi Sport. For the Belgian, the way was clear from grid position six after a spin as well as an accident in the early phase had robbed several drivers who had started in front of him of their chances. The 23-year-old Audi Sport driver Magnus scored his third victory of the season and his fourth WTCR success overall. Behind him, Viktor Davidovski showed a personal best. The privateer from North Macedonia, who had previously clinched a class title in the Audi RS 3 LMS in the TCR Europe, was among the best in his guest start at world level. He crossed the finish line for Comtoyou Racing just four tenths of a second behind Magnus. In the drivers standings for the 2022 season, Nathanaël Berthon finished third overall as the best Audi Sport driver. It was his best personal result in this championship. Tom Coronel finished second in the WTCR Trophy for privateers. The WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup came to an end in Saudi Arabia after five years. Two different teams from Audi Sport customer racing scored a total of 17 victories with six drivers during this period, twelve of those wins went to Team Comtoyou Racing. The Belgian squad of founder Jean-Michel Baert and team manager François Verbist was an integral part of the field from the first to the last day and entered six Audi RS 3 LMS cars in the finale. After the end of the World Cup, the squad from Frameries has long since set itself new goals and plans to contest the new TCR World Tour and the TCR Europe with a total of eight Audi RS 3 LMS cars in 2023, among others.
Class title and second place at Barcelona: Veloso Motorsport managed a podium result at the sixth round of the Campeonato de España Resistencia. The two Portuguese drivers Jorge Silva and Pedro da Silva shared an Audi RS 3 LMS and finished second in their D1 class after 54 laps at Barcelona. They thus won the Copa de España TCR as well as the Pagid TCR classification within the endurance championship.
Audi R8 LMS GT4
Podium result in Spain: Pierre Arraou finished the 2022 Campeonato de España Resistencia season on the podium. The Frenchman competed in the two-hour race at Barcelona together with his compatriot Frédéric Billon. The driver duo finished third in the GPR class in the Audi R8 LMS GT4 after 54 laps. In the Trofeo Juan Fernández Clase 2, Arraou thus secured the title.
Audi Sport customer racing
Gala in London: The SRO Motorsports Group celebrated its champions in Great Britain on the last weekend in November. At the “Magazine” event location on the south bank of the Thames, the promoter honored the most successful drivers and teams of the past season, including Audi Sport drivers and customers: Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts for winning the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup, Silver Cup winners Thomas Neubauer, Benjamin Goethe and Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer, European and French GT4 Silver Champions Erwan Bastard/Roee Meyuhas, GT4 Am winners Christophe Hamon/Michael Blanchemain and British GT4 winners Richard Williams and Sennan Fielding. Worldwide, Audi customers have won 18 titles in SRO racing series alone.
Coming up next week
30/11–02/12 Kuwait (KWT), round 7, 24H Series
01–04/12 Adelaide (AUS), round 7, GT World Challenge Australia