Audi Sport customer racing can look back on a strong season: customer teams on five continents have clinched almost 300 race victories and 87 titles for the brand since January. These successes are spread across the Audi RS 3 LMS touring car and the Audi R8 LMS in the GT4, GT2 and GT3 variants. In the penultimate calendar week of the 2023 season, a worldwide award in a touring car category rounded off Audi Sport customer racing’s record.
“What Audi Sport customer racing achieved with and for its customers was once again first-class,” said Head of Audi Motorsport Rolf Michl. “Our thanks go to all these teams and their drivers as well as to our drivers who supported the customers in prestigious programs and achieved so many successes.” The chronologically last award of the 2023 season, a particularly valuable one, was a title in touring car racing. As the rights holder and licensor of the TCR category, the WSC organization calculates the worldwide track record of all homologated TCR racing cars across all series every year. “We have won the TCR Model of the Year title with the Audi RS 3 LMS for the third time in a row and for the fourth time overall,” said a delighted Chris Reinke, Head of Audi Sport customer racing. “This was the 87th title in an exceptional season in which we set a new record. Thanks to all the teams and drivers for their efforts.” With 876 races contested across all categories, the Audi customer teams clearly surpassed the previous global record of 806 competitions from the previous year.
Each of the four models from the current Audi Sport customer racing program has played its part in the overall balance. In touring car racing, the Audi RS 3 LMS has won 111 of 331 races as well as five drivers titles and 22 other classes. The GT entry-level model Audi R8 LMS GT4 has made its valuable contribution with 66 victories in 196 races and a total of five titles. In the small, but excellent GT2 scene, the Audi R8 LMS GT2 won nine of 29 races and was ahead in four classifications at the end of the year. Finally, the Audi R8 LMS in GT3 version has further extended its overwhelming track record: 111 victories in 320 races and 46 championship category wins are first class. Particularly notable successes include winning the two sprint racing series Fanatec GT World Challenge powered by AWS in Europe by Mattia Drudi/Ricardo Feller from Tresor Orange1 and in Australia by Liam Talbot from Shannons.
In GT2 and GT4 racing, for which there are no global classifications, the customers won the highest-ranking categories at European level. In touring car racing, the TCR Europe title also went to Audi. Overall, the four Audi Sport customer racing models have a win rate of 33.9 percent, meaning they have won every third race on average.
The brand’s customer racing program, which began in 2009, has so far resulted in 489 worldwide championship titles in overall or class rankings. 16 overall victories in 24-hour races and many other endurance racing successes complete this overarching view. The 2023 season marks the end of Audi Sport customer racing’s strategic commitments, which the company has implemented in parallel with its customers’ comprehensive programs. Nevertheless, racing series, the public and the media can continue to look forward to exciting motorsport under the sign of the four rings: many customers will continue to rely on the products and services of Audi Sport customer racing in global categories in the future. As in the past, they can continue to rely on the usual service, including a seamless supply of parts from Audi Sport and its regional partners in Asia, Australia, Europe and Canada.