Customer racing successes were concentrated on southern Europe during the second weekend in July: Audi customer teams achieved podium results with the Audi RS 3 LMS at Mugello, Italy, and are leading four of the TCR Italy championship classifications. In the Campionato Italiano Gran Turismo Endurance at the same venue, an Audi R8 LMS also finished in the top three. The Audi R8 LMS GT2 celebrated an overall victory and second place in the Campeonato de España GT in Spain. The weekend was rounded off with a class win in Portugal for the GT4 version of the Audi R8 LMS.
Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)
Leading the standings in Italy: At the third round of TCR Italy at Mugello, customer teams with the Audi RS 3 LMS took podium places in all four races. Private driver Nicola Baldan from Aikoa Racing achieved second place in both heats of TCR Italy and twice won the Master class. With these strong results, the Italian moved up from seventh to first place in the overall TCR Italy drivers’ standings, while he also leads the Master class. With third place overall in the second race, Canadian Nicolas Taylor from PMA Motorsport also won the rookie classification and the classification for drivers under 25 years of age. He continues to lead the rookie standings. In the TCR Italy DSG for models from the Volkswagen Group with dual clutch transmissions, seven drivers relied on the previous generation of the Audi RS 3 LMS. Here, the Italian Luca Franca in the Audi RS 3 LMS from Aikoa Racing finished runner-up in the first race with a grid of 19 participants, ahead of his compatriot Luca Verdi, who won the class for drivers under 25. In the second race, Luca Franca was back on the podium with third place. At the halfway point of the season, Franca has moved from second to first place in the TCR Italy DSG drivers’ classification, holding an advantage of 41 points.
Audi R8 LMS GT2
Overall victory in Spain: In the Campeonato de España de GT at Aragon, the Audi customer team CD Dago celebrated a podium finish and an overall victory with an Audi R8 LMS GT2. Starting from pole position on the grid with 25 cars in the first race, Daniel Carretero Ortega and Pablo Yeregui Ybarra crossed the finish line runner-up overall after 26 laps, winning the GPX class with a lead of 1m28s. In the second race, the duo competing with the start number 111 achieved their first overall victory of the 2024 season and also won the GPX class.
Audi R8 LMS GT3
Podium finish in Italy: Tresor Audi Sport Italia achieved its second podium result in a row during the second round of the Campionato Italiano Gran Turismo Endurance at Mugello. The Italians Leonardo Moncini and Andrea Cola, together with their Dutch teammate Glenn van Berlo, started the race from the fourth row on the grid. The three-hour race was characterized by extremely hot temperatures and three safety car periods. After 85 laps of racing, the Audi trio took third place despite a twelve-second handicap. Their teammates Rocco Mazzola, Pietro Delli Guanti and Alex Aka, who finished on the podium at the season opener, fought their way to fifth place in the field of 37 entries, despite a 24-second handicap that they had to serve during the driver change. They ended the weekend in third place of the drivers’ classification.
Audi R8 LMS GT4
Trophy for Veloso Motorsport: An Audi customer team was successful at the second round of Supercars Endurance at Estoril, Portugal. With fourth place after 24 laps of racing in the first of two races, Patrick Cunha and Jorge Rodrigues narrowly missed out on scoring an overall podium finish in the field of 38 participants, but they did take victory in the bronze classification with their Audi R8 LMS GT4 from Veloso Motorsport.
Coming up next week
19–20/07 Estoril (P), round 2, TCR Spain
19–21/07 Hockenheim (D), round 3, Fanatec GT Sprint Cup
19–21/07 Hockenheim (D), round 4, Fanatec GT2 European Series
19–21/07 Hockenheim (D), round 4, GT4 European Series
19–21/07 Le Castellet (F), round 5, International GT Open
19–21/07 Virginia (USA), round 5, GT America
19–21/07 Interlagos (BR), round 4, Kumho FIA TCR World Tour
20–22/07 Toronto (CDN), round 3, Sports Car Championship Canada presented by Michelin