October got off to a perfect start for Audi Sport customer racing: Gentleman driver and former professional Johnny O’Connell secured the GT3 title in the GT America powered by AWS racing series in an Audi R8 LMS in a thrilling finale. In France, the Audi R8 LMS GT4 has continued its streak of title successes since 2018 thanks to the performance of customer team CSA Racing. The Danish team Storm Development added to the customer racing record with an endurance class title in the Audi RS 3 LMS. And Audi’s popular touring car prevailed in a round of TCR Japan for the first time this year.
Audi R8 LMS GT3
Title success in America: Johnny O’Connell turned the tide at the GT America powered by AWS finale and turned an 18-point deficit into a narrow lead in the Audi R8 LMS. In the first race at Indianapolis, the American privateer driver improved from third on the grid to second position. James Sofronas, who had started in front of him, went off the track in another Audi on the first lap and dropped back to fifth place. O’Connell maintained his position behind BMW driver Justin Rothberg to the finish, while Sofronas improved to third place. Championship leader Jason Daskalos dropped back to seventh position in his Mercedes-AMG after a penalty. As a result, his lead had shrunk to six points. In the second race, Johnny O’Connell in the Audi of the SKI Autosports team improved from sixth to second place after a strong start, again behind Justin Rothberg. Daskalos lost a lap in an accident, dropped back to sixth position and missed out on the title by one point. Former professional driver O’Connell has already won numerous GT titles in his career, including in the American Le Mans Series and the Pirelli World Challenge, as well as class victories in 24-hour races, including four times at Le Mans since 1994. Even at the age of 62, he is not thinking of retiring and, as the new champion, has already announced his intention to compete again next year. This is the 121st time since 2009 that a racing driver has secured a championship victory in an Audi R8 LMS. Audi Sport Italia took the runner-up spot in the Campionato Italiano Gran Turismo Sprint. Pietro Delli Guanti/Rocco Mazzola had come to Monza with a one-point lead in the standings, but after a technical failure in qualifying, the two Italians were only 18th on the grid. In the first race, they suffered a retirement, which left them tied on points with a Lamborghini driver team in second place. In the second race, Delli Guanti improved from tenth on the grid to seventh position. Teammate Mazzola took over the cockpit at the pit stop and made up another two places. This secured second place in the standings for the two private Audi drivers. For Audi Sport Italia, it was the eighth runner-up title since the GT3 program was launched in 2009, plus four overall championship victories and one GT3-Am class title during this period. Teams also won trophies with the Audi R8 LMS in China. Team Winhere Racing by HAR celebrated a podium result in the overall standings at the Shanghai 8 Hours and won its class. Andy Deng/Liu Hangcheng/Yu Kuai shared the cockpit of the GT3 sports car and were always in the leading group in persistently heavy rain. After a spin, their Audi had to be pulled out of a gravel trap once in the sixth hour of the race. The drivers made up a two-lap deficit, closing the gap to the winners from Porsche to 62 seconds and winning the Pro-Am classification. Another class win also went to an Audi driver pairing. Luo Kailuo/Jason Loh/Xu Zheyu clinched first place in the amateur classification with Team 33R by HAR in another R8 LMS.
Audi R8 LMS GT2
A decent finale in America: CJ Moses ended the GT2 season in the GT America powered by AWS with two podium results. The American privateer driver drove the GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT2 to second place in his category in the first race at Indianapolis and won his classification in the second race.
Audi R8 LMS GT4
Seventh title in France: The Audi R8 LMS GT4’s run of success in France continues. The production-based GT sports car has won seven titles in the Championnat de France FFSA GT since 2018. While Saintéloc Racing remained unbeaten in the Pro-Am classification in 2018, 2019 and 2020 and other teams have contributed two amateur and one Silver title to date, the customer team CSA Racing prevailed in the Pro-Am category for the first time this season. Gaël Castelli/Rodolphe Wallgren scored points in each of the twelve races, including two Pro-Am class victories. This meant that two fourth places at the finale in Le Castellet were enough for the French driver pairing from Kevin Chanas’ team to win the Pro-Am classification. A customer team also recorded a success in China. Team Nova Racing achieved a podium result in the GT4 category at the Shanghai 8 Hours. Xiao Min/Chin Sitong/Air Tong Yu/Wu Zhenlong drove the Audi R8 LMS GT4 to third place in the GT4 classification after eight hours of racing.
Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)
Title success in Denmark: For the first time, a customer team with an Audi RS 3 LMS has prevailed in a class classification in the Danish Endurance Championship. In the DEC3 category at the finale in Padborg, second place in the second race was enough for the Storm Development team to clinch a narrow title success. Stefan Lorenzen/Niels Nyboe won this category in the Audi RS 3 LMS with a one-point lead over Peugeot driver Kaare Frogne. In the Championnat de France FFSA Tourisme, Sébastien Thome and the Clairet Sport team ended the season with three podium results. The Frenchman won the TCR classification in the Audi RS 3 LMS in the second and third races at Le Castellet and took second place in the fourth race. After a total of nine race wins, the privateer driver finished the season as the third-best of 15 participants in the TCR category. No other driver has won as many races, but Thome was absent from the opening event. In Japan, the Birth Racing Project team achieved its first win of the season with the Audi RS 3 LMS. The former champion with the pseudonym “Hirobon” returned to the TCR Japan at the second round in Suzuka and drove an Audi RS 3 LMS for the first time. In the second sprint, the privateer put the leader Choi Jeong Weon under pressure and overtook the Korean’s Hyundai on the tenth of twelve laps. In the end, “Hirobon” won with a lead of 2.1 seconds. In the German club racing series Cup & Tourenwagen Trophy, Michael Haager won his class in the Audi RS 3 LMS in both races at the sixth round at the Nürburgring. In the TCR Mexico Endurance racing series, the VP Racing Zesati Racing team recorded a podium result at the fifth round in Puebla. Humberto, Carlo and Paolo Zesati shared the cockpit of an Audi RS 3 LMS in the 500-kilometer race and finished third.
Coming up next week
09–12/10 Road Atlanta (USA), round 10, IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge
11–13/10 Barcelona (E), round 5, Fanatec GT Sprint Cup
11–13/10 Barcelona (E), round 6, Fanatec GT2 European Series
11–13/10 Nürburgring (D), round 5, GTC Race
11–13/10 Nürburgring (D), round 5, Spezial Tourenwagen Trophy
11–13/10 Zolder (B), round 6, Belcar Endurance Championship
12–13/10 Silverstone (GB), round 7, TCR UK
12–13/10 Mugello (I), round 5, Coppa Italia Turismo