The Audi RS 3 LMS remains a guarantee for victories on Italian soil. In the Coppa Italia Turismo at Misano, two race wins and the two titles in the overall standings and the DSG class went to drivers of the compact touring car from Germany. In the TCR European Endurance, three class titles had already been secured for the Audi RS 3 LMS. Now a driver duo under the sign of the four rings also won the overall classification. Three victories at Bathurst – two for the Audi R8 LMS GT3 sports car and one for the Audi RS 3 LMS – also brought the season to a good conclusion in Australia.
Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)
Further title successes in Southern Europe: After winning the TCR Italy and the TCR Italy DSG, Audi Sport customer racing also achieved complete success in the Coppa Italia Turismo one week later. Demir Eröge from Turkey in the Audi RS 3 LMS of Aikoa Racing won the championship classification in the first division of the club racing series. His teammate Francesco Cardone also secured the DSG classification for racing cars with dual-clutch transmissions in a first-generation Audi. The finale in Misano was also dominated by a third Audi driver: Denis Babuin won the two 25-minute sprints on the Adriatic coast in the Audi RS 3 LMS from Planet Motorsport. In the first race, the Italian left his rival Demir Eröge 5.4 seconds behind in an unchallenged start-finish victory. In the second race, he finished 7.3 seconds ahead of Siegfried Kuzdas’ BMW, while Ramazan Kaya in an Audi RS 3 LMS from BF Motorsport took third place ahead of Demir Eröge. Francesco Cardone won the DSG classification in the first race. His Italian Aikoa teammate Carlo Alberto Bocca won this class in the second race. The TCR European Endurance racing series, which was held for the first time this season, also held its finale in Misano. The Audi RS 3 LMS with Eric Brigliadori/Turgut Konukoğlu won the overall standings there. This was the sixth TCR drivers’ title for Audi Sport customer racing this season, in addition to ten other categories won worldwide. After 64 laps and almost two hours of racing, the Italian-Turkish driver combination from Texaco Team AMS had a one-lap lead over their teammates Barkin Pinar/Sinan Çiftci in another Audi. This Audi customer team from Turkey had already won the DSG category, the Gen1 class and the team classification ahead of schedule at the third round in June. Zac Soutar won the first of three sprint races at the TCR Australia finale on the demanding Bathurst circuit. The young driver, who started from pole position in the Tufflift Racing Audi RS 3 LMS, led every lap and won by three seconds, kept the title fight open for the time being. He had to start the second race from tenth on the grid due to the reversed grid rules. Zoutar improved to sixth position. In the final sprint, the Audi driver finished third. He finished runner-up in the series’ final classification behind Hyundai driver Josh Buchan and ahead of 17 other competitors.
Audi R8 LMS GT3
Two victories at the final in Australia: Audi’s customer teams put on a good show at the finale of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS. At the finale in Bathurst, Will Brown/Brad Schumacher in the Audi R8 LMS of the Shaw & Partners/Kelso Electrical team won the first race by 3.8 seconds ahead of the Ferrari of Chaz Mostert/Liam Talbot. New Zealanders Brand Leitch/Tim Miles finished third in the Dayle ITM Team MPC Audi, while Sergio Pires won the Am class in the Valmont Racing/Tigani Motorsport Audi. In the second race, Alex Peroni/Mark Rosser in the BRM/ACM Finance Audi took their second win of the season by 0.6 seconds. Pires again won the amateur class. Victory was secured for the Audi driver pairing after the initially victorious Ferrari of Jaxon Evans/Elliott Schutte received a five-second penalty following a pit stop infringement. Team Haas RT contested the sixth round of the Ultimate Cup Series with an Audi R8 LMS for Xavier Knauf. In Le Castellet, the Belgian won the UCS1 class in the first and third 25-minute sprints and was second in his category in the second and fourth races.
Audi R8 LMS GT4
Club racing success in France: Team Speedcar set the standard in the UCS4 class at the sixth round of the Ultimate Cup Series. Julien Goujat won his class at Le Castellet in all four 25-minute sprints in the Audi R8 LMS GT4. In the final sprint, another Audi driver, Pierre Arraou from Herrero Racing, finished in second place to secure a class podium. The Frenchman thus won the title in the UCS4 class.
Coming up next week
14–17/11 Macau (MAC), FIA GT World Cup
14–17/11 Macau (MAC), round 7, Kumho FIA TCR World Tour
15–17/11 Macau (MAC), round 6, TCR China Championship
16/11 Nürburgring (D), round 6, Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie
16–17/11 Fuji (J), round 7, Super Taikyu Series