Title for Audi customer team IMS in New Zealand

Just one week after a title win in China, Audi Sport customer racing records another championship success: Team IMS won the 3-hour endurance championship in New Zealand. A dominant performance by the Audi customer teams at the first ADAC Racing Weekend in Germany with the GTC Race and Spezial Tourenwagen Trophy racing series as well as successes in France, Italy, Japan and Eastern Europe round off the track record.

Audi R8 LMS GT3

Third championship win since 2018: New Zealand’s Team International Motorsport (IMS) once again prevailed in the nationwide endurance championship. Once a year, the best teams from the separately held “3-Hour Endurance Championships” for the North and South Islands of New Zealand compete in a joint competition, the New Zealand Endurance Championship. For Gentleman driver Neil Foster and his teammate Jonny Reid, the 3-hour race at Hampton Downs 80 kilometers south of Auckland was the first race in nine months. The two New Zealanders found a perfect rhythm in the Audi R8 LMS despite the long break. Reid pulled away from pursuer Andrew Waite by 24 seconds in the closing stages after a safety car intervention. The runner-up was also at the wheel of an Audi R8 LMS from Team IMS, which he shared with Sam Fillmore. Neil Foster and Jonny Reid had already won the national endurance title in New Zealand together in 2018 and 2019 in an Audi R8 LMS.

Audi R8 LMS undefeated in GTC Race: Audi Sport customer racing’s customer teams remained undefeated at the opening weekend of the GTC Race series at Oschersleben. In the 60-minute endurance race Jusuf Owega prevailed with a 21-second advantage over his brother Salman Owega. Both drove an Audi R8 LMS of the Montaplast by Land-Motorsport team. Rutronik Racing secured third place. Audi Sport driver Markus Winkelhock shared the Audi R8 LMS with steer-by-wire steering with Finn Zulauf. The up-and-coming driver, who is only 17 years old, won a contest for a GT3 drive of the racing series and benefits from Markus Winkelhock’s professional support this season. Dino Steiner/Max Hofer from Aust Motorsport completed the result to a quadruple victory for Audi. The subsequent first sprint race also went to Jusuf Owega. Salman Owega followed 6.6 seconds behind, with third place going to Finn Zulauf. In the second sprint race Max Hofer managed a narrow victory ahead of Jusuf Owega with a margin of just two tenths of a second. Markus Winkelhock followed in third, with Salman Owega in fourth place after 18 laps.

Strong start for Uwe Alzen: For former professional racer Uwe Alzen, the 2022 season in the Spezial Tourenwagen Trophy got off to a turbulent start. The German returned to the pits on the opening lap in changeable weather and swapped the rain tires of his Audi R8 LMS for slicks. In the course of three laps, the 54-year-old stalwart overtook all other competitors on a drying track. After 26 minutes of racing, he had gained a one-lap advantage to the finish. In the second race, Alzen prevailed again and did not let himself be irritated by a hailstorm on the last lap while several pursuers spun on the slippery track. The Audi privateer, who has won the series in the past two years, thus made a convincing start in defending his title.

Four trophies in Hungary: Two Audi customer teams enjoyed a successful first weekend in the Eset Cup Series at the Hungaroring. The Polish driver duo Stanislaw Jedlinski/Krystian Korzeniowski won the 60-minute endurance race in Olimp Racing’s Audi R8 LMS by 1:24 minutes. In the first sprint race, Jedlinski finished second in the GT3 class ahead of Czech Petr Kačirek, who drove an Audi R8 LMS fielded by Team Duck Racing. In the second sprint race, Jedlinski was again the best Audi privateer in a field of 16 competitors in third place in the GT3 class.