“I’m super-happy. We fought hard because the Land Audi was incredibly strong,” said van der Linde who at the age 21 is the youngest of the nine Audi campaigners. “A sincere thank you to Audi Sport and the Magnus Racing squad that gave us a tremendous car. This was my first race in the United States. After my brother, Sheldon, won with Audi in the Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta last weekend, the pressure on me was particularly high.”
The factory-backed R8 LMS from Audi Sport Team Land, with drivers Connor De Phillippi, Christopher Haase and Christopher Mies, had started from pole position, taken the top spot and defended it up until 20 minutes before the end. In extremely hot and dry conditions on the challenging tradition-steeped 3.6-kilometer track, three Audi R8 LMS cars were the front runners much of the time. Following contact with the sister car from Audi Sport Team Land and a subsequent off-track excursion of both GT3 sports cars, the privately fielded R8 LMS from Belgian Audi Club Team WRT lost third place at the beginning of the race’s final hour. Jake Dennis, Robin Frijns and Stuart Leonhard finished the U.S. debut of the Belgian Audi customer team in sixth place.
Additional information and content
California 8 Hours press kit including photos
Results