Audi Sport R8 LMS Cup
Plenty of variety in Shanghai: The Audi Sport R8 LMS Cup delighted spectators in Shanghai with some gripping race action at its fourth event. In the first sprint, Bhurit Bhirombhakdi clinched his fourth win of the season. Behind the Thai, Alex Au from Hong Kong swept over the finish line after a strong pursuit race just half a second shy of the leader, followed by Andrew Haryanto from Indonesia. In the second race, Sun Jingzu from China won by three-tenths of a second over Yasser Shahin from Australia and Alex Au on third. Bhirombhakdi leads the series with 137 points ahead of Haryanto on 126 and Shahin with 103. Moreover, the Audi Sport R8 LMS Cup awards starting positions for a cockpit in an Audi R8 LMS at the 2019 Spa 24-hour race. Thanks to his performance in China, Yasser Shahin has earned himself one of these coveted seats. In the GT4 class, Anderson Tanoto has taken an early crown with two second places ahead of the finale in Sepang. The two GT4 race victories went to Zexuan Liu.
Audi R8 LMS GT4
Class win in China: Ex-Formula 1 driver Ryo Haryanto, Andrew Haryanto and Anderson Tanoto clinched class victory in the Audi R8 LMS GT4 at the premiere of the SIC888 Endurance Race in Shanghai.
Three podium results at finale: Jürgen Marschlich returns from the finale of the DMV GTC with three trophies. The Audi privateer won his class in the Dunlop-60 race at the wheel of the R8 LMS GT4. In the sprint races, he achieved a third and a second place for his team Car Collection Motorsport.
Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)
Second title with Audi: Dmitry Bragin won the TCR Russia for the second time in a row with Audi. Like in the previous year, he drove an RS 3 LMS run by the Taif Motorsport team. In the final race at Fort Grozny, Bragin finished on second place behind Aleksej Dudukalo driving an Audi RS 3 LMS fielded by Lukoil Racing Team. This put Dudukalo second in the points behind Bragin. At the subsequent non-championship long-distance event, the Akhmat Race, Dudukalo and his teammate Andrej Maslennikov claimed third in the touring car category.
Class title in club sport: Kevin Arnold was in a class of his own with the Audi RS 3 LMS in the 2018 DMV GTC club sport race series. The junior driver achieved second and first place in the two sprint races at the Hockenheim finale. With these results, he won this year’s Class 6 classification.
Double victory at the long-distance race: At the second round of the China Endurance Championship, the NewFaster Racing team claimed a one-two result in its class with the Audi RS 3 LMS. Andy Yan/Terry Wong crossed the finish line first after two hours of racing on the city circuit of Wuhan with a one-lap lead over Wang Hao/Larry Lin.
Three second places in Shanghai: Filipe Souza scored two trophies at round four of the TCR China in Shanghai. At race one, the race driver from Macau finished second driving solo in the Audi RS 3 LMS. On the way to clinching another second place in the third race, he shared the cockpit with Ryan Wong. Wong finished runner-up in the second race.
Conciliatory season finale in Italy: The TCR Italy concluded with a podium place for Enrico Bettera. The Italian drove the Audi RS 3 LMS fielded by Pit Lane Competizioni to third place in the first race at the finale in Monza. Another Audi driver had already claimed victory in a classification: Giovanni Altoè won the DSG category for pilots of race cars with dual-clutch transmissions with his Audi RS 3 LMS ahead of 19 other drivers.
Coming up next week
10–13/10 Road Atlanta (USA), round 11, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
10–13/10 Road Atlanta (USA), round 10, IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge
12–14/10 Hockenheim (D), GT4 Sprint Cup Europe
12–14/10 Le Castellet (F), rounds 11 and 12, GT4 France
12–13/10 Nürburgring (D), rounds 11 and 12, Spezial Tourenwagen Trophy
12–14/10 Spa (B), round 7, 24H GT Series
12–14/10 Spa (B), round 6, 24H TCE Series
13/10 Timaru (NZ), round 3, South Island Endurance Championship
13–14/10 Hampton Downs (AUS), round 6, Australian GT Championship
13–14/10 Hampton Downs (AUS), round 3, Australian Endurance Championship
13–14/10 Zhejiang (CN), rounds 11 and 12, Blancpain GT Series Asia
13–14/10 Autopolis (J), round 7, Super GT
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