INGOLSTADT, Germany, Aug 2, 2010 - Podium finish for the Audi R8 LMS at Spa
24h Spa: Mark Blundell, Zak Brown, Richard Dean and Eddie Cheever drove their Audi R8 LMS to third place in the GT3 class in the traditional 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps. As a result, the newly formed team United Autosports achieved a podium finish in its debut 24-hour race. The second United Autosports R8 LMS with Stefan Johansson, Alain Li, Mark Patterson and Emil Assentato at the wheel finished fourth. For a long time two Audi customer teams led the GT3 class. Stéphane Ortelli, Kurt Mollekens, Stéphane Lemeret and François Verbist fell back down the field in the WRT Belgian Audi Club R8 LMS in the 19th hour of the race due to technical problems. Anthony Kumpen, Marcel Fässler, Lucas Luhr and Mike Rockenfeller (Phoenix Racing) retired just after half-distance due to a collision.
Phoenix Racing unlucky
VLN: Following three consecutive second places things initially looked good for Phoenix Racing during the seventh race of the VLN endurance championship season at the Nürburgring: Second on the grid and second place in the race after almost an hour for the Audi R8 LMS of Frank Stippler, Hans-Joachim Stuck and Luca Ludwig. Damaged tracking after a collision with a car to be lapped forced the trio, however, to retire after seven laps.
Asian debut for Audi R8 LMS
12h Sepang: The Audi R8 LMS celebrates its Asian debut this coming weekend. Frank Biela, Darryl O’Young and Marco Werner contest the 12-hour race in Sepang (Malaysia) with a R8 LMS, which is fielded by the Audi Race Experience Team Joest.
Briefly
Audi factory driver Mike Rockenfeller undergoes a fitness test on Tuesday from 11:00 a.m. at the German Sports University Cologne as part of a press event leading up to the DTM race at the Nürburgring … DTM Champion Timo Scheider had to cancel his scheduled participation in the “Hamburg-Berlin Klassik” event at short notice. Thunderstorms in the area of Lake Constance had also affected the home of Audi “factory” driver.
Results and points standings
Spa-Francorchamps (B), July 31/August 1, Spa-Francorchamps 24 Hours
1 Dumas/Bergmeister/Ragginger/Henzler (Porsche) 541 laps
2 Narac/Long/Pilet/Lietz (Porsche) + 1m 16.822s
3 Werner/Müller/Adorf (BMW) - 1 lap
4 Müller/Lamy/Alzen (BMW) - 7 laps
5 Waltrip/Cadei/Kauffmann/Cioci (Ferrari) - 22 laps
…
9 Blundell/Brown/Dean/Cheever (Audi R8 LMS) - 38 laps
10 Johansson/Li/Patterson/Assentato (Audi R8 LMS) - 40 laps
13 Ortelli/Mollekens/Lemeret/Verbist (Audi R8 LMS) - 44 laps
Nürburgring (D), July 31, VLN Endurance Championship round 7
1 Arnold/Menzel (Porsche) 42 laps in 6h 06m 56.091s
2 Bernhard/Klasen/Hohenadel (Porsche) + 22.872s
3 Hahne/Krumbach/Gindorf (Porsche) + 5m 13.975s
4 Abbelen/Schmitz/Kentenich/Althoff (Porsche) - 1 lap
5 Zehe/Schelp/Roloff (Porsche) - 1 lap
…
78 Hübner/Krey/von Saurma-Jeltsch/Werner (Audi R8 LMS) - 7 laps
Next race: Nürburgring (D), September 25
Coming up next week
August 05–08: 12h Sepang (MAL)
August 06–08: DTM Nürburgring (D)