Audi Sport Celebrates Victory At The 24 Hours Of Nürburgring
Audi Sport gave spectators a thrilling experience at the 47th running of the 24 Hours of Nürburgring; beating last year’s winners from Porsche with a one-lap advantage, marking the teams third win with Audi and fifth victory overall.
With three Audi R8 LMS cars safety in the top ten for long stretches of the racing distance, Audi Sport were confident with the quality of the vehicles and the driving performance. When the leading Porsche was handed a time penalty, car number 4 took the lead for the first time on lap 142, also providing opportunities for a second Audi Sport Team to claim the victory. However, the 2017 Nürburgring winners retired from the race after a puncture.
All hopes were then pinned on the four Audi Sport drivers, Pierre Kaffer, Frank Stippler, Dries Vanthoor and Frédéric Vervisch who bagged Audi’s fifth win. With only Stippler winning for Audi in 2012, the other drivers experienced their first win at Nürburgring, making the experience even more exciting. With GT3 race cars from Audi Sport customer racing claiming 13 overall victories in 24-hour races worldwide since 2009.
With other Audi Sport Teams finishing in fourth, eighth and sixteenth overall, the results for Audi Sport were remarkable. In addition, several Audi customer teams received additional trophies at the Nürburgring. Despite one car retiring from the race, an outstanding nine out of ten vehicles from Audi Sport customer racing finished the event.
Finally, Audi Sport also celebrated its best results to date at the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup Season. Drivers Frédéric Vervisch, Niels Langeveld, Jean-Karl Vernay and Gordon Shedden achieved combined scores of 90 points, trumping Audi’s previous best result at the Slovakiaring by 16 points.
As a result of the impressive performance of all the Audi Sport customer racing participants, the Audi RS 3 LMS – the “TCR Model of the Year 2018” – has claimed a remarkable 23 podium finishes in 15 FIA WTCR events in a year.
The natural circuit in the Eifel will be matched by the contrasting Portugal city street circuit set for the next event. Audi Sport will face fast and narrow sections, posing a challenge for the brand to bring home the win in the next event too.
For more information about the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, please contact your local Caffyns Audi dealrship today.