
- Audi to provide a globally homologated, stair-step customer racing offering in TCR, GT4 and GT3, totaling 13 entries
- Audi Sport GT3 customer racing teams – Magnus Racing and Land Motorsport – will compete in the 56th running of the 24-hour endurance race
- Competing in IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge with RS 3 LMS and R8 LMS GT4, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with R8 LMS GT3
HERNDON, VA – January 19, 2018 – (Motor Sports Newswire) – Audi of America announces a three-class offering for the 2018 IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship opening races hosted at the Rolex 24 Daytona race weekend, January 26 – 28. With a line-up of seven RS 3 LMS, four R8 LMS GT4 and two R8 LMS GT3, it’s the largest Audi presence for the annual Daytona event, in the brand’s history.
Audi Sport customer racing
In 2009, Audi Sport launched the customer racing program with the Audi R8 LMS GT3 race car, offering customers vehicles designed to compete in international GT3 racing. Redesigned in 2015, the Daytona-winning car continues to dominate in GT3 class having won every major endurance race around the world including a Magnus Racing GTD victory at its inaugural race in the U.S. at Daytona in 2016. Land Motorsport will strive to build on its second place finish last year, just .0293 seconds from the win.
Joining the ranks of the R8 LMS GT3, the Audi R8 LMS GT4 was derived from the production R8 V10 Plus coupe and shares 60 percent of its parts with the road car. The GT4’s performance and value make it ideal for amateur teams. Following its global debut at last year’s New York International Auto Show and its test in the SPX class at the 2017 24 Hours Nürburgring, the GT4 will make its official U.S. race debut at the 2018 Rolex 24 at Daytona race weekend in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge January 26.
Introduced in the 2017 season, the new Audi RS 3 LMS puts Audi Sport customer racing on an even broader base with an entry point to the brand’s motorsport efforts. The Audi RS 3 LMS was developed by Audi Sport customer racing for the new TCR touring car category globally and part of the 2018 IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge in the U.S.
“Through tremendous growth over the past three years, the Audi Sport customer racing organization has worked tirelessly to provide the outstanding support for the customer racing teams,” said Tristan L. Herbert, senior manager, Motorsport & Customer Racing Audi Sport. “Success of the Audi R8 LMS effort worldwide built a strong foundation, which we’re excited to see the new GT3, GT4, and TCR platforms grow from in race seasons to come.”
The driver line-up features multiple 24-hour race winners. The teams/drivers are made up as follows:
DAYTONA GT3 | ||||
Model | Series | Team | Drivers | Team Social |
R8 LMS GT3 | IMSA WeatherTech | Magnus Racing | John Potter (USA) (full season) Andy Lally (USA) (full season) Andrew Davis (USA) (NAEC) Markus Winkelhock (USA) (Daytona) | Facebook: RacingMagnus Twitter:@magnusracing Instagram: @magnusracing |
R8 LMS GT3 | IMSA WeatherTech | Land Motorsport | Christopher Mies (Germany) Sheldon van der Linde (South Africa) Kelvin van der Linde (South Africa) Jeffrey Schmidt (Switzerland) | Facebook: landmotorsport |
DAYTONA GT4 | ||||
Model | Series | Allocated to | Drivers | Social |
R8 LMS GT4 | IMSA Conti | GMG Racing Daren Jorgensen | No. 13 Daren Jorgensen (USA) Cameron Lawrence (USA) Rick Parfitt Jr. (USA) | Facebook: @TeamGMG Twitter: @gmgracing Instagram: @gmgracing |
R8 LMS GT4 | IMSA Conti | GMG Racing James Sofronas | No.14 James Sofronas (USA) George Kurtz (USA) Andrew Davis (USA) | Facebook: @TeamGMG Twitter: @gmgracing Instagram: @gmgracing |
R8 LMS GT4 | IMSA Conti | GMG Racing Daren Jorgensen #DriveProgress | Gosia Rdest (Poland) Ashley Freiberg (USA | Facebook: @TeamGMG Twitter: @gmgracing Instagram: @gmgracing |
R8 LMS GT4 | IMSA Conti | CarBahn Motorsports Steve Dinan | Tyler McQuarrie (USA) Jeff Westphal (USA) Mark Siegel (USA) Sameer Gandhi (USA) | Facebook: @CarbahnAutoworks Instagram: @Carbahn_Autoworks |
DAYTONA TCR | ||||
RS 3 LMS | IMSA Conti | eEuroParts Matt Moran | Lee Carpentier (USA) Kieron O’Rourke (USA) | Facebook: @eeuropartscom Twitter: @eeuroparts Instagram: @eeuroparts YouTube: eEuropartsTV |
RS 3 LMS | IMSA Conti | Compass Racing Karl Thomson | No. 74 Rodrigo Sales (USA) Kuno Wittmer (Canada) | Facebook: @C360R Twitter: @compassracing Instagram: @compassracing |
RS 3 LMS | IMSA Conti | Compass Racing Karl Thomson | No. 75 Roy Block (Argentina) Pierre Kleinubing (Brazil) | Facebook: @C360R Twitter: @compassracing Instagram: @compassracing |
RS 3 LMS | IMSA Conti | Compass Racing Karl Thomson | No. 77 Britt Casey Jr. (USA)Tom Long (USA) | Facebook: @C360R Twitter: @compassracing Instagram: @compassracing |
RS 3 LMS | IMSA Conti | JDC Motorsports John Church | No. 54 Michael Johnson Stephen Simpson | Facebook: JDCMotorsports1 Twitter: @jdcmotorsports Instagram: @jdcmotorsports |
RS 3 LMS | IMSA Conti | Murillo Racing Matt Fassnacht | Matt Fassnacht (USA) Justin Piscitel (USA) | Facebook: mattfassnacht Twitter: @mattfassnacht Instagram: mattfassnacht |
RS 3 LMS | IMSA Conti | RS Werkes Don Istook | Don Istook (USA) Second driver TBA | Facebook: RS Werkes Instagram: RSWerkes |
Television Viewing Schedule (all times EST):
Friday, Jan. 26
2018 IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge at Daytona
12:50 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., IMSA.TV
2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Television – Rolex 24 at Daytona
Saturday, Jan. 27
2 p.m. – 5 p.m., FOX
5 p.m. – 10 p.m., FS2
10 p.m. – 11 p.m., *FSGO
11 p.m. – 1 a.m., Sunday, FS1
Sunday, Jan. 28
1 a.m. – 8 a.m., *FSGO
8 a.m. – 10:30 a.m., FS1
10:30 a.m. – 1 p.m., *FSGO
1 p.m. – 3 p.m., FS1
ABOUT AUDI OF AMERICA
Audi of America, Inc. and its U.S. dealers offer a full line of German-engineered luxury vehicles. AUDI AG is among the most successful luxury automotive brands, delivering about 1.878 million vehicles globally in 2017. In the U.S., Audi of America sold nearly 227,000 vehicles in 2017 and broke all-time company sales records for the eighth straight year. Visit audiusa.com or media.audiusa.com for more information regarding Audi vehicles and business topics.
Source: Audi of America, Inc.
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