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- Audi Sport customer racing to compete in the 2018 Pirelli World Challenge with nine entrees representing all three classes
- Largest number of PWC entrees in brand history
- Audi Sport customer racing continues expansion of globally homologated, stair-step customer racing offering in TCR, GT4 and GT3 classes
HERNDON, VA – March 8, 2018 – (Motor Sports Newswire) – Audi of America announces a two-class offering for the Pirelli World Challenge (PWC) season opener at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, March 9 – 11 with a TCR class joining the season at Circuit of the Americas, March 23 – 29. With a line-up of one Audi R8 LMS GT3, five R8 LMS GT4’s and three RS3 LMS entries, it is the largest Audi presence to compete in PWC 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 a vehicle specifically designed to compete in international GT3 racing. Updated in 2015, the Daytona-winning car continues to dominate in its endurance class and offers the pinnacle for customer racing in conjunction with the Audi brand.
Joining the ranks of the R8 LMS GT3, which has won every major endurance race around the world, the Audi R8 LMS GT4 was derived directly from the production of the R8 V10 Plus coupe, and shares 60 percent of its parts with the road car. The GT4’s performance make it ideal for amateur teams. Following its global debut at last year’s New York International Auto Show, the GT4 made its official U.S. race debut at the 2018 Rolex 24 at Daytona race weekend in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge.
Introduced in 2017 with a U.S. race debut at the PWC VIR SprintX race weekend, 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 Pirelli World Challenge as well as the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge in the U.S. The RS 3 LMS swept the podium in their IMSA debut at Daytona in January of this year. The first race for TCR teams in PWC this season will begin March 23, 2018 at Circuit of the Americas.
“We’re really excited about all of our customer racing cars competing in all three classes of Pirelli World Challenge this season,” said Tristan L. Herbert, senior manager, Motorsport & Customer Racing Audi Sport. “Our cars have shown good pace in testing and we look forward to competing in the championships this season.”
The teams/drivers are as follows, with more teams to be announced as the season progresses:
| R8 LMS GT3 | |||
| Model | Team | Drivers | Social |
| R8 LMS GT3 | TruSpeed AutoSport Tyler Tedvic |
No. 19 Parker Chase (USA) (GT, Sprint, SprintX) Ryan Dalziel (USA) (GT, SprintX) |
Facebook: TrueSpeedAutoSport Twitter: @TruSpeed_ Instagram:@TruSpeedAutoSport |
| R8 LMS GT4 | |||
| Model | Allocated to | Drivers | Social |
| R8 LMS GT4 | GMG Racing James Sofronas | No. 4 George Kurtz (USA) (GTS A, Sprint, SprintX) Colin Braun (USA) (Pro/Am, SprintX) |
Facebook: @TeamGMG Twitter: @gmgracing Instagram: @gmgracing |
| R8 LMS GT4 | GMG Racing James Sofronas | No. 14 James Sofronas (USA) (GTS, Sprint, SprintX) Alex Welch (USA) (Pro/Am, SprintX) |
Facebook: @TeamGMG Twitter: @gmgracing Instagram: @gmgracing |
| R8 LMS
GT4 |
Flying Lizard Motorsport Darren Law |
No. 45 Mike Hedlund (GTS A, Sprint, SprintX) |
Facebook: FlyingLizardMotorsports Twitter: @FlyingLizard_MS Instagram:@flyinglizard_MS |
| R8 LMS
GT4 |
Flying Lizard Motorsport Darren Law |
No. 23 Adam Merzon (GTS A, Sprint, SprintX) Ryan Eversley (SprintX) |
Facebook: FlyingLizardMotorsports Twitter: @FlyingLizard_MS Instagram:@flyinglizard_MS |
| R8 LMS
GT4 |
M1 GT Racing Remi Lanteigne |
No. 2 Jason Bell (USA) (GTS, Sprint, SprintX) |
Facebook: M1GTRacing Twitter: @M1GTRacing Instagram:@M1GT_Racing |
RS 3 LMS – TCR (as of Circuit of the Americas)
| Model | Owner | Social | |
| RS 3 LMS | Compass Racing Karl Thomson |
No. 77 JT Coupal (USA) |
Facebook: @C360R Twitter: @compassracing Instagram: @compassracing |
| RS 3 LMS | Murillo Racing | No. 74 Matt Fassnacht (USA) |
Facebook: mattfassnacht Twitter: @mattfassnacht Instagram: mattfassnacht |
2018 Pirelli World Challenge Schedule
| Date | Track | City/Region |
| March 9-11 | Streets of St. Petersburg | St. Petersburg, FL |
| March 23-25 | Circuit Of The Americas (COTA) | Austin, TX |
| April 13-15 | Streets of Long Beach | Long Beach, CA |
| April 27-29 | Virginia International Raceway | Alton, VA |
| May 18-20 | Canadian Tire Motorsport Park | Bowmanville, Ont., CAN |
| May 25-26, 28 | Lime Rock Park | Lakeville, CT |
| June 22-24 | Road America | Elkhart Lake, WI |
| July 13-15 | Portland International Raceway | Portland, OR |
| August 10-12 | Utah Motorsports Campus | Grantsville, UT |
| Aug 31 – Sep 2 | Watkins Glen International | Watkins Glen, NY |
| October 26-28 | Laguna Seca Raceway (with SRO Intercontinental GT Challenge) |
Salinas, CA |
Watch expanded coverage on CBS Sports Network and live stream at http://world-challenge.com/streamvideo/
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 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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