AUDI SPORT CUSTOMER RACING shoots for 5th victory at the NÜRBURGRING

• 24-hour race with ten Audi Sport customer racing cars
• WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup season’s midpoint on the Nordschleife
• Audi Sport Seyffarth R8 LMS Cup augments brand’s appearance

The entire racing event revolving around the Nürburgring 24 Hours again marks a weekend of superlatives this year: From June 20 to 23, seven teams will be competing with a total of ten customer race cars from Audi that represent the entire breadth of the current model range. In two other racing series, far more than a dozen race drivers are relying on Audi as well. At the huge public event in the Eifel, the brand is going to offer to fans an even more attractive program on the Audi Sport Campus this year.

The crowd can look forward to a superb weekend both on and off the track: From the drivers presentation to expert talks, pit lane and paddock tours, autograph sessions, the Audi Sport Seyffarth R8 LMS Cup and an E-Race-Challenge, the Audi Sport Campus will feature a great variety of attractions. A video wall, food trucks, a chill-out area and evening sundowner sessions with a DJ invite visitors to spend time on the campus. “The major event of the whole year is coming up for our brand,” says Chris Reinke, Head of Audi Sport customer racing. “We want to celebrate this together with our fans like never before. In the competitive context, we’re expecting extremely thrilling races in which a total of more than two dozen of our race cars will be seen in sprint and endurance racing events. For the 24-hour race, our aim is to score our fifth victory.” 

Since 2009 the Audi R8 LMS has been tackling this fierce competition. The GT3 sports car has clinched overall victory four times. In 2012 and 2014, Audi Sport Team Phoenix finished in front, in 2015, Audi Sport Team WRT did and in 2017, Audi Sport Team Land. Audi Sport is supporting the Phoenix and Land teams this year, plus, for the first time, Team Car Collection that won the Dubai 24 Hours in January. Half a year ago, the evolution of the Audi R8 LMS delivered a brilliant endurance racing debut at the event. Two private Audi R8 LMS cars from Phoenix Racing and Car Collection complement the GT3 field at the Nürburgring. One first-generation Audi R8 LMS from the Giti Tire Motorsport by RaceIng team will race in the SP 8 class. Two Audi R8 LMS GT4 and two Audi RS 3 LMS cars battling for class victories complete the lineup of the customer teams. 

Eight male and one female driver from Audi Sport will compete in the GT cockpits, plus Audi factory driver René Rast from the DTM and three-time Le Mans winner Marcel Fässler. Rast, Christopher Haase, Kelvin van der Linde, Christopher Mies, Frank Stippler and Markus Winkelhock have a combined track record of ten overall victories at the 24-hour race in the Eifel. Jeroen Bleekemolen, in Team Phoenix standing in for Jamie Green who has fallen ill, has also won the race once before.