Audi Sport Customer racing Asia endured a tough weekend at Fuji in Japan as Balance of performance (BoP) restrictions made it difficult for the teams to achieve good results.
After making an impression in practice with Audi India race talent Aditya Patel setting the 6th fastest time overall, things were looking good for Audi. However, it didn’t turn out the same way in qualifying. After starting 13th in race 1, the best the OD Racing duo could manage was a 10th place point finish.
Fuji Speedway is known for it’s long straights and tight hairpin bends which did not play well into the hands of the Audi R8 LMS GT3 drivers with the best finish being that of Martin Rump and Franky Cheng with a 6th place finish in the first race.
Race two started off in a tough situation with the 86 car starting 23rd on the grid. After some tough battles, the duo managed to finish 16th along with all the other Audis around them.
“Unfortunately, we’ve had another bad weekend. Both Mitch and I are pretty confused and we’re working hard internally to solve the issues we’re facing. Yes, Fuji was hard for all Audis as expected but we’re now aware that we have a technical issue which is beyond our control. Anyway, Audi sport is working to help us and we have nearly two months until China. It’s unfortunate considering we were a lot quicker than our competition last year. So fingers crossed for a good weekend in China,“ said Audi India race talent Aditya Patel after a tough weekend.
Cornelius Ee team owner said, “It’s been tough for OD and the drivers this year. The data shows both drivers are doing a tremendous job. We will continue to push to sort out the problems we are facing and hopefully will be back where we belong.”
