By Tarek Ramchani
The 6-hour VLN race at the Nürburgring Nordschleife gave Audi great satisfaction today. Phoenix Racing achieved fantastic performances and results.
The #37 Audi R8 LMS ultra G-Drive Racing by Phoenix, which started from pole position, ended in a very strong second place. The car was shared by Audi regulars Frank Stippler and Marc Basseng, along with Russian driver Roman Rusinov. All race long the car was among the front runners, and always within the top 5. Their teammates, Harold Primat, Christopher Haase and Frank Stippler (he raced in both cars), also made it onto the podium, with a fine third place. The three drivers shared the #5 Audi R8 LMS ultra.
The #11 Audi R8 LMS ultra from Audi race experience, run by TKL Motorsport, finished sixteenth overall. The car was lead by Rahel Frey joined by Christian Bollrath, Ronnie Saurenmann and Dominque Bastien. Unfortunately three other Audis faced troubles today. The #22 R8 LMS ultra from Audi race experience and the #44 Audi from Twin Busch Motorsport suffered problems during the race. The #15 Phoenix Audi was unable to take the start following a crash in qualifying earlier this morning.
As was the case for the big Audi R8 LMS ultra in the SP9 class (GT3), the Audi TT RS was also impressive in both the SP3T and SP4T classes. The #331 Audi TT RS from Raeder Motorsport won the SP3T class and finished in an impressive fifteenth overall. The #249 Audi TT RS from Rotek Racing won the SP4T class.
The overall win went to the #7 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 from Rowe Racing, in the hands of Nico Bastian, Lance David Arnold and Jan Seyffarth.
Photo credit: Phoenix Racing
