- Second place at Kyalami for Mirko Bortolotti/Frédéric Vervisch/Charles Weerts
- Two more Audi R8 LMS cars in the top ten
- Audi Sport third best of nine brands in Intercontinental GT Challenge
- In an extremely thrilling finale of the Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC), Audi Sport Team WRT improved from seventh place to second position. Mirko Bortolotti/Frédéric Vervisch/Charles Weerts crossed the finish line 22 hundredths of a second behind the winners in the rain chaos behind the safety car. However, in addition to the joy about the improvement in the course of the race, there was also disappointment in the Audi camp: victory seemed within reach shortly before the end.
- “We had already experienced two absolutely open and fiercely contested 24-hour races this year at the Nürburgring and Spa. Now we’ve also experienced nine hours of captivating sport in a balanced field at the finale at Kyalami,” says Chris Reinke, Head of Audi Sport customer racing. “The teams showed flawless pit stops, our strategy fitted perfectly and our drivers were extremely strong.” Four brands ended up in the top four positions and all five brands competing in South Africa took turns chasing the fastest race lap time and again. The drivers of each manufacturer improved their best lap time no fewer than 21 times. Three Audi teams were among the fastest in the field. Kelvin van der Linde/Dries Vanthoor/Markus Winkelhock from Audi Sport Team WRT managed to do the fastest lap seven times during the race. The fact that the three Audi Sport drivers only finished eighth in the end was due to the fact that they had the misfortune of being involved in an accident through no fault of their own shortly after the start. The subsequent change of a track rod on the rear axle cost the team four laps but the three pros did not lack fighting spirit. They lapped back twice before the finish.
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