Η αγωνιστική σεζόν για την Audi και τις υπόλοιπες εταιρίες που συμμετέχουν σε πρωταθλήματα και αγώνες αντοχής, ξεκινά και η Γερμανική εταιρία ανακοίνωσε επίσημα τους οδηγούς των Audi R8 LMS GTD που θα συμμετέχουν στον αγώνα Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.
Πρώτη, η Fall-Line Motorsports με οδηγούς τους: Charlie Putnam, Charles Espenlaub, James Walker και Oliver Jarvis.
Έπειτα η Flying Lizard Motorsports που θα συμμετέχει με δύο αυτοκίνητα. Το #35 θα οδηγείται από τους Seth Neiman, Alessandro Latif, Dion von Moltke και Filipe Albuquerque ενώ πίσω από το τιμόνι του #45, θα καθίσουν οι Nelson Canache Jr, Tim Pappas, Spencer Pumpelly και Markus Winkelhock.
Συνέχεια με την GMG Racing και τους οδηγούς της: Alex Welch, James Sofronas, Frank Stippler και Marc Basseng.
Τέλος, οι Matt Bell, Christopher Haase, Bryce Miller και Rene Rast θα οδηγούν το αυτοκίνητο της Paul Miller Racing.
Ο πρόεδρος της Audi of America, Scott Keogh δήλωσε επί του θέματος:
Έχουμε μία φανταστική ομάδα συνεργατών και οδηγών αυτή τη σεζόν και περιμένουμε με ανυπομονησία να υπερασπιστούμε την περσινή νίκη στη Daytona. […] Οι επιτυχίες του R8 στους αγώνες αντοχής είναι μία μαρτυρία για την τεχνολογία που βρίσκεται σε κάθε Audi στον δρόμο σήμερα.
[Πηγή: Audi]
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Audi R8 LMS GTD Drivers Prepare to Defend 2014 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona
- Audi R8 LMS GTD driver line-ups announced for the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona
- Four Audi customer race teams, five Audi R8 LMS race cars and twenty drivers begin testing at the Roar Before Daytona
- New liveries created for debut race of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship series
A combination of twenty experienced gentlemen and professional drivers, representing four-race teams, will look to defend last year’s Daytona win. Fall-Line Motorsports, Flying Lizard Motorsports, GMG Racing and Paul Miller Racing will make up the five-car R8 LMS line-up which will debut at the Roar Before the first ever TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race.
Today, Audi Sport customer-racing announces its GTD driver line-up for the Rolex 24 hour race at Daytona International Speedway. Testing and preparations began in November and will continue at the Roar Before January 3, 2014, when all of the teams and drivers will be present ahead of the legendary race that will take place on January 25-26, 2014.
“We have a fantastic group of racing partners and drivers this season and look forward to defending last year’s Daytona win,” said Scott Keogh, President, Audi of America. “The successes of the R8 in endurance racing are a testament to the engineering found in every Audi on the road today.”
In only its second running at the legendary race, an Audi R8 race car was the first to cross the finish line at last year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona. The teams and drivers will look to make history once again on January 25-26 as the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship makes its race debut. Audi Sport customer racing will support the teams for the race including Audi Sport factory and Audi Sport customer racing drivers. The drivers for each team are listed below:
Fall-Line Motorsports returns after running half of last year’s GRAND-AM series; Flying Lizard as well as Paul Miller Racing will make their race debuts in the R8 LMS after successful race results with Porsche. GMG Racing will also enter the Rolex 24 at Daytona following a successful campaign last year in the Pirelli World Challenge in which James Sofronas placed 2nd in the driver championship. Audi Sport factory drivers and Audi Sport customer racing drivers will augment each of the teams for the TUDOR United SportsCar premiere race.
Fall-Line Motorsports which began racing the Audi R8 GRAND-AM midway through last year’s GRAND-AM season will return to the grid this year with considerable experience having been gleaned about the car. Charlie Putnam and Charles Espenlaub will be joined by James Walker who won the WEC Silverstone race as well as Oliver Jarvis, Audi Sport factory driver, who was on last year’s Daytona-winning team.
Flying Lizard Motorsports has had great success winning multiple races and championships in ALMS and gained invaluable experience competing at the Le Mans 24 Hours as well as in GRAND-AM. Two Audi R8 LMS vehicles will be carrying the Flying Lizard livery. Driver and team owner Seth Neiman will pilot the #35 R8 LMS and will be joined by Alessandro Latif, Dion von Moltke and Filipe Albuquerque (Audi Sport factory driver). Dion and Filipe were both part of the winning team to be first to the checkered flag at last year’s race. The second Audi R8 LMS (#45) will be driven by Nelson Canache Jr., Tim Pappas, Spencer Pumpelly and Markus Winkelhock (Audi Sport customer racing driver).
GMG Racing, following a successful campaign in last year’s Pirelli World Challenge series, will be running the #32 R8 LMS for Rolex 24 at Daytona. Owner Alex Welch will be joined by James Sofronas who took second place in the drivers championship of the Pirelli World Challenge. Audi Sport customer racing drivers Frank Stippler who came in the third place in last year’s race and Marc Basseng will join the team as they strive for success in the new TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.
Paul Miller Racing will make its race debut in an Audi R8 LMS but is no stranger to the Audi brand. As owner of Audi of Parsippany in New Jersey, Paul Miller has been a great contributor to the success of selling and servicing Audi vehicles for many years. The team brings a wealth of experience to the campaign that includes the return of Bryce Miller, Paul Miller’s son, who has shown very promising results and will look to expand upon those going forward. Matt Bell, Christopher Haase (Audi Sport customer racing driver) and Rene Rast (Audi Sport customer racing driver) will round out the team for the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
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