TEAM WRT TO RACE ON TWO CONTINENTS THIS WEEKEND, WITH HIGHT HOPES IN BOTH DTM AND IGTC

TEAM WRT TO RACE ON TWO CONTINENTS THIS WEEKEND, WITH HIGHT HOPES IN BOTH DTM AND IGTC

22/08/2019

No August holidays for the DTM: two weeks after the Brands Hatch round, the world’s greatest touring car series is ready to go on stage for Round 7 of the 2019 season, at the Lausitzring, for what will be a milestone event: the 500^thrace of series.

After a weekend in England that certainly wasn’t easy but also proved its capability of overcome any setback, the WRT Team Audi Sport is fully committed to go for heavy results in Germany, with the advantage that Pietro Fittipaldi and Jonathan Aberdein have already tested there.

On the opposite side of the globe, the Belgian squad will be taking part to the Suzuka 10 Hours, the fourth round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge, defending the colours of Audi Sport and fielding one Audi R8 LMS for Dries Vanthoor-Fred Vervisch-Kelvin van der Linde.

DTM

The track in Brandeburg, whose official name is EuroSpeedway Lausitz, was the second modern track built in former East Germany, and is characterized by offering several configurations, including an oval track that has hosted Indy races in the past, with the 4.570-km configuration used for the DTM using part of that oval.

The track hosted the pre-season collective tests earlier this year, a fact that has great relevance for WRT Team Audi Sport, as this will be the first time for the Belgian squad debuting this year in the series that it will be in a position to benefit of direct experience and own data.

While this will not give a competitive advantage, as all teams have attended the pre-season test, it certainly puts WRT Team Audi Sport and its drivers, Jonathan Aberdein and Pietro Fittipaldi, in a position never had in the previous rounds. Hence, the determination of everybody to use this opportunity to materialize the excellent qualifying pace and the constant progress in race performance shown so far.

The event will be a very special one for the entire DTM community, and will be duly celebrated, as Race 2 on Sunday will mark the 500^th  race in the series’ history, 35 years after the inaugural event, which incidentally took place … in Belgium, at Zolder.

Thierry Tassin (Sporting Director): “This is the first time we will arrive to an event on an equal foot as our competitors, as all teams did a 4-day test at the Lausitzring. We need to use the opportunity to do everything all right since scratch. If we can achieve that, stay focused and avoid mistakes, we can aim at very good results. The pace we have shown at some occasions, especially in qualifying, is beyond expectations. Everybody in the team is doing a good job and we have excellent support from Audi, now is time to translate that in results. The DTM environment is extremely complex and competitive, we are still doing mistakes and learning from them, but this round definitely gives us an interesting opportunity.”

Jonathan Aberdein: “I really look forward to going to Lausitzring, which is a great track, where I already raced in F.3. It will be my third time there on a DTM car, something that is quite rare in this maiden full season in the series. Not only we did the pre-season test at the Lausitzing, but it is there that I did my DTM rookie test, back in 2017. I’m sure having some experience is useful there, as it is a very interesting and technical track, with a lot of bumps, due to the uneven surface between the oval and the traditional sections. It’s good that also the team knows the track. Hopefully, we can put all things together quickly and go for a top result, like a podium finish, which we have missed out so far but is certainly feasible.”

Pietro Fittipaldi: “It is going to be a very special event, as it is the 500^thrace of the DTM. It’s amazing to be part of it and of the DTM’s history. It’s nice also to go to Lausitzring, we come with the experience of the tests earlier this year, so this is going to help. We qualified really well at Assen and Brands Hatch, we had a good race pace at Brands, as proven by the fastest lap in Race 2, but the end result wasn’t there. Our objective is to work on that and hopefully we can get it here, because we know we can do it.”

IGTC

The global GT3 racing series is back this weekend with its fourth round that brings the ‘crème’of the category to Suzuka, the superb track in central Japan, for the traditional 10-hour race.

Audi Sport is fielding three Audi R8 LMS, one of which is followed by Team WRT and entered under the Audi Sport Team WRT. The car will be entrusted to a top trio, composed of Dries Vanthoor, Frédéric Vervisch and Kelvin van der Linde, who will certainly be aiming at top honours.

The car will sport a special livery, designed to celebrate the 25^thanniversary of the introduction of the RS models in the brand’s range. It will carry #25 and is painted in the iconic ‘Nogaro blue’ that was used 25 years ago to launch the Audi RS 2, the first model of the saga. No doubt that it will delight Japanese fans, as it happened already in today’s parade in downtown Suzuka, and become a ‘must-have’ item for photo and car model collectors!

Pierre Dieudonné (Sporting Director): “We are ready for this important round that we have prepared thoroughly. Suzuka is not an easy track and as it often happens here, changing weather conditions are expected. Still, we expect the Audi R8 LMS to be among the front-runners and we have a very high-level driver line-up, but like in any endurance race, the script is never written before-hand…”

DTM – Round 7
Lausitzring, Germany, 23-25 August 2019

Timetable (All times = CET)

Friday 23 August 2019
13:00-13:45 Free Practice 1
16:20-16:50 Free Practice 2
Saturday 24 August 2019
10:35-10:55 Qualifying Race 1
13:30-14:28 Race 1
Sunday 25 August 2019
10:35-10:55 Qualifying Race 2
13:30-14:28 Race 2

WRT Team Audi Sport entries (Audi RS 5 DTM)
#21 Pietro Fittipaldi (BR)
#27 Jonathan Aberdein (ZA)

IGTC – Round 4
Suzuka 10 Hours, Japan, 23-25 August 2019

Timetable (CET - 7)

Friday 23 August 2019
10:00-12:00 Paid Practice
14:10-16:10 Free Practice (evening)
18:30-20:00 Free Practice (night)
Saturday 24 August 2019
13:00-14:15 Qualifying (15 min per driver)
17:30-17:50 Pole Shoot (20 top cars)
Sunday 25 August 2019
10:00-20:00 Race

Audi Sport Team WRT entry (Audi R 8 LMS)
#25 Dries Vanthoor (BE) – Fred Vervisch (BE) – Kelvin van der Linde (ZA)

PHOTO: AUDI SPORT