The Vehicles Earth

Audi is starting to the Nürburgring 24 Hours from the front row. In Friday’s top 40 qualifying, Christian Mamerow in the Audi R8 LMS ultra took position two on the grid. At the 40th running of the Eifel classic, five Audi R8 LMS ultra qualified for the seven front rows.

As early as on lap one of the top 40 qualifying session Christian Mamerow managed to set a lap time of 8m 19.700s which initially made him the front runner. In the only other timed lap that was permitted Uwe Alzen was the only driver to be quicker once more than the Audi racer. Team Mamerow Racing achieved this remarkable performance in its debut season with the new Audi R8 LMS ultra – Team Director Peter Mamerow had only taken over the GT3 sports car in March. This result marked an especially pleasing outcome of the qualifying event for Audi – particularly since the work of all five Audi teams was not centered on chasing for a single fast time but on thorough and comprehensive preparation for the race.  

The second-best Audi driver in the final qualifying session was Frank Stippler. At the wheel of the Audi R8 LMS ultra of Audi Sport Team Phoenix he managed to set the eighth-best time on the 25.378-kilometer Eifel roller-coaster. Three other Audi drivers – Edward Sandström (Speedhunters Team WRT), Marc Basseng (Audi Sport Team Phoenix) and Thomas Mutsch (Raeder Motorsport) – achieved positions eleven to 13. The Audi race experience is starting into the race from rows 13 and 14.

Qualifying marked the conclusion of a very thorough preparation phase of the Audi squads for the Nürburgring 24 Hours. Audi Sport Team Phoenix just like the teams supported by Audi Sport customer racing, Audi race experience, Mamerow Racing, Raeder Motorsport and Speedhunters Team WRT, used the free practice and the first two qualifying sessions to optimally set up the seven Audi R8 LMS ultra cars for the 24-hour racing distance. The work was centered on programs for the suspension set-up, aerodynamics, fuel consumption and the Michelin tires. Until Friday afternoon all cars were converted to the component specifications for the race.  

Germany’s biggest race will start at 16:00 on Saturday. From 15:30 on, www.audi.tv will broadcast the entire competition up to the finish by live streaming.