Season highlight in Australian GT racing on challenging circuit
Six Audi Sport drivers take turns in three R8 LMS cars
Audi customers again aim for success in various classes
For the twelfth time the Audi R8 LMS will face the biggest endurance competition in Australia. The tradition-steeped hill-and-dale track at Bathurst, 200 kilometers west of Sydney, will be the venue of the 12-hour race from February 3 to 5. Together with the Melbourne Performance Centre (MPC), Audi Sport customer racing is involved in the Pro and Pro-Am classes of the competition. In addition, customers will also compete in the Silver class. A total of seven Audi R8 LMS cars are expected at Mount Panorama on the first weekend in February.
“For our local MPC partners, the race is a first-class sporting challenge just as it is for us,” says Chris Reinke, Head of Audi Sport customer racing. “Already traditionally, MPC is represented at Bathurst with a strong, competitive base of customers. Audi Sport customer racing complements the privateer lineup with six Audi Sport drivers split across three race cars.” Audi Sport drivers Mattia Drudi, Christopher Haase and Patric Niederhauser share an R8 LMS of Audi Sport Team MPC in the professional category and aim to race for the brand’s fourth overall victory. In 2011, the GT3 category was permitted at the 12-hour race for the first time. Audi is the most successful brand in this period with its victories in 2011, 2012 and 2018
Ricardo Feller and Christopher Mies are entered in the Pro-Am classification at The Bend Motorsport Team MPC. The two Audi Sport drivers are supporting Australian privateer Yasser Shahin, who won the GT World Challenge Australia in an Audi R8 LMS in the past two years. Frédéric Vervisch is the sixth Audi Sport driver to travel to Australia. The accomplished professional enters the race in the Fuchs Lubricants Racing run by Schumacher Motorsport/Premier Racing with privateer Brad Schumacher and James Golding. Schumacher, a local Bathurst driver, was runner-up in the GT Trophy standings of the domestic championship last year. Team Supabarn MPC – winner of the Am classification at Bathurst a year ago – is back on the grid with brothers James and Theo Koundouris and Dave Russell and Jonathan Webb, as is Hallmarc Team MPC with Marc Cini/Dean Fiore/Lee Holdsworth. Two additional GT3 race cars from Audi for Andrew Fawcet/Daniel Gaunt/Dylan O’Keeffe (Myland Team IMS) and Liam Talbot/Fraser Ross (Team MPC) complete the line-up of a total of seven Audi R8 LMS race cars. The Melbourne Performance Centre is overseeing the entries with the support of Steve McLaughlan’s Jamec Racing. The number of entries in this international competition once again emphasizes the importance of the four rings in Australian GT racing.
The drivers and teams in Bathurst
Audi Sport Team MPC
Audi R8 LMS #74 Mattia Drudi/Christopher Haase/Patric Niederhauser
The Bend Motorsport Park Team MPC
Audi R8 LMS #777 Ricardo Feller/Christopher Mies/Yasser Shahin
Fuchs Lubricants Racing run by Schumacher Motorsport/Premier Racing
Audi R8 LMS #55 James Golding/Brad Schumacher/Frédéric Vervisch
Hallmarc Team MPCAudi R8 LMS #9 Marc Cini/Dean Fiore/Lee Holdsworth
Myland Team IMS
Audi R8 LMS #10 Andrew Fawcet/Daniel Gaunt/Dylan O’Keeffe
Supabarn Team MPC
Audi R8 LMS #47 James Koundouris/Theo Koundouris/Dave Russell/Jonathan Webb
Team MPC
Audi R8 LMS #65 Liam Talbot/Fraser Ross/NN
