Audi weekend news 2003-05-18

Second victory for new Audi A4

STCC: Second race, second victory -- Team KMS Motorsport can be proud of their results with the new Audi A4 in the Swedish Touring Car Championship (STCC). At Mantorp Park, Audi driver Fredrik Ekblom defended his lead in the championship with a second place in the sprint and a commanding victory in the main race. Tobias Johansson and KMS Team Director Tommy Kristoffersson completed the Audi A4's impressive showing with third and fourth positions. "The A4 is simply perfect and the team came up with a fabulous set-up," enthused Kristoffersson, who fought his way up to fourth place after having started from the back in the main race following his retirement (collision) in the sprint. "I almost overtook the entire field. Our cars were consistently quick over the complete race distance."

Audi driver Randy Pobst again on the podium

SPEED GT: At the second round of the North American SPEED World Challenge in Mosport (Canada), Audi driver Randy Pobst again managed to finish on the podium in the GT-Class race. As at the Sebring debut, the American occupied third place in the 500 hp Audi RS 6 Competition entered by Team Champion Racing. By contrast, his team colleague Michael Galati was again unlucky: A stone pierced the water cooler of his RS 6. After leading initially, the defending champion dropped back to 16th position, however, he nursed the overheating car to the chequered flag. Randy Pobst led almost half of the 30-lap race, before sliding briefly off the circuit in the closing stages of the race.

Marathon programme for Abt-Audi

DTM: Team Abt Sportsline is faced by a "motorsport marathon": two DTM races and the Nurburgring 24-Hour Race in between, so reads the schedule over the next three weekends. Part one is the third DTM race of the season held on the Nurburgring sprint circuit, which Audi Junior Martin Tomczyk (21) is particularly looking forward to: "The Nurburgring is the ideal race track for me," said the youngster from Rosenheim. "The circuit layout with its quick sections really suits me, up to now I have always had good results there."

His partner in the S line Audi Junior Team, the 19-year old "DTM apprentice" Peter Terting, won his spurs at the Adria International Raceway with his perfect race to the flag. Now he wants more: "Obviously, I'm delighted that I am gradually getting to grips with the TT-R. However, I will only be completely satisfied when I can also fight for points," explained the ambitious novice from Kempten. "At the Nurburgring there are several fast sections, which I particularly like -- so I can definitely improve."

Audi Motorsport in figures

STCC:

Mantorp Park (S), Round 3 of the Swedish Touring Car Championship (STCC), 18 May
1 Jan Nilsson (Volvo) 12 laps
2 Fredrik Ekblom (Audi A4) + 0.432s
3 Tomas Engstrom (Honda) + 0.730s
4 Tommy Rustad (Opel) + 3.074s
5 Tobias Johansson (Audi A4) + 3.570s

Mantorp Park (S), Round 4 of the Swedish Touring Car Championship (STCC), 18 May
1 Fredrik Ekblom (Audi A4) 18 laps
2 Jan Nilsson (Volvo) + 3.842s
3 Tobias Johansson (Audi A4) + 9.797s
4 Tommy Kristoffersson (Audi A4) + 13.056s
5 Tommy Rustad (Opel) + 13.071s

Championship positions after 4 of 16 races: 1 Ekblom, 72 points; 2 Nilsson, 69; 3 Johansson, 49; 4 Engstrom, 37; 5 Stureson, 36. Next race: Karlskoga (S), 9 June

SCCA-WC:

Mosport (CDN), Round 2 of the SPEED GT World Challenge, 18 May
1 Phil McClure (Chevrolet), 30 laps
2 John Young (Saleen), +1.272s
3 Randy Pobst (Audi RS 6), +10.057s
4 Bill Auberlen (BMW), +10.192s
5 Hans Stuck (BMW), +12.340s

Championship positions after 2 of 10 races: 1 McClure, 65 points; 2 Pobst, 55; 3 Auberlen, 46; 4 Stuck, 44; 5 Culver, 36. Next race: Lime Rock (USA), 24 May

Coming up this week

Third round of the DTM at the Nurburgring (Sunday) ... Third and fourth rounds of the SPEED World Challenge in Lime Rock (Saturday and Monday) ... DTM Champion Laurent Aiello will be 34-years old on Friday and Johnny Herbert 39 on Sunday ... Christian Abt and Frank Biela are talking to the media at a combined press conference for the 24-hour race and the DTM race at the Nurburgring, starting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday in Cologne ...

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