Thunderhill 25 Hours: Two Audi Sport customer racing teams gearing up for the endurance challenge

The 2013 edition of the 25 Hours of Thunderhill is coming up this weekend. Three Audi Sport customer racing built Audi race cars from two different teams will be taking part.

GMG Racing were the first Audi entrants for the race this year, with a two-car entry having been included on the entry list since its first version was published in September. They will be entering two Audi R8 LMS cars (cars #08 and #14), both entered in the ES class. This will be the race debut for the Audi R8 LMS in the 25 Hours of Thunderhill and also the R16’s first twenty-five hour race event. The team was seen testing at Thunderhill two weeks ago.

The second Audi team, who were confirmed and added to the entry list much later, is Rotek Racing. Rotek Racing will be using their SP4T specification Audi TT RS race car from the VLN. The car will also be entered in the ES class, joining the two R8 LMS cars from GMG Racing. They had fielded this TT RS in the 2013 VLN Endurance Series in Germany this year, the very same car that was fielded by 034 Motorsport at the 2012 25 Hours of Thunderhill, where it was leading the race before a gearbox failure ended in retirement last year.

The latest update of the 2013 entry list has included more information about the drivers who will be taking part. Audi Sport customer racing entries (as of 3 December):

GMG Racing:

1. 08 Audi R8 LMS

Drivers: 

Alex Welch, James Sofronas, Alexandra Sabados, Drew Regitz, Michael McGrath

Drivers:
TBA

Rotek Racing:

1. 24 Audi TT RS

Drivers: 

Robb Holland, Roland Pritzker, Jeff Altenburg, Rob Huff*

• The 2012 WTCC champion, Rob Huff, is not yet listed on the entry list, but a press release via Huff’s website has confirmed his participation. That press release can be seen HERE.
  The entry list for the entered teams can be seen HERE, and the list of entered drivers can be seen HERE.
  
  

The track action kicks off on Thursday with a testing session from 09:00 - 16:30 local time. Friday will again include a testing session from 09:00 - 16:30. This will be followed by an open practice/qualifying session from 16:45 - 17:45, wherein qualifying will be taking place from 17:15 - 17:45.

The race itself will be taking place on Saturday and Sunday. The race will begin at 11:00 local time on Saturday and run through the day and night concluding twenty-five hours later at 12:00 noon local time on Sunday.

A very exciting race is lined up for the weekend and the Audi teams are well poised to aim for victory. We wish the best of luck to the Audi teams and drivers this coming weekend.
Photo credit: 
GMG Racing Audi Sport Communication / Media