Re: MSA TORA Audi R8 Cup - Media.

by ATP Wheelwash Sun 2 Jun 2013 - 17:21

Thirty seven cars in the pits at Autodromo Del Mugello on Saturday evening for Round Three of the Audi R8 Cup, 48 laps and a Superpole awaiting the teams this week, and for myself, a thirty second timeslot from finishing my other race to starting qualifying for this one and jumping from a 1972 Mercedes Benz 300 SEL around Le Mans into the R3 powered Audi R8 LMS around the Mugello Club Circuit, while grabbing a sandwich and a coffee was one hell of a adjustment.

Thankfully, qualifying went really well, i was pleased the way the Audi was dialled in for the track, and a qualifying time of 56:269 was posted, which ended up being eighth fastest overall, meaning a Lobby One appearance for the first time in this series and to say i was happy, well the sandwich had an extra helping of pickle to celebrate.

This week, an added bonus of pressure, having qualified for the lobby, it was Superpole time, a one flying lap scenario for the starting grid in the Lobby, now with a full belly, thanks to the ham salad sandwich and being awake thanks to the coffee that accompanied it, i was ready to try to improve again, another solid lap of 56:605 saw me eighth again for the start of the race, XPR Mad Dog being the unluckiest loser in this, the stunning 55:471 time set in qualifying, erased and only fourth quickest in Superpole, meaning his XPR team mate XPR Eggy, stepping on to the front spot for the race.

It was a position that XPR Eggy wasnt going to give up again, a fantastic start saw the green Nokia R8 breaking a gap and never surrendering that for the entire 48 laps. Behind him aKoreanMango and TPR Zermatt were duking it out early doors, XPR Mad Dog's start saw him having to fight in the mid pack cluster bomb, which all somehow managed to get through Turns 2 & 3, three wide on occasions.

For myself, well it wasnt a great start, but i rarely do to be honest so im used to it, played it safe taking a wider line through Turn One San Donarto and found myself in 11th place in no time at all. DTech PR ran wide on Lap 4 coming out of Turn 5 and a position gained going side by side through Casanova, a trading of paint between the cars, but a position gained for myself.

Next target was the battling duo of CRJ TGPRO1 and Super T27, in eight and ninth, who were having a right ding dong battle, unfortunately contact between them again through the tricky right hander of Casanova, it loosened Super T27 up and unfortunately an attempt at avoiding a collision failed, causing damage to my car on the front end, as well as knocking the Flatout Motorsport Audi off the track, a pass on CRJ TGPRO1 a few laps later, taking advantage of the draft down the long staright, and i was back up to eighth spot.

Lying in seventh was the team mate of XPR Eggy in the series, XPR DEvil, but he was increasing the gap on myself, so it was time to bury the head down and start a hot lapping session, consolidating my spot and laying down some times, one of which was a 56:009, which was a personal best on the week for myself.

At the end of the 48 laps, it was XPR Eggy taking a well deserved victory, with a faultless display out front, aKoreanMango finishing second and XPR Mad Dog making a superb recovery to take the final step on the podium. TPR Zermatt did a sterling job as substitute as team mate to XPR Mad Dog in the gorgeous Würfelhusten Racing Team for LeMans Rennsport with Demo Marksman rounding out the top five in the purple OnPole Audi R8 pictured above.

For myself, qualified eighth, was eighth in Superpole and finished the race in eighth. So to celebrate, i got up at 8am this morning and posted another eight photos up on my Facebook page, including stuff like this:-

Next week sees a trip to North America and the Sedona Raceway Park Club Circuit, now thats going to be an exciting challenge in the Audi R8 LMS, although i would have just finished 50 laps around Tsukuba Short in the VM Classics, so sedatives may be on the menu next week!!

by ATP Wheelwash Sun 9 Jun 2013 - 15:56

Round Four and a trip to the magnificent Sedona Raceway Park for 48 laps around the Club Circuit, a much under used but enjoyable circuit, i will admit, the first time i have driven anything as fast as the Audi R8 LMS around this venue and it really was entertaining and education during the week while in practice mode.

Qualifying this week, well having barely scraped in last week thanks to the late running of a prior race, this week was literally my the skin of the teeth, and a big thank you to XPR Mad Dog, our Lobby Host which hangs on till the last minute so i could make it, very much appreciated as im loving this series as much as the prior engagement and although not wanting to delay the proceedings, i know im pushing the limits in this series.

It was a successful qualifying campaign this week, as i mentioned in the opening paragraph, i really like Sedona Club and although the speed of the WRT Audi was quicker than my usual preference around here, i did get a good handle on the car for this round. A time of 1:06:022 popped in the session, right on the money of where i had been all week, and a pleasant surprise to be fifth quickest overall, but still a second off the pace of the leading two XPR guys, XPR Mad Dog breaking into the 1:04's during qualifying.

The race itself was a fairly uneventful 47 laps in the main for myself, my race pace wasnt as quick as a few behind me, Big Hamish getting past early doors and BG Wumba doing the same a few laps later, but a good consistent run of laps, all in the 1:06 flat mark was maintaining the sixth spot, which turned to fifth when BG Wumba unfortunately lagged out on Lap 28.

But the race was 48 laps i hear, yes i know, i had one extremely eventful lap, Lap 27 and going down the back straight over the hill, and granted, i was pushing the limits looking for quick times in a vein attempt at not being lapped, the WRT Audi stepped out and we went a spinning down the track at around the 150mph mark, thankfully Sedona's Club Circuit is generous in run off areas and i didnt hit anything, but i did a huge plume of tyre smoke, soiled underwear and a smile to the face of DTech PR who was having a bad race due to early damage and had just been lapped by myself, but he had ringside seats to my alarming error of judgement. Unfortunately, due to the unique way in which the Forza replay saves, it didnt last long enough for me to see the incident again, shame really as it would have made for a couple of cracking shots.

XPR Eggy ended up taking the win, a different league out front, running consistent mid 1:04's, he lapped the entire field up to fourth place and in the nine remaining laps lapping me, managed to put a further 13 seconds on me and i thought i was flying at the end and mistake free. That victory followed up the success last week at Mugello Club and sees the XPR man with a five point gap from XPR Mad Dog, who finished second, at the top of the standings with two rounds left.

Demo Marksman took the OnPole.com Audi to the final spot on the podium this week, as well as the points standings, with Big Hamish doing the same with fourth place. Next week sees Silverstone International hosting proceedings, who will come out on top? Will i make a qualifying session with more than a minute rest?

As always, the replay is on my storefront for the next seven days if you would like to enjoy the race again and theres more pictures on my Facebook Page including a fantastic shot of BG Wumba's Need For Speed Audi that looks a bit like this