Audi Sport customer racing Celebrates International Titles with Three Models

• Johnny O’Connell wins GT America powered by AWS in an Audi R8 LMS
• Seventh title for the Audi R8 LMS GT4 in France by CSA Racing
• Audi RS 3 LMS wins its class in Danish endurance racing

October got off to a perfect start for Audi Sport customer racing: Gentleman driver and former professional Johnny O’Connell secured the GT3 title in the GT America powered by AWS racing series in an Audi R8 LMS in a thrilling finale. In France, the Audi R8 LMS GT4 has continued its streak of title successes since 2018 thanks to the performance of customer team CSA Racing. The Danish team Storm Development added to the customer racing record with an endurance class title in the Audi RS 3 LMS. And Audi’s popular touring car prevailed in a round of TCR Japan for the first time this year.

Audi R8 LMS GT3

Title success in America: Johnny O’Connell turned the tide at the GT America powered by AWS finale and turned an 18-point deficit into a narrow lead in the Audi R8 LMS. In the first race at Indianapolis, the American privateer driver improved from third on the grid to second position. James Sofronas, who had started in front of him, went off the track in another Audi on the first lap and dropped back to fifth place. O’Connell maintained his position behind BMW driver Justin Rothberg to the finish, while Sofronas improved to third place. Championship leader Jason Daskalos dropped back to seventh position in his Mercedes-AMG after a penalty. As a result, his lead had shrunk to six points. In the second race, Johnny O’Connell in the Audi of the SKI Autosports team improved from sixth to second place after a strong start, again behind Justin Rothberg. Daskalos lost a lap in an accident, dropped back to sixth position and missed out on the title by one point. Former professional driver O’Connell has already won numerous GT titles in his career, including in the American Le Mans Series and the Pirelli World Challenge, as well as class victories in 24-hour races, including four times at Le Mans since 1994. Even at the age of 62, he is not thinking of retiring and, as the new champion, has already announced his intention to compete again next year. This is the 121st time since 2009 that a racing driver has secured a championship victory in an Audi R8 LMS. Audi Sport Italia took the runner-up spot in the Campionato Italiano Gran Turismo Sprint. Pietro Delli Guanti/Rocco Mazzola had come to Monza with a one-point lead in the standings, but after a technical failure in qualifying, the two Italians were only 18th on the grid. In the first race, they suffered a retirement, which left them tied on points with a Lamborghini driver team in second place. In the second race, Delli Guanti improved from tenth on the grid to seventh position. Teammate Mazzola took over the cockpit at the pit stop and made up another two places. This secured second place in the standings for the two private Audi drivers. For Audi Sport Italia, it was the eighth runner-up title since the GT3 program was launched in 2009, plus four overall championship victories and one GT3-Am class title during this period. Teams also won trophies with the Audi R8 LMS in China. Team Winhere Racing by HAR celebrated a podium result in the overall standings at the Shanghai 8 Hours and won its class. Andy Deng/Liu Hangcheng/Yu Kuai shared the cockpit of the GT3 sports car and were always in the leading group in persistently heavy rain. After a spin, their Audi had to be pulled out of a gravel trap once in the sixth hour of the race. The drivers made up a two-lap deficit, closing the gap to the winners from Porsche to 62 seconds and winning the Pro-Am classification. Another class win also went to an Audi driver pairing. Luo Kailuo/Jason Loh/Xu Zheyu clinched first place in the amateur classification with Team 33R by HAR in another R8 LMS.