Audi achieved a dream debut of its 2011 motorsport season in Australia: The Audi R8 LMS entered by Audi race experience Team Joest celebrated a 1-2 victory at the Bathurst 12 Hour after a fierce battle. Bathurst rookies Marc Basseng/Christopher Mies/Darryl O’Young (D/D/CN) won the 12 hour race 0.7 seconds ahead of their Australian team mates Mark Eddy/Craig Lowndes/Warren Luff.
In its inaugural race of the 2011 season, Audi celebrated the biggest possible success since the customer sports program has been restructured: The R8 LMS won its first of three endurance races this year. After locking out the front row on the grid, Audi race experience Team Joest celebrated a 1-2 win far away from home in a race that went down to the wire. The Audi R8 LMS that has been developed by Audi specifically for customer sport activities was the most reliable and the fastest car in the field. The GT3 sports car achieved a new lap record at Mount Panorama in Bathurst and took the 65th win of its career that spans back only two years.
The awesome 6.213 kilometre rollercoaster circuit at Mount Panorama demanded everything from the team. Thanks to consistently strong performances in terms of tactics and driving, the team eventually won after persistent rain showers in the first part of the race and numerous safety car periods. A constant struggle for leadership endured between the Audi R8 LMS cars and a local Porsche team as they fought for first place throughout the 12 hours. However, in the end, Audi’s closest rival was beaten by only one lap. The number 8 Audi R8 LMS won after a slow puncture decided the race. This incident meant Craig Lowndes had to do an additional stop in car number 7 that was not counted as a regular pit stop according to the rules. After a strong chase, the Australian touring car legend fought for victory up to the final gruelling minutes.
Thus Audi demonstrated a leading performance in front of future customers in the Asia Pacific region after the Audi R8 LMS has clinched seven championship titles across Europe in the past 24 months already. As of this year, quattro GmbH develops the customers sports race car powered by a 411 kW engine and is also in charge of sales and technical support for customer and importer teams worldwide.
