The second Audi R18 from Audi Sport Team Joest is always capable of delivering top performances as well and ranks in fourth place of the standings. In 2016, car number 7 has taken pole position twice. Following fifth place at Spa, position four at Le Mans and third place at the Nürburgring, number 7, on clinching second place in Mexico, continued its upward trend. At Austin, Marcel Fässler/André Lotterer/Benoît Tréluyer (CH/D/F) are aiming to repeat their 2014 win.
The “Circuit of the Americas” near Austin in the south of Texas is 5.513 kilometers long and a particularly intriguing track. 20 corners with highly diverse radii challenge the engineers with respect to setting up the race cars and 41 meters of vertical difference between the lowest and the highest track sections are clearly noticeable. Plus, this is the only track on the FIA WEC calendar on which the teams drive counter-clockwise. This puts a strain on different muscle groups of the drivers and the mechanics have to adjust their ways of working during pit stops.
The race in the United States is held in an important market for Audi. In the first seven months of the year, the company was the only brand to increase its sales in the core competition, by 3.6 percent to 115,298 automobiles.
The audience at Austin can look forward to another sports car spectacle this year. The Texan race weekend billed as “Lone Star Le Mans” combines the FIA WEC and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship to a joint event. Three Audi customer racing cars, fielded by Teams Magnus Racing and Stevenson Motorsports, are competing in the IMSA series. The Audi R8 LMS has celebrated an amazing seven podium places in the IMSA GTD class this year, including the two victories by Magnus Racing at Daytona and Lime Rock Park.
Consequently, the fans at Austin will be treated to nearly nine hours of straight racing on Saturday. Following the IMSA round, the 6-hour FIA WEC race will start at 17:00 local time (00:00 CEST). The series will be thrilling the fans with the unique nighttime atmosphere of endurance racing until 23:00 local time, culminating in a major display of fireworks as a visual and acoustical highlight of the event.
The TV channel Eurosport will be airing live and full-length coverage of the race in Germany during the night from Saturday to Sunday, 00:00 to 06:15 (CEST). Audi is going to keep its fans continually up to speed on Facebook (AudiSport) and Twitter (@audisport).