Sainteloc Audi Loses Podium Due to Track Limits Penalty

Sainteloc Junior Team has lost its podium finish at the Paul Ricard 1000km due to a five-second time penalty for breaching track limits multiple times.

The No. 25 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II driven by Christopher Mies, Simon Gachet and Patric Niederhauser crossed the line in third but later dropped one position due to the sanction, which was communicated 30 minutes after the checkered flag.

A stewards’ bulletin stated that the Audi exceeded track limits six times during Saturday’s Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup round.

The drivers’ briefing notes for the Paul Ricard event stated that the fourth breach of track limits would be met with a warning flag, followed by a final warning after five offenses and then a penalty for the sixth time.

The French team’s penalty elevated the No. 98 ROWE Racing BMW M4 GT3 of Nick Yelloly, Marco Wittmann and Philipp Eng to third place after Yelloly finished 0.966 seconds behind Nierderhauser.