Compass360 Announces Audi R8 GTD Program

Long-time Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge team C360R (Compass360 Racing) today announced an expansion of its Audi racing program to include an Audi R8 LMS in IMSA’s TUDOR United SportsCar Championship GT Daytona class.

The new No. 76 car will be helmed by long-time C360R driver Ray Mason and his regular team-mate Pierre Kleinubing, with support from partners AERO Advanced Paint Technology, Spyder apparel and Audi Sport customer racing.

As they have for the past five years, the team and drivers will fly the colors of their charity of choice, the Children’s Tumor Foundation.

The move to GTD builds on the team’s burgeoning relationship with Audi, which officially started on-track at Sebring, Florida in March with the launch of their new CTSC ST-class Audi S3 program.

“We’re incredibly excited to extend our Audi program with what is undeniably a big move for our team,” enthused C360R Team Principal Karl Thomson.

“Over the past few years we’ve expanded from ST to GS, and we feel that the time is right for us to make the jump to GTD. We’ve enjoyed working with the folks at Audi Genuine Parts and Accessories on the S3, which is still a work in progress, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to run an Audi R8 LMS for Ray and Pierre.”

“We are delighted to welcome Compass360 into the AScr family,” remarked Audi Sport customer racing Director of Operations Brad Kettler. “They have always run a notably good program. We are looking forward to future cooperation and success.”

Tristan Herbert, Manager, Audi Motorsport and Customer Racing added, “We are excited to have C360R join the Audi Sport customer racing program and we are fortunate to have a team of this caliber promoting the Audi brand.

Plans for the team’s GTD effort currently include running four of the upcoming TUDOR “sprint” races: Lime Rock Park, Road America, Virginia International and Circuit of The Americas, with a strong likelihood of attending the two remaining North American Endurance Cup rounds at Watkins Glen and Road Atlanta.

“We’ve committed to the four sprint races, and are working on the final pieces of the puzzle for the endurance rounds,” remarked Thomson. “In the meanwhile, we’ve got an aggressive testing schedule put together prior to Watkins, starting in two weeks at Sonoma.”

Like the team’s S3’s, the new R8 will be clothed in a striking livery featuring AERO paint. “The response we’ve had to our new S3 livery has been extremely positive,” said C360R Technical Director Ray Lee. “We’ve just painted our transporters with AERO and continue to be impressed with the quality and finish of the product.”

No. 76 will carry the Children’s Tumor Foundation logo, and will serve as one of the featured cars on the charity’s paddock tour at each race.

“The Foundation is grateful to C360R, who have supported us since 2010, and to all our partner teams in the IMSA paddock,” said CTF Racing4Research Director Jill Beck. “Our kids and families in the blue shirts will now have the chance to cheer for them in both the Continental series and in TUDOR.”

While the team begins work on their new Audi R8 LMS program, work continues on the CTSC Audi S3’s, which race on Saturday, May 2nd at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca at 1pm. Watch the race live at IMSA.com, or watch the broadcast on FOX Sports on May 17th at 9am.