Audi Confirms Reduced Factory Effort for N24, 24H Spa

Photo: Audi

As first reported by Sportscar365 last month, Audi has confirmed a reduced factory presence at both this year’s Nürburgring 24 and Total 24 Hours of Spa, with only two works-supported Audi R8 LMS cars in each of the races, instead of the previous four.

The German manufacturer will support a full factory driver lineup to both WRT and Phoenix Racing in the pair of twice-around-the-clock GT endurance classics.

Reigning Nürburgring 24 winners Laurens Vanthoor, Nico Mueller and and Christopher Mies will be joined by Pierre Kaffer in the WRT entry, as they look to give the Belgian squad back-to-back victories at the famed Eifel circuit.

Germans Christopher Haase, Rene Rast, Frank Stippler and Markus Winkelhock, meanwhile, will pilot the solo Audi Sport Team Phoenix entry in the race.

For the Total 24 Hours of Spa, which doubles as the second round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge, Vanthoor, Rast and Mueller will team up in the Audi Sport Team WRT entry, with Mies, Stippler and Winkelhock set to drive for Phoenix.

WRT’s lineup means that Vanthoor, who will be running in the full Blancpain GT Series, will be separated by his season-long co-drivers for the double-points paying Spa round.

Both teams are expected to field additional customer entries for the races, with WRT’s full 2016 program set to be announced this evening.

“At both rounds, we’ll be meeting with strong competitors and feel that we’re well set with these teams and drivers,” said Romolo Liebchen, Head of Audi Sport customer racing.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John