Absolute Names Drivers for Audi Entries

Absolute Racing has announced the drivers that will race its pair of Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo IIs in this year’s Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS.

Long-time Audi GT3 ace Markus Winkelhock will race one of the two cars, which will run the under the Audi Sport Asia Team Absolute banner, alongside a number of different teammates over the course of the six-round campaign.

His co-driver for the first two rounds at Sepang and Buriram will be Bronze-rated Chinese racer Huang Ruohan.

Winkelhock said: “I am super happy to be back with Absolute Racing this year and competing in a strong championship like the Fanatec GT Asia. I am very motivated and looking forward to the fight for good results.

“I have known the team for a long time; they have great people and a nice atmosphere. We had a P2 in Suzuka 10 Hours and won the 12 Hours of Sepang last year.”

The second car will be entered in the Silver Cup category for Malaysian driver Akash Nandy and China’s James Yu, who shared one of Absolute’s entries with Andrew Haryanto last season, scoring wins at Motegi and Sepang.

Sometime GP3 driver Nandy also made a one-off outing for Absolute in last year’s Sepang finale, sharing a car with Sri Lankan driver Eshan Pieris.

“We are eagerly looking forward to coming back even stronger this year in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS,” said team principal Ingo Matter.

“We thank Audi for trusting us and are pleased to have two very competitive cars on the grid with four drivers we’ve known for a long time. We are as prepared as we can be and can’t wait to fight for the championships.”

Absolute also has plans for multi-car Ferrari and Porsche efforts in Fanatec GT Asia this year, with drivers for those cars still to be revealed.

The season opener is scheduled to take place at Sepang on April 20-21.