Spa victory bags 24hr triple for Audi

Audi has racked up its third 24-hour race victory this year by winning the Spa 24-hour endurance race in Belgium. Campaigning an Audi R8 LMS ultra, Nürburgring-based Audi Sport Team Phoenix took the spoils at the event over the weekend.

The hat-trick of wins in 2012 reinforces the German marque’s dominant hold on endurance racing after triumphing in the Nürburgring 24 hours in May and the 24 hours of Le Mans in June.

The cars of the 24 Hours of Spa race

New Audi R8 revealed

The German brand recorded a one-two at Spa just 71 days after winning the twice round the clock race at the ’ring in Germany, again with a Team Phoenix run Audi R8 LMS ultra.

The success at Le Mans in June came with Audi’s R18 e-tron Quattro four-wheel drive turbodiesel hybrid. It was the four-ringed team’s 10th victory at the Circuit de la Sarthe.

The R18 e-tron Quattro uses a 3.7-litre V6 turbodiesel driving the car’s rear wheels, supplemented by an electric motor on the front axle that receives its energy from a flywheel designed in conjunction with the Williams F1 Team.

Regulations for the Nürburgring and Spa 24 hours are more restrictive than those at Le Mans. The R8 LMS ultra competes in the top GT3 class and is derived from the road car – the race car using a 570hp tuned version of the road-going vehicle’s normally aspirated 5.2-litre V10 engine.

The winning driver line-up of Andrea Piccini (Italy), René Rast (Germany) and Frank Stippler (Germany) headed the field after 509 laps of the 7km (4.38-mile) track.

Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ulrich:

“Winning three 24-hour races within just 71 days is another milestone in the successful motorsport history of our company. The field at Spa was unique and enormously competitive.

“There were more than 20 vehicles in contention for victory. In the end, the combination of quality, reliability and speed for which Audi is known prevailed yet again.”

Evidently a fair amount of waterproofing also helped…

Nissan GT-R v the Nürburgring 24 Hours

Nissan Deltawing v the Le Mans 24 Hours

The cars of the 24 Hours of Spa race

New Audi R8 revealed