Triple lead in the TCR Europe Championship: Comtoyou Racing made a perfect start to the TCR Europe season in Portugal. Belgium’s Jean-Michel Bert team celebrated an emotional victory in the second sprint race in Portimão. Franco Girulami, driving the Audi RS 3 LMS gen II for the first time, started the race in fifth place. From the start, he has outdone competitors and progressed. On lap seven, he trailed Pepe Oriola for several laps before overtaking the Honda rider. After 14 laps, the Argentine, who was driving an Audi, won by 1.8 seconds. Teammate Tom Coronel, who started in fourth, completes the podium in third. Thus, Girulami leads the drivers’ classification by nine points. Luis Cidad, as the best entry-level driver in the Audi RS 3 LMS introduced by Élite Motorsport from Comtoyou, took first place in the entry-level classification. Victor Davidovsky, who is racing this season with Comtoyou Racing, leads the Diamond Trophy for amateur drivers over the age of 35.
Second place in an exciting race: In the third round of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, not a single team of Audi customers with the RS 3 LMS had the chance to secure the top spots. Until eight minutes before the end of the two-hour race at Laguna Seca, Road Shagger Racing’s Gavin Ernston/John Morley was in the lead. However, after Morley bumped into an opponent on a lap, he took a penalty and fell to eighth. Dennis Dupont, who raced for Team Belgard and Technisel Racing Audi with Eric Rockwell, beat Hyundai’s Tyler Gonzalez in straight to take second place with a 52ms advantage.
Two prizes in Portugal: In the second round of the Campeonato de España Resistencia, Jorge Silva and Pedro da Silva in the Audi RS 3 LMS were among the top contenders in the D1 class. In the first race in Portimão, the Portuguese drivers of the Audi RS 3 LMS took second place in the standings. In the second race, they managed to win their class by 14.4 seconds after 50 minutes of racing.
Two class victories in Latvia: Ivars Vallers with the Audi RS 3 LMS won the TCR class in both races in the season opener of the Baltic Touring Car Championship. Latvia finished fourth in both races at the Riga circuit driving their production touring car ahead of several trophy and GT4 sports cars.
Bitci Racing’s first victory: The Turkish Bitci Racing team celebrated its first success with Audi at the Coppa Italia Turismo. Vedat Ali Dalukai won his second sprint during the second weekend of the race, starting with fifth on the starting grid. He crossed the finish line in Vallelonga after 13 laps, 2.086 seconds ahead of Honda rider Paulo Roca, who won his first sprint.
