Victory in California

Eight hours of racing, 306 laps of the famous Laguna Seca Raceway and Audi has claimed not only this year’s California 8 Hours, but its third consecutive Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC) manufacturers’ title. 

Audi Sport Team Land with drivers Christopher Haase, Kelvin van der Linde und Christopher Mies claimed the top of the podium in the race after taking pole position in qualifying. Audi Sport Team WRT drivers Robin Frijns, Dries Vanthoor and Markus Winkelhock claimed second outright to give Audi Sport customer racing the 1 – 2 and turn an non-point deficit into an 11-point advantage to clinch the manufacturers’ title in the fourth and final round of the series that started in Australia at the start of the year with an Audi win at the Bathurst 12 Hour.

In the IGTC, the two best-placed vehicles of a brand are eligible for points. The third Audi R8 LMS shared by Stuart Leonard, Sheldon van der Linde and Alex Riberas finished in fifth place. 

"The eight-hour race on this storied circuit couldn't have gone better," said Chris Reinke, Head of Audi Sport customer racing. “We experienced everything that makes long distance racing so fascinating and a great team sport at top level motor racing. Mere seconds separated the frontrunners over the entire distance. Ultimately our boys in both cars had the edge today and we're delighted to take home the third manufacturers' title in a row. Congratulations as well to Tristan Vautier and Mercedes for winning the drivers' title.”

“Our balance over three years in the Intercontinental GT Challenge with five of six possible titles underlines what our Audi R8 LMS is capable of. And we've taken it a step further with the new evolution stage for 2019, which we presented here in the paddock,” he said.

His win at Laguna Seca secured second in the drivers’ championship for Christopher Mies, a classification Audi won in 2016 and 2017, while the Reardon Racing driving combination of Vesko Kozarov, David Roberts and Max Faulkner also took top honours for Audi, winning the GT4 class in the California 8 Hours.