Superb Podium Finish at the Suzuka 10 Hours
The Audi Sport Team Absolute Racing celebrated a superb podium in the Suzuka 10 Hours this passed weekend. Audi Sport drivers Christopher Haase/Kelvin van der Linde/Markus Winkelhock brought their #6 Audi R8 LMS home in third place after the ten hour-long race.
The 47th running of the Suzuka Summer Endurance Race in Japan was an incredibly tough race and attracted a stellar entry of GT3 cars for round three of the Intercontinental GT Challenge.
The race build-up and qualifying went very well and both Absolute Racing-run cars showed speed. Winkelhock was charged with going for the Pole Shoot-out qualifying lap on Saturday and posted the eleventh fastest time.
With an outside temperature well above 30 degrees Celsius, the Suzuka 10 Hours proved to be a tough test for man and machine. Taking up the race from eleventh on the grid, Haase/van der Linde/Winkelhock fought their way up to position three as the best driver trio in an Audi R8 LMS, despite being handed a drive-through penalty in the second hour of the race. At the flag, the #6 Audi Sport Team Absolute Racing trio were only 1.2 seconds shy of second place.
“It was a very memorable weekend in Japan. the local support was amazing to see and ofcourse to drive at such an iconic racetrack was one of my season highlights. I want to thank the team for an extremely professional approach to their first ever Factory supported race, they really deserved this result!”
Goodbye from Japan’s #Suzuka10H in @IntercontGTC and good luck to Audi in DTM now. @m_winkelhock, @KelvinvdLinde and @ChHaase have clinched an 8 million yen price with Audi Sport Team @absolute_racing. Thank you everyone! #GT3 #LeagueofPerformance pic.twitter.com/sO7P8hIgKL
— Audi Sport (@audisport) August 26, 2018