Audi Sport customer racing Asia has lifted the lid on its new motorsport strategy for 2020. Forming a central part is the new Audi Sport Asia Trophy that will reward privateers for entering their Audi race cars into championships across Asia. Based on a points-scoring system, customers will compete for a total of 100,000 Euros in financial rewards and a fully-funded GT3 entry into the 2021 Suzuka 10 Hours.
In addition, increased support for customers in 2020 includes attractive incentives for fielding newly-purchased Audi R8 LMS GT3, GT2 and GT4 race cars into regional multi-marque championships, access to the Audi Sport Asia professional driver pool for strategic entries, as well as industry-leading technical and parts support.
The new motorsport strategy of Audi Sport customer racing Asia builds on the success of the one-make Audi Sport R8 LMS Cup. After eight years of playing a central role in the development of the region’s motorsport industry, the Cup holds it last event at the 2019 season finale in Malaysia later this month.
“Our new motorsport strategy for Asia reflects the changes in one of the most dynamic motorsport markets in the world. Almost every weekend, our customers compete in various championships across Asia. With the new Audi Sport Asia Trophy and our entry incentives we cater towards our customers in this evolved racing landscape,” said Martin Kuehl, Director of Audi Sport customer racing Asia. “When we started the Audi Sport R8 LMS Cup in 2012, GT racing in Asia was in its early stages. Since then, the Cup has been a powerful catalyst in the development of the GT segment. The world’s first and only one-make series for full-spec GT3 race cars has achieved what it set out to accomplish. Now, we turn the page to the next chapter.”
The new Audi Sport Asia Trophy will be open to privateers competing in an Audi R8 LMS GT3, GT2, GT4 or an Audi RS 3 LMS. Entries and results in the region’s series and events will result in a score that is weighted according to the relative strength and competitiveness of the series and also the car category entered. Scores over the season will be tallied with all drivers competing for financial rewards totalling 100,000 Euros. In addition, the top three drivers in the ranking who have contested one full GT3 championship in 2020 will each win a seat on a fully-funded Audi Sport Asia privateer team for the 2021 Suzuka 10 Hours.
The successful Audi Sport Asia driver pool programme will continue into its third year, with young professional driving talent fulfilling both mentoring and driving roles alongside customers in the region. This season the programme saw official Audi Sport Asia drivers Martin Rump, Weiron Tan, Cheng Congfu and Chen Weian strengthen the campaigns of a number of Audi customer teams in prestigious championships such as the Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia and the Thailand Super Series, with Chen set for his Macau Grand Prix GT World Cup debut later this month.
Full details about the respective programmes for 2020 will be released shortly.
Source. Audi
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