With this recurring column, ooooIYKYK aims to summarize activities of Audi racing campaigns and competition endeavors. This weekly series brief updates of results, preparation, happenings and rumors pertaining to on track activities. See a full calendar of motorsport activities involving Audi Sport factory, customer and Sauber F1 teams maintained HERE.
OPEN WHEEL RACING
FORMULA 1 ROUND #8, F1 TAG HEUER GRAND PRIX DE MONACO 🇲🇨
Amongst the Yachts: The Grand Prix de Monaco
The Formula 1 calendar took teams to Monaco, one of the most historic and iconic street circuits of all time. As with the rest of the season, Sauber remains challenged to find pace against its competition. In as much, the 2025 season is about learning tactics and pace management. In the end, Gabriel Bortoleto finished in P14 and Nico Hulkenberg finished P16.
Jonathan Wheatley, Team Principal
“The Monaco Grand Prix was defined by strategy and shaped more by the rules than by pure racing. On the opening lap, Gabriel pulled off a bold move around the outside at turn six to gain a position, but a late move from Kimi [Antonellil at turn eight led to contact – l’d call it a racing incident. As a result, Gabriel came in for a nose and tyre change; we later switched to the softs on lap 35 when Carlos [Sainz] bunched up the field.
“With Nico, we boxed for the hard compound on lap 12 when Liam [Lawson] backed up the pack, and again for softs on lap 44 when Alex [Albon] did the same. On a circuit where overtaking is notoriously difficult, this was a race where strategy ultimately dictated the outcome – and some teams were in a position to make the most of how the adapted sporting regulations work. It was one of those days where Racing Bulls, Williams, and Mercedes were clearly playing the team game, which definitely made things tougher for us.
“While l’d say the incident between Gabriel and Kimi was just hard racing, as a sport we do need to take a closer look at George’s [Russell] penalty and consider what can be learned – especially in races so heavily influenced by mandatory tyre usage rules like this one. Next up is Barcelona, and hopefully that’ll give us more of a chance to see some proper racing.”
Gabriel Bortoleto (Car# 5)
Race result: 14th
Fastest lap: 1:14.884 (Lap 37)
Strategy & Pit Stops: Start (New Medium) – Lap 2 (New Hard) – Lap 27 (New Soft) – Lap 36 (Used Medium)
“Monaco has always been known for exciting qualifying and free practice sessions, but the races often end up being quite uneventful because overtaking is so difficult. Today wasn’t any different, despite the sport trying something new with the tyre regulations; it didn’t really work out, and the team games that emerged made the race slow, with everyone running four or five seconds off their real pace, no tyre degradation, and overtaking impossible. My race was already in a difficult position after lap one, due to my incident with Kimi. It’s a shame because I made a solid move around the outside at the hairpin, gaining the position fairly, but then he tried a slightly optimistic move at Turn 8. He went a bit wide, and to avoid a collision with him, I ended up crashing into the wall, destroying my front wing and ultimately compromising my race. It’s frustrating because I felt that, without the incident, we could have been in a position to try playing the team game as well and maybe make some gains. Looking forward, we’ll continue working hard on the car and its set-up and, hopefully, it will help us improve our qualifying and race positions. Being consistently in Q2 or occasionally fighting for Q3 would allow us to be closer to the fight for the points.”
Nico Hulkenberg (Car# 27)
Race result: 16th
Fastest lap: 1:15.223 (Lap 47)
Strategy & Pit Stops: Start (New Medium) – Lap 13 (New Hard) – Lap 45 (New Soft)
“I had a good start, gaining a position on the opening lap, but the rest of the race didn’t unfold as we had hoped. Unfortunately, I frequently found myself caught in traffic, largely due to teams in front of us obviously executing strategic plays. Lapping three to five seconds per lap off the pace to open up pit windows for their teammates slowed me down massively and did not lead to an enjoyable race. Obviously, team plays are part of the sport, but from a racing standpoint, it was not what everyone was hoping for.
Realistically, starting in the top 10 is probably the only way to avoid this, and while our own strategy and the pitstops were well executed, there was little we could do to achieve a better result.”
Binotto Chats with Autosport on Power Unit Expectations for Audi F1 in 2026
The UK’s Autosport Magazine caught up with Mattia Binotto of Audi F1 to discuss engines, the new F1 formula for 2026, power performance expectations Mattia has for Audi F1 next year, and how that could play out with dominance for a team with the right engine formula.
“We’re focused on ourselves. We know that 2026 will not be the year in which we’ll be at the top. We won’t have the best power unit, but the path that has been taken is the right one, I’m confident,” was part of a much longer conversation. If you want to dig deeper, check the story out over on Autsport HERE.
Sauber Reveals Glitched Out Livery ahead of 2025 Spanish Grand Prix
KICK Sauber F1 has revealed a new livery design exclusively planned for the next round of the F1 calendar – the Spanish Grand Prix. Referred to as “Glitched Out”, the design reinterprets the familiar C45 green and black livery in a pixelated remix and was created in collaboration with team naming partner KICK.
Appearing as if it is dynamically loading onto the surface of the car, the livery blends the digital aesthetics of the KICK brand with the modern design of the C45 F1 car. Sauber describes the car as such, “The vehicle seems caught mid-transformation – part machine, part graphic interface. Even the iconic poker chip wheel has been reinterpreted in pixel form, reflecting a car that’s not just been repainted, but fully reprogrammed.”
As with previous race-specific liveries, drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto will wear the Glitched Out motif on their racing suits and select other team equipment including even the team garage.
NEXT ROUND 30-01 F1 ARAMCO GRAN PREMIO DE ESPAÑA, CIRCUITO DE BARCELONA-CATALUNYA 🇪🇸
SPORTSCAR RACING – GT3, GT4 & TCR CUSTOMER RACING
Worth noting, Audi Sport has begun publishing weekly customer racing race summaries. As a result, the race updates on ooooIYKYK will become even more inclusive now that updates on all customer racing activities are emanating from the team itself. Thanks to Audi Sport customer racing for continuing to keep fans up to date on Audi Sport customer racing activities around the world.
GT AMERICA POWERED BY AWS (GT3) ROUNDS 7 & 8 SEBRING INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY🇺🇸
SKI Autosports with Win and Podium at Sebring
The #56 Audi R8 LMS of SKI Autosports took its first 2025 victory in Sebring in Race 1. Driver Memo Gidley began the race in P2 on the grid, then overtook the lead BMW early in the race then proceeding to build a lead. That lead was interrupted when the team was issued a five-second penalty for an infringement by the team in the pre-start period. However, Gidley was able to fight his way back to the front, winning by 0.364 seconds ahead of the chasing BMW driven by Justin Rothberg. The Audi placed second in the second race.
Challenging but Positive Performance at DTM Lausitzring for Land Motorsport
As the only Audi in the field, Land Motorsport faces a serious challenge for the 2025 season. Nevertheless, the squad along with driver Ricardo Feller put in a fighting performance. Feller qualified in second on Saturday, running with the leading group during the race until a technical issue put him out of contention. On Sunday, he started further back and impressively made up nine positions, a fight not immediately obvious in his finishing result of P12.
24H EUROPEAN SERIES (GT3) MICHELIN 12H OF MISANO 🇮🇹
📺 Watch Here: Part 1, Part 2
Audi Victorious Once Again at Michelin 12H of Misano
The Michelin 12H of Misano made up the third round of the 24H European Series, a race where two Audi customer teams enjoyed commanding success. Team Haas RT took overall victory, the second year running for an Audi customer team on the top step of the podium.
That car, driven by the team of Peter Guelinckx, Matisse Lismont and Jef Machiels finished with a lead just under one minute following 416 laps of racing. In the same race, the R8 LMS of Juta Racing driven by Arunas Geciauskas, Nicola Michelon and Tim Müller took home the victory in the GT3-Am class while also finishing 4th overall. Third place on that GT3-Am podium was a third R8 LMS fielded by Simpson Motorsport and driven by David Pogosian, Andrey Solukovtsev and Vasily Vladykin.
24 HOURS OF NÜRBURGRING QUALIFYING (GT3) NÜRBURGRING 🇩🇪
📺 Watch Here: Race 1, Race 2
Standout Performance at 24h Nürburgring Qualifiers Event
Team Juta Racing was the second-best Pro-Am team in the first four-hour race of the 24h Nürburgring Qualifiers event with drivers Elia Erhart, Selv, Frank Stippler and Alexey Veremenko sharing the Audi R8 LMS of the Lithuanian customer team. During the second four-hour race, the équipe vitesse R8 LMS of Michael Heimrich, Arno Klasen and Lorenzo Rocco/Eric Ullström took second place on the podium of the SP9 (GT3) amateur class.
Of course, SP9 isn’t the only class in the 24H of Nürburgring structure, with the RS 3 LMS TCR cars also qualifying for SP3T. In this class Armando Stanco and Dario Stanco won the class in both of the four-hour races. The Goroyan RT by Sharky Racing team also finished third place in the TCR class with a second RS 3 LMS being driven by Danny Brink, Artur Goroyan, Oleg Kvitka and Roman Mavlanov.
ADAC GT MASTERS (GT3) ROUNDS 1 & 2 LAUSITZRING 🇩🇪
📺 Watch Here: Race 1, Race 2
Scherer Sport Phx Kick Off 2025 ADAC GT Masters Season with Podium Finish
Drivers Denis Bulatov and Nico Hantke started the 2025 ADAC GT Masters season off strong with a second place finish for their Audi R8 LMS GT3 fielded by Scherer Sport Phx. The podium occurred in the second of two races of the weekend.
CAMPIONATO ITALIANO GT SPRINT (GT3) ROUND 1 VALLELUNGA 🇮🇹
📺 Watch Here: Race 1, Race 2
Tresor Attempto Racing with Three Class Podium Results in Vallelunga
Another series kicking off recently is the Campionato Italiano GT Sprint series, where Audi Sport customer team Tresor Attempto Racing put in a dominating performance. Their Audi R8 LMS GT3 driven by Rocco Mazzola and Fabio Rauer took third place in the Pro driver category in the first sprint race. Another R8 LMS GT3 driven by Alberto Clementi Pisani and Marco Cassarà took second place in the GT3 Amateur classification in the first race, then won the class with 25 seconds to spare in the second race.
BRITISH GT CUP (GT3) ROUNDS 7 & 8 BRANDS HATCH 🇬🇧
📺 Watch Here: Race 1, Race 2
Team PB Racing with JMH automotive Dominant at Brands Hatch
Team PB Racing with JMH Automotive returned from the second race weekend of the British GT Cup Championship with four trophies. At Brands Hatch, Peter Erceg in the Audi R8 LMS took second place in the first sprint. Together with team partner Marcus Clutton, he was again second after 40 minutes in the second race. Erceg secured third position in both the third and fourth races.
CENTRAL EUROPEAN GT CUP SERIES (GT3) ROUND 1 RED BULL RING 🇦🇹
CCS Racing Team with Several Podium Results at Red Bull Ring
Podiums were logged at another season opener in Austria. In this case, it was the Ru LMS of the CCS Racing Team in the Central European GT Cup Series at Red Bull Ring. There, Thomas Westarp logged third place in the FIA CEZ Endurance race. Several more events of the weekend including two sprints in the GT Cup Series and the P9 Challenge made for a total of four second place finishes.
THAILAND SUPER SERIES (GT3) EVENT 1 BURIRAM 🇹🇭
Further Audi Trophies at Buriram
Audi Sport customers netted further trophies at the Buriram circuit in Asia where the B-Quik Absolute Racing team Audi R8 LMS driven by Karol Basz and Kiki Sak completed the race in third place. The team’s other car driven by Sathaporn Veerachue and Adisak Tangphuncharoen won the GT3 Amateur class in both races.
TCR EUROPE (TCR) ROUND 2 SPA FRANCORCHAMPS 🇫🇷
📺 Watch Here: Race
Clairet Sport Continues Winning Streak in TCR Europe
In the second weekend of the TCR Europe, driver RS 3 LMS Teddy Clairet of Clairet Sport logged his first win of the season in the second sprint at Spa with a lead 9 seconds ahead of his brother Jimmy in a sister car.
Teddy passed passed Viktor Andersoon’s Lynk & Co. RS 3 LMS at the start and remained there the remainder of the race. Teddy now leads the series standings with this completion of the first third of the season, having four more points than his brother. Clairet Sport as a team is 57 points ahead of the closest Cupra team Monlau Motorsport.
Elsewhere, in the Diamond class, Nicola Baldan in an Aikoa Racing-fielded RS 3 LMS managed a victory in both races.
TCR ITALY (TCR) ROUND 2 VALLELUNGA🇳🇱
📺 Watch Here: Race 1, Race 2
RS 3 LMS Continues Winning Ways in TCR Italy Vallelunga Race Weekend
The Audi RS 3 LMS logged a number of leads in TCR Italy’s second round at Vallelunga. Here, Nicolas Taylor achieved his second win of the season in the second round. The defending champion in a PMA Motorsport fielded Audi won the first sprint beating out four other Audi competitors. A third place in the second race helped the Canadian driver retain the overall lead in the points standings, as well as in the Under 25 classification.
Nicola Baldan from Aikoa Racing managed two second place finishes this weekend, placing him closest to Taylor’s points standings. Denis Baubin achieved third and fourth place finishes in his Planet Motorsport RS 3 LMS, extending his lead in the Masters classification to 36 points. Francesco Cardone from Aikoa Racing finished third and second place in the Master Class, moving him to third in that class’ standings.
In the meantime, Carlo Alberto Bocca of BF Motorsport won the rookie class in the first race over Zekai Özen from the Texaco team. Özen managed to win the second race, moving him to overall leader in the standings.
Elsewhere in the TCR Italy DSG race for cars with dual-clutch transmissions, the Audi RS 3 LMS continued dominance here as well. Casals Motorsport took second and third place in the first race, while Gustavo Sandrucci won the second sprint.
In the women’s classification, Carlotta Fedelli won over Seda Kacan in Race 1, however Kacan the second sprint. The Masters classification was won twice by Sandrucci, with Gabriele Giorgi taking second and third. Finally, in the Under-25 Class, Gavazza was the second-best driver, ahead of Mattia Lancelotti who finished third on Sunday.
TCR UK (TCR) ROUNDS 6, 7 & 8 🇬🇧
📺 Watch Here: Race 1, Race 2 & 3
Team Power Maxed Racing Remains Unbeaten in Class after Silverstone National
Team Power Maxed Racing remains unbeaten in its class after Jeff Alden won the Gen1 classification for older TCR cars, taking each of the three sprints in his first-generation RS 3 LMS.
BELCAR ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP (TCR) ROUND 3 ZOLDER 🇳🇱
Class Victory in Belcar Endurance Championship at Zolder
Team VP Racing logged a class victory with their own Audi RS 3 LMS. Drivers Nick van Pelt and Olivier Bertels won their touring car class at the race in Zolder. After over two hours of racing, the team completed the race with a two lap lead over its nearest class competition.
GT4 EUROPEAN SERIES POWERED BY RAFA RACING CLUB (GT4) ROUND 2 CIRCUIT ZANDVOORT 🇳🇱
📺 Watch Here: Race 1, Race 2
Team Speedcar with Second Victory of Season in GT4 European Series
Team Speedcar with drivers Robert Consani and Benjamin Lariche were victorious for the second time, this time at Circuit Zandvoort. The pair actually took second in the first sprint and then first place in the second sprint. Drivers Gregory Guilvert and Paul Petit took third place. Robert Consani and Benjamin Lariche ended the weekend 13 points ahead of two Ford drivers in the Silver standings.
UPCOMING ROUNDS WEEK 20 (MAY 31-JUN 08)
Sidenote: See full season calendar HERE.
30-01 – DMV Super Touring and GT Cup, Nürburgring Grand Prix Circuit, Nürburg, Germany – GT4
30-01 – F1 ARAMCO Gran Premio de España, Circuito de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain – F1
30-01 – GT World Challenge / GT World Challenge Asia, Chang International Circuit, Thailand – GT3, GT4, TCR
30-01 – GT World Challenge / GT World Challenge Australia, Queensland Raceway, Australia – GT3
30-01 – GT World Challenge / GT World Challenge Europe, Endurance Cup, Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Italy – GT3
06 – TCR Europe / TCR Eastern Europe, Salzburg Ring, Salzburg, Austria – TCR
06-08 – Campeonato de España Resistencia, Autódromo do Algarve, Portimão, Portugal – GT4
06-08 – DTM Circuit Zandvoort, Netherlands – GT3
06-08 – IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge O’Reilly Auto Parts 4 Hours of Mid-Ohio, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, USA 🇺🇸 – TCR
07 – TCR Europe / TCR Eastern Europe, Monza, Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Italy – TCR
07-08 – International GT Open, Hockenheimring Baden Württemberg, Germany – GT3
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