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 #5, F1 CRYPTO.COM MIAMI GRAND PRIX 🇺🇸
Miami Grand Prix Race Preview + Art Livery for South Florida Round
The F1 grid shifts to America where Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber turns to the warm sunny weather that is South Florida. The Miami Grand Prix marks the second Sprint event of the 2025 season, where teams and drivers get just one practice session before Sprint qualifying begins.
As is becoming custom with the Miami round, teams tend to celebrate the venue with special liveries or merch. The Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber is getting in on that with a special one-and-done art-inspired livery for the pair of Sauber C45 F1 cars.
Inspired by Miami’s art scene, the look makes use of the team’s neon green colors and applies it as paint that wraps around the surface of the C45. The design was created in partnership with team partner Stake.
Matching this, drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto will also be wearing racing suits that match the modern art theme on the cars themselves. Expect to see more of this art theme throughout the team garage and on pit stop equipment.
This themed initiative is a first from the Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber this season, though the team promises that there will be more surprises of this sort throughout the year.
Stefano Battiston, Chief Commercial Officer
“This livery is more than just a new look – it’s a celebration of Miami’s creative spirit and our commitment to energising the sport for our fans. Our objective when developing this livery with Stake was to stand out, not only for our dedication on the track, but also for our boldness and creativity off track. Our team is dedicated to creating memorable moments and engaging experiences, and this Miami special is a perfect example of that.”
Jonathan Wheatley, Team Principal
“Sprint weekends always bring an added layer of complexity, but they also present valuable opportunities. With only one practice session before heading into qualifying, there is no room for error, and preparation becomes even more key. The team has been putting in the work behind the scenes, and now we need to execute when it counts. Miami can pose a good challenge, and if we approach it with confidence and precision, we can make significant progress. There is still more to unlock in the C45, and we are heading into this weekend focused and determined.”
Nico Hulkenberg (Car #27)
“It is great to be back in Miami – I have enjoyed racing here over the past few years. There is a special atmosphere around this unique venue all weekend long, which makes it even more exciting. I like the rhythm the circuit has and the Sprint weekends there are always extra spicy – there is no easing into it: you jump straight into qualifying mode after just one practice session, so it’s key to get the car in a good place right from the very start.”
Gabriel Bortoleto (Car 5)
“Miami is a track I have never raced on before, and I am really looking forward to discovering it. The whole event always looks impressive on TV, and I am excited to experience it for the first time. I was able to spend some time in the simulator after Jeddah to get a better understanding of the circuit, and now I am looking forward to driving it for real. There is still a lot to take in this weekend – it is only my second Sprint event – but I feel well prepared and focused on making the most of it”
Reese Witherspoon Behind F1: The Academy Documentary Dropping in May on Netflix
You have to figure that the success of F1: Drive to Survive couldn’t have been lost on neither F1 organizers nor Reese Witherspoon’s Hellow Sunshine organization that will produce an upcoming documentary on F1 ACADEMY that is set to launch globally on Netflix on May 28th.
Like Drive to Survive, this is also a docuseries. However, this time around it follows the female drivers of F1 ACADEMY through their season, digs into the personal stories of drivers and the teams who back them.
ABOUT F1: THE ACADEMY
- More Information: Netflix.com
- Launch date: 28th May 2025
- Episodes: 7 episodes
- Production Company: Hello Sunshine
- Executive Producers for Hello Sunshine: Reese Witherspoon, Sara Rea, Sarah Lazenby
- Executive Producers for F1: Susie Wolff, Ian Holmes, Isabelle Stewart
- Showrunner: Lisa Keane
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 (GT3) ROUNDS 5 & 6, CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS 🇺🇸
📺 Watch Race Here: Race 1, Race 2
The GT America powered by AWS racing series returned to Circuit of the Americas in Texas for its third racing weekend of the 2025 season, an event that involved rounds 5 and 6 of schedule. SKI Autosports made the return with new-for-2025 yet veteran driver Memo Gidley who placed third in the first 40-minute race at the Austin, Texas circuit.
INTERNATIONAL GT OPEN (GT3) ROUNDS 1 & 2, AUTÓDROMO INTERNACIONAL DO ALGARVE 🇵🇹
📺 Watch Race Here: Race 1, Race 2
Haase & Reicher Second in First Round of GT Open at Portimao
At the season-opening around in Portimao, Portugal, the 2024 champion pair of Christopher Haase and Simon Reicher started 2025 with a strong performance. The team began from a challenging P12 on the grid, though moved their Estalent Racing Audi to second place on the podium by race end. It’s here that longtime Audi factory driver Christopher Haase deserves credit, taking over the car in P16 after the driver change and moving all the way up to second after just 18 laps to the finish. The team sits third in the points standings following the completion of this round.
TCR EUROPE (TCR) ROUNDS 1 & 2, AUTÓDROMO INTERNACIONAL DO ALGARVE 🇵🇹
📺 Watch Race Here: Race 1, Race 2
Successful Start for RS 3 LMS in TCR Europe Season Debut in Portimão
The 2025 season for TCR Europe is shaping up to be an extremely competitive season with 21 drivers, eleven teams and five manufacturers on the grid for this pan-European racing series.
Three of those teams campaign, Clairet Sport, Aikoa Racing and PMA Motorsport will field the RS 3 LMS TCR, making Audi one of the most popular brands on the grid. In Portimão, Jimmy Clairet secured pole position during qualifying with a time 46 thousandths of a second over the PMA Motorsport RS 3 driven by Felice Jelmini.
In the race, Jelmini retired from a collision but Clairet managed a 3.7-second lead over the rest of the grid to net his victory. Over in the Youth category, Canadian driver Nicolas Taylor finished second place on the podium for PMA Motorsport. Finally, Nicola Baldan of Aikoa Racing won the Diamond class.
In the second round, Baldan took home second in Diamond.
In the end, Jimmy Clairet leads the overall standings by three points over Cupra driver Jenson Brickley, then Teddy Clairet a further twelve points behind in third. Team Clairet Sport leads the team standings by 22 points, while Nicola Baldan’s squad is second in the Diamond classification points standings..
NÜRBURGRING LANGSTRECKEN-SERIE (GT3 / TCR) ROUNDS 2 & 3, NÜRBURGRING NORDSCHLIEFE 🇩🇪
📺 Watch Race Here: Race 1, Race 2, Onboard Feed #777 RS 3 TCR
Two Class Victories for Audi in the Second Round of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie
Two Audi R8 LMS teams won their class in round two of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie. Team Juta Racing with Selv, Frank Stippler and Alexey Veremenko took home the win in the SP9 Pro-Am class after starting from pole position, repeating their round 1 performance. The driver team of Michael Heimrich, Lorenzo Rocco and Arno Klasen won the SP9 Am category in their équipe vitesse team Audi.
RS 3 TCR Dominance Second Round of Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie
The Audi RS 3 LMS proved to be one of the fastest touring cars in this second round of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie, netting results in several classes. The Norwegian team of Møller Bil Motorsport with drivers Håkon Schjærin, Atle Gulbrandsen and Kenneth Østvold took home the TCR class victory finishing one-lap ahead of Team Goroyan RT by sharky-racing with Nathanaël Berthon, Danny Brink and Artur Goroyan. Meanwhile, in the AT 3 class, Max Kruse Racing and drivers Benjamin Cartery, Timo Hochwind and Nicholas Otto landed on the top step of the podium with a final led of 03m 37s over their closest competitor.
CHINA GT CHAMPIONSHIP (GT3) ROUNDS 2 & 3, SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT 🇨🇳
Audi Sport customer racing teams netted two important podiums in Shanghai. Yu Kuai and Liu Kaishun won the GT Pro class in the first race at the wheel of their Team 610 Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3, also netting third place overall. Further success came from the Uno Racing Team Audi R8 LMS driven by David Pun and Wang Yibo, finishing ahead of Jason Gu and Min Heng of Origine Motorsport.
Xing Yanbin and Ray Wu took home second in their GT3 Masters classified R8 LMS from Incipient Racing, while David Chen and Liu Hangcheng in their Winhere Harmony Racing R8 LMS took home third place in the GT3 Pro-Am Class.
In Round 2, Yu Kuai and Liu Kaishun moved up one position to second overall ahead of Jason Gu and Ming Heng, winning the Pro classification for a second time. Over in Am, Pan Deng and Yang Xiaowei from Team 610 Racing finished ahead of Denis Zhang and Lu Zhiwei in the 33R Harmony Racing R8 and Jason Gu and Min Heng. Xing Yanbin and Ray Wu also took home second in the GT3 Masters class in their Audi.
In GT4, Air Gong Yu and Chen Sitong won the GTS-Am class in both races of the Shanghai season opener driving a very distinctive purple Audi R8 LMS GT4.
TCR ASIA SERIES & TCR CHINA CHAMPIONSHIP (TCR) SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT 🇨🇳
📺 Watch Race Here: TCR Asia Race 1, TCR Asia Race 2, TCR China Race 1, TCR China Race 2
Strong Showings in Shanghai for Audi RS 3 LMS
Two different TCR series also took place in Shanghai this weekend. In the TCR Asia Series, Zhang Qianshang from RevX Racing won the first race in his Audi RS 3 LMS ahead of Liu Zichen in another Audi RS 3 from the 326 Racing Team. Victory went to Liu Zichen in the second round, while Zhang Qiangshang placed third on the podium.
In the TCR China Championship, Wu Yifan netted second for Zhejiang 326 Racing place in the first sprint race. In the second race, his teammate Lai Jinwen finished in second place within the Am class.
BRITISH GT CHAMPIONSHIP (GT3) ROUND 2, SILVERSTONE 500 🇬🇧
Steller Motorsport with GT3SA Victory at Silverstone
Steller Motorsport won their class this weekend in the Silverstone 500. Matt Topham and Darren Burke took home the GT3SA classification victory, beating their nearest rival by a healthy 41 seconds.
GT WORLD CHALLENGE AUSTRALIA (GT3) ROUND 2, GT FESTIVAL SYDNEY 🇦🇺
Melbourne Performance Centre Confirm Stoupas & Higgon for KFC Audi R8 LMS Evo I
Team MPC will return to the grid with their fan-favorite Kentucky Fried Chicken liveried R8 LMS Evo 1, and they’ve now confirmed a driver lineup of Matthew Stoupas and Gary Higgon. They’ll make their debut in Sydney following an unfortunate withdrawal from the previous round, the season opener at Phillip Island.
XGT4 Italy (GT4) AUTODROMO ENZO E DINO FERRARI DI IMOLA – WEC 🇮🇹
Class Victory in Imola for Audi R8 LMS GT4
In the second round of the XGT4 Italy series held during the FIA WEC round at Imola, Lema Racing won its class, with Jodi Lambrughi overtaking a rival Lotus in his Audi R8 LMS GT4 during the fifth lap of a 13 lap race, then won his class by one second.
DMV Goodyear Racing Days (GT4) ROUND 2, CIRCUIT ZOLDER 🇧🇪
📺 Watch Race Action Here: Race
Overall Victory in Zolder for R8 LMS GT4
Bernd Schaible and Tobias Erdmann managed victory overall in the two-hour DMV NES GP race in their Seffarth Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT4. The event was comprised of two spring races, where they also managed a victory in the Cup 4 Class.
Ultimate Cup Series (GT4) ROUND 2, MUGELLO 🇮🇹
The second round of the Ultimate Cup Series took place in Mugello. Here, Team Herrero Racing netted third place on the podium with their Audi R8 LMS GT4 driven by Pierre Arrou.
UPCOMING ROUNDS:Â Â WEEK 19 (MAY 04-MAY 11)
Sidenote: See full season calendar HERE.
02-04 – Campeonato de España Resistencia, Circuito de Navarra, Navarra, Spain – GT4
02-04 – F1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix, Miami International Autodrome, USA 🇺🇸 – F1
02-04 – GT World Challenge Australia, Sydney Motorsport Park, Australia – GT3 & GT4
02-04 – TCR Italy, Misano, Italy – TCR
03-04 – Spezial Tourenwagen Trophy, Hockenheim Ring, Germany
09-10 – Extreme Supercars Driven by Dunlop, Aldo Scribante Racetrack, Gqeberha, South Africa – GT3
09-10 – Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie, Nürburgring, Germany – GT3, TCR
09-11 – FFSA GT Championnat de France, Circuit Dijon-Prenois, Prenois, France – GT3, GT4
09-11 – GT World Challenge Asia, Pertamina Mandalinka International Circuit, Indonesia – GT3, GT4, TCR
09-11 – IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge WeatherTech Sportscar Championship of Monterey, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, USA 🇺🇸 – TCR
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