Audi of America announces a four car R8 LMS GT3 line-up for the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship opening race. Three Audi customer teams – Stevenson Motorsports, Magnus Racing and Flying Lizard Motorsports will compete in the 54th running of the Daytona 24-hour race.
Three of the all-new Audi R8 LMS GT3 racecars, driven by the Stevenson and Magnus racing teams, and one previous generation R8 LMS driven by the Flying Lizard Motorsports team, will join the 22-car field for the GT Daytona (GTD) class – which has adopted full FIA GT3 technical regulations in 2016.
“The R8 is the car that kicked-off the growth of our brand and inspired many aspiring drivers to pin up posters of it on their walls. Our customers can see the quality and performance that is engineered into every production R8 that shares just under 50 percent of its parts with the race car,” said Scott Keogh, President Audi of America. “We are optimistic about the 2016 race season with our race teams, the US debut of the R8 LMS and the arrival of the R8 V10 production car this spring.”
The R8 LMS has already proven its success on the track claiming a victory at its global race debut, the Nürburgring 24 Hours. Building excitement for its US race debut at Daytona, all R8 LMS cars set competitive times in the GTD class and completed their planned set-up programs over the three-day Roar Before the Rolex 24 event.
“The entire customer racing organization has worked very hard to provide the best support possible for our race teams,” said Erin Keating, General Manager for Motorsports, Audi of America. “We are pleased with the proven success of the R8 LMS around the world and we are excited about the strong potential for this year’s race season.”
The driver line-up features multiple 24 hour race winners. The teams/drivers are made-up as follows:
Stevenson Motorsports
- #6: Andrew Davis, Robin Liddell, Matt Bell and Lawson Aschenbach
- #9: Tristian Vautier, Dion von Moltke, Boris Said and Kenny Habul
Magnus Racing
- #44: John Potter, Andy Lally, René Rast and Marco Seefried
Flying Lizard Motorsports
- #45: Nic Jonsson, Pierre Kaffer, Christopher Haase and Tracy Krohn
Television coverage of 2016 WeatherTech Championship season kicks off with the 54th Rolex 24 at Daytona beginning on Saturday, January 30 at 2 p.m. ET on FOX Sports. Television coverage in Canada will mirror the U.S. schedule on FOX Sports Racing and will also offer live streaming on IMSA.tv and the IMSA mobile app.
| Date | Event/Venue | Channel | Time (All Times ET) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. 30-31 | Rolex 24 At Daytona | FS1 | 2 p.m. |
| | Daytona International Speedway | FS2 | 4 p.m. |
| Daytona Beach, Florida | IMSA.tv | 10 p.m. | |
| FS1 | 7 a.m. | ||
| FS2 | 10:30 a.m. | ||
| FS1 | 1 p.m. |