Audi Sport Asia drivers Martin Rump and Weiron Tan have battled to third overall in round three of the Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia. The Audi Sport Asia Team Absolute pairing crossed the line on the tail of the second placed competitor having pushed their rival all the way to the flag at Thailand’s Chang International Circuit.
There was joy too for another Audi R8 LMS GT3 squad, B-Quik Racing’s Henk Kiks and Daniel Bilski, who continued their remarkable podium run. The duo, round two class winners last time out in the series, crossed the line third in the Am Cup after battling for the category win for much of the 60-minute race.
“We knew Buriram was going to provide testing conditions for our drivers, but they have started the weekend positively”, said Martin Kuehl, Director of Audi Sport customer racing Asia. “Congratulations to our podium finishers, let’s push on from here and round off the weekend in style in tomorrow’s round four.”
For the remaining Audi R8 LMS GT3 teams, there were mixed fortunes. Andre Couto and Audi Sport Asia driver David Chen had a challenging outing despite strong pace from both drivers throughout the race. A technical issue ended the race for the Audi Sport Asia Team TSRT pair from sixth place with less than five minutes to go.
Bhurit Bhirombhakdi and Kantasak Kusiri battled back after contact from a competitor put them to the very rear of the 24-car GT3 field, eventually finishing 10th, fifth in the Pro/Am class. Audi Sport Asia Team Absolute’s Cheng Congfu and Sun Jingzu were another to suffer contact with a competitor, this one ending the Chinese squad’s race as the seconds ticked to zero.
After three rounds out of 12 in the 2019 Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia, Tan and Rump sit fifth in the overall championship (27 points). The Audi Sport Asia Team Absolute duo are now fourth in the Silver Cup (40 points), 26 points ahead of Chen and Couto, who lie in eighth place in class (14 points).
In the Pro/Am classification, Bhirombhakdi and Kusiri are fourth (33 points), just 14 points from the top spot.
Kiks and Bilski’s Am Cup podium in round three catapults the pair into second place in the category (40 points), 13 points from class lead.
