The Audi Sport Team Land has won the California 8 Hours. First the pole position and then victory for the team together with Christopher Mies, Kelvin van der Linde and Christopher Haase at the Intercontinental GT Challenge finale. The Niederdreisbach squad’s triumph in Laguna Seca was the perfect ending to the season.
It was an incredibly tough finale right up to the very end and the three drivers delivered an exceptionally powerful performance. Despite two drive-through penalties in the first half of the race, the Audi Sport Team Land trio fought its way back up front. Thanks to a brilliant strategy by Peter Baron, it was able to take the lead in the sixth hour and emerge victorious at the finish line. First place not only meant a magnificent triumph for the crew of car #29, the maximum points score also made a significant contribution to Audi’s title win.
The California 8-hour-race’s mix of frequent leader changes and position battles offered a fitting conclusion to the 2018 Intercontinental GT Challenge and the MONTAPLAST crew rode their way through it to a superior victory: Kelvin van der Linde’s consistent performance extended the lead by seven seconds in the race’s last hour and on seeing the chequered flag, the South African was ultimately 5,3 seconds ahead of his Audi colleague Dries Vanthoor (#19).
“This weekend was unbelievable”, said van der Linde after the race. “The entire team has done a magnificent job and winning a second time in California is something incredibly special.”
In addition to the win, teammate Christopher Haase was also able to celebrate a second place in the driver category. “I’m really happy with this weekend’s success and the team has definitely earned this victory. Coming back so strongly after the initial setbacks, was simply fantastic”, the Audi driver summarized.
This Intercontinental GT Challenge finale concludes a long and exciting season for MONTAPLAST by Land-Motorsport. The team competed in the ADAC GT Masters and also took part in other series such as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the VLN. Highlights of the year include the Super Sports Car League vice-championship as well as third place in the 24 Hours of Spa.
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