Double Total 24 Hours of Spa winner Phoenix Racing will be fielding two Audi R8 LMS ultra cars in the Blancpain Sprint Series, showing that the new Series will soon be considered as being one of the most important sprint series for GT cars.
Audi #5 - sporting new, aggressive graphics in white, red and grey - will be driven by former GT1 World Champion Marc Basseng from Germany and the promising British talent Alessandro Latif, who will celebrate his 18th birthday in April. The cockpit of car #6 will be shared by seasoned GT driver Niki Mayr-Melnhof from Austria, who last year clinched third place in the FIA GT Series and another German former GT1 World Champion, Markus Winkelhock.
Ernst Moser, Phoenix Team Director: “We’re delighted about two strong new signings. Niki Mayr-Melnhof has a lot of experience and showed his class on finishing last year’s GT series in third place. Alessandro Latif is a young, up-and-coming driver with excellent prospects who provided a sampling of his talent right on his first two runs in the R8. Together with Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock we’re perfectly positioned to be in contention for victories and the title in the Blancpain Sprint Series.”
The Blancpain Sprint Series starts on 18/21 April with the first of seven rounds at the French track of Nogaro, featuring a qualifying race on Easter Sunday and a main race on Easter Monday, each lasting for sixty minutes.