TEAM RELEASE: Fall-Line GTD Audi R8 LMS Starts Eighth and Finishes Eleventh at VIR
Danville, Virginia (August 26, 2014) – Charles Espenlaub and Charlie Putman qualified the #46 Fall-Line Audi R8 LMS for the Oak Tree Grand Prix at VIR in eighth place in the GTD category. Although both visited the greenery once both Espenlaub and Putman drove a consistent race with great pace to finish in eleventh position.
Marino Franchitti also joined “the Charlies” last weekend in an advisory role but did not actually drive in the race. He drove one session during practice and is helping to develop the car. Espenlaub and Putman were running as high as P4 during the 2 hour and 45 minute race on Sunday but had an off-course excursion that put them back to P11.
Overall the weekend was very positive for the team who have had a mixed bag of results in their first full-year in GTD. With big improvements over the last two events the team looks forward to the next race at Circuit of the Americas in Texas where the Audi R8 LMS will be able to spread it’s wings on the flowing 3.4-mile track.
#46 Fall-Line Motorsports Audi R8 LMS driver quotes:
Charlie Putman: “VIR was minor victory for us even though the finish result was not what we hoped for. Charles did such a great job in qualifying. That lap was an inspiration. In the race I certainly ran some of the best laps I have ever run in the Audi R8 (LMS). Unfortunately we both had minor off-track excursions on cold tires so the results did not show how well we were driving overall nor how well the car performed this week. I think the team’s recent work with Marino Franchitti has validated where we are in both our driving and engineering programs and allowed us to confidently focus and charge ahead in what we thought was the right direction.”
Charles Espenlaub: “The entire crew at Fall Line continues to amaze me. They continue to go above and beyond the call of duty to make our Audi the best it can be. We made great progress again this weekend and continue to move forward. Really looking forward to the next round at COTA as we will be even better.”
Michael Harvey, Fall-Line Motorsports Team Manager: “I am very pleased to see that all the efforts especially over the past few months are really paying dividends with our program. The Fall-Line crew continue to put a first class program on track each week and I would like to extend a big thank you to Marino for all his help, insight and passion. VIR was a very good weekend for this program and although not the result we wished for the program has found some momentum though hard work and dedication by all involved. Charlie and Charles both had great stints this weekend and we really look forward to COTA.”
Fall-Line Motorsports is a premiere builder and fabricator of racecars for all levels of competition. Fall-Line specializes in BMW, Porsche, Audi and other high-performance makes. Fall-Line Motorsports unveiled their Grand-Am team in 2006 and won the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge GS Championship title in 2010. In addition to fielding 3 GS BMW M3s in the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge and an Audi R8 LMS in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, Fall-Line also prepares and fabricates cars for other CTSC teams, SCCA and NASA drivers, track day prepared and high performance street vehicles. www.fall-linemotorsports.com @FallLineMotors www.facebook.com/Falllinemotorsports
ABOUT AUDI OF AMERICA AND THE AUDI R8 LMS
Audi began a new chapter in 2009 with the introduction of the Audi Sport customer racing program. For the first time it was possible for motorsport customers to acquire a race car designed for customer racing events. Since its inception, the success of the R8 LMS has been significant throughout the GT3 racing format worldwide, including victory in the GT class in the 2013 edition of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The Audi R8 LMS shares more than 50% of its parts with the Audi R8 street car including the naturally aspirated V10 5.2 Liter engine, the Audi Space Frame and a variety of other components.
Audi of America, Inc. and its U.S. dealers offer a full line of German-engineered luxury vehicles. AUDI AG is among the most successful luxury automotive brands globally. Audi was a top-performing luxury brand in Europe during 2012, and broke all-time company sales records in the U.S. Through 2016, AUDI AG will invest about $17 billion on new products and technologies.
Visit www.audiusa.com or www.audiusanews.com for more information regarding Audi vehicle and business issues.
