On Friday, the Canadian C360R team announced plans to field two Audi RS 3 LMS Club Sports full-time in the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge’s new TCR class in 2018. Roy Block and Pierre Kleinubing, who shared the team’s No. 75 Audi S3 in Street Tuner this past season, will move up into the new class. They’ll be joined by CTSC newcomers Rodrigo Sales and Kuno Wittmer, who will drive the No. 74 Audi. The S3 that Block and Kleinubing used last season is currently for sale.
Team owner and former driver Karl Thomson is very happy to move up to TCR.
“We were proud to be the first team to commit to this new IMSA class, and to now be the first to announce our driver line-ups,” Thomson stated. “We’ve run for many years in this series, having not missed a race since January 2004, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to continue to grow our program in this paddock.”
Block and Kleinubing come into the new TCR class after finishing 10th in ST points. They recorded a victory at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, a second-place finish at Road Atlanta and two additional third-place runs.
Sales comes to the team after running the full 2017 Pirelli World Challenge season in the TC class for Stephen Cameron Racing in a BMW M235iR. Sales finished 14th in points with a best finish of fifth in the season-opening race at VIR. Daytona will mark Sales’ CTSC debut.
Wittmer comes to C360R after spending the 2017 season as an endurance driver for BMW Team RLL. Wittmer was part of the No. 25 team that won the GTLM class at the Motul Petit Le Mans. Wittmer’s experience in the CTSC is limited. He has not raced in the series since 2015. Back then, Wittmer drove in two races for Honda of America Racing Team (HART) in Street Tuner alongside Chad Gilsinger. Wittmer’s best finish was 11th at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
The RS 3 LMS Club Sport is by no means an unfamiliar car for C360R. The team acquired one chassis (pictured above at Lime Rock) for use in Pirelli World Challenge’s TC class this season. Paul Holton won four races and finished on the podium seven times. Those results were good enough to earn Holton the TC class championship.
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
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