IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship 2017
Audi R8 LMS #29 (Montaplast by Land-Motorsport), Sheldon van der Linde/Christopher Mies/Connor De Phillippi

Montaplast by Land-Motorsport brought the curtain down on the 2017 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with a stunning victory in the Petit Le Mans (7 October). Denied a GTD class victory by a mere 0.293secs in the opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, Connor De Phillippi (USA), Christopher Mies (D) and Sheldon van der Linde (ZA) swept their Audi R8 LMS to a 15.518-second win in the 10-hour race at Road Atlanta – the team’s only third IMSA race of the year.

Chris Reinke, Head of Audi Sport customer racing, commented: “It was an intense race. The Balance of Performance was equal as shown by the different brands bidding for podium places. The Montaplast Audi was always in the leading pack, produced an impressive performance and scored a thoroughly deserved victory. The Stevenson Audi was unfortunate while the Alex Job R8 LMS battled to the end.”

“The Audi was fast all race,” confirmed De Phillippi. “The final hour was very intense with the yellows but I always had the pace to pull away. Now we head to Laguna where we hunt for another win.”

Christopher Mies added: “Having been so close to winning at Daytona makes this an even more unbelievable feeling. I’m very proud of the entire team. The racing was really tough but the team gave us a perfect strategy.”