Neureuther, Hirscher, Svindal as guest drivers in Audi one-make cup
Project Leader Rolf Michl: âThis challenge is really special.â
Nicolaj Møller Madsen travels to Spielberg as overall leader
The third race weekend of the Audi Sport TT Cup will have a touch of winter â figuratively speaking. The ski superstars Felix Neureuther (D), Marcel Hirscher (A) and Aksel Lund Svindal (N) will be on the grid at Spielberg, Austria, on August 1 und 2. In the field of 24 drivers, the three guest entrants will be contesting a challenge of their own.
The Audi organizational team worked for several months to make this competition of the three winter sports aces in the Audi Sport TT Cup reality. âThis challenge is really special in the history of our one-make cup that has just begun,â says Project Leader Rolf Michl. âNeureuther, Hirscher and Svindal are three absolute superstars from alpine skiing to go out on track. Following the rallycross drivers at Hockenheim and the nobles at the Norisring, weâre going to see another thrilling competition as part of the DTM race weekend.â
Hirscher is currently the worldâs best ski racer. In the past four years, the Austrian won the overall World Cup and last winter secured victories in the giant slalom and slalom events as well, relegating his rival and friend Neureuther to second place.
The 26-year-old is an enthusiastic motor racer and in 2013 contested a regularity race at the Red Bull Ring in an Audi RS 5. In this discipline, a time is set on lap one that has to be matched as closely as possible on the subsequent laps.
Neureuther is already eagerly awaiting the duel with Hirscher. At the beginning of 2015, the son of ski legends Rosi Mittermaier and Christian Neureuther ventured into the unfamiliar terrain of motorsport. During the Audi FIS Ski World Cup in KitzbĂźhel the now 31-year-old took the wheel of DTM star Mattias EkstrĂśmâs Audi S1 EKS RX quattro and proved his racing talent in a slalom practice session.
Svindal is the high-speed racer among the three ski stars. The 32-year-old Norwegian is a downhill specialist, has won the overall and the downhill World Cup twice in his 14-year career, and in 2010 was the Olympic gold medalist in the super G event.
Other guest drivers to race at Spielberg are Rahel Frey (CH) and Doreen Seidel (D). The former Audi DTM driver Rahel Frey contests the ADAC GT Masters and the Audi R8 LMS ultra in the Audi R8 LMS Cup this year. Doreen Seidel, Playmate of the Year 2008, has already gathered experience in the cup race car in the Audi Sport TT Cup at the Nuremberg Norisring, where she finished on the podium of the guest entrants twice.
 Thrilling position battles will no doubt be fought by the 18 young talents who are registered as permanent drivers in the 2015 Audi Sport TT Cup as well. Nicolaj Møller Madsen (DK) is traveling to the only round of the Audi one-make cup outside Germany as the leader of the driversâ standings. The winner of race two at the Norisring has 85 points to his credit, which gives him a 20-point advantage over the runner-up Jan Kisiel (PL).
