Audi India and its talented driver Aditya Patel ended the 40th edition of the 24 Hours ADAC Nürburgring race with a record victory. A grand performance by Patel brought home the victory for team Pro-Handicap e.V. in SP 4T category in the legendary Audi TTS. The car manufacturing company also went on to win in the overall category for the first time in its history, thus giving another reason for the cheers. Audi Sport team Phoenix bagged the first and second position in the Audi R8 LMS Ultra race cars in this category.
Driving for team Pro-Handicap e.V. of Audi, Aditya Patel accompanied by Wolfgang Muller and Oliver Rudolph, completed 126 laps in all at the 25 km long track, which is famously known as 'Green Hell', to finish first. Patel became the first ever Indian to participate and win the famous marathon race, as this was his maiden race at the 24 hours of Nürburgring. With 3 driving sessions of total 7.5 hours, the Indian racer was at the second place, 12 laps behind the lead car in the final run. He gained upon the lead car with consistent and skilfully manoeuvred laps, battling bad weather and tough competition to gain speed. He gradually overtook the lead car to grab the pole position before passing the steering over to Oliver Rudolph for the final 30 minutes. Pro-Handicap e.V. Team won the race with an advantage of as many as 12 laps over the second place holding Besaplast-Racing.
Head, Audi India, Michael Perschke, commented on the achievement, “This is a proud victory not only for Audi but also for India. We were confident that Aditya’s talent combined with the technical capabilities of the Audi TTS put the team up as a strong contender in the challenge. With this victory we further consolidate our strong association with motorsport and will continue to nurture Aditya’s promising career.”
Aditya Patel, the winning Audi race driver, said, “I am ecstatic. This is a great victory for team Pro-Handicap e.V. and also for Audi. This victory is very special because this is my first attempt at the 24 hours challenge. The tough weather conditions were not a concern thanks to the thorough preparations made by the team and the Audi TTS race car that I was equipped with. This result has reinforced my faith in the brand and I would like to thank Audi India and my sponsors for making this dream come true.”
Team Pro-Handicap maintained its record of finishing the race every single time that they have participated with this win. Unlike other teams who were racing with a team of 4 drivers, Audi team's 8th attempt was significant as it participated with only three drivers. Patel completed a single lap in 10 minutes 40 seconds on an average and his fastest lap was recorded at 10 minutes 23 seconds. Oliver Rudolph clocked 10 minutes 11 seconds for a single lap to mark the fastest one for the team.
Aditya Patel was just 14 when he kickstarted his motorsport career at the JK Tyre National Racing Championship. Sponsors like JK Tyre, MAS Holdings and Petra Energy constantly backed his frequent good performance and saw him rise in this competitive arena. He went on to race in much more advanced formats of racing like the VW Polo R Cup and the VW Scirocco R Cup in Germany. He finished 5th in the latter in the year of 2011. Patel's path to success is lined with full support from Audi India and JK Tyre, along with other long term sponsors. They are determined to pave proper career development route for him. These sponsors ensure that he races at various international racing platforms in Audi performance models, ranging from the newly launched (in India) Audi TT to the super sports car Audi R8.
