The South African national anthem played out twice on the podium in Styria. Keagan Masters became the first rookie to win this season, and he managed to do it twice in a row. The 17-year-old junior driver converted second on the grid to a victory on Saturday, and on Sunday he prevailed from pole. The South African therefore managed to break the dominance of two drivers: Up to this point, Philip Ellis and Mikel Azcona had shared all of the victories.
Mikel Azcona came to Austria as the table leader, but after two crucial mistakes he paid dearly. On Saturday, whilst dueling with his title rival Philip Ellis, he damaged his radiator and consequently had to retire his car to the pit lane. Meanwhile, Ellis occupied second place and thus took over the table lead on Saturday, which he had held since the beginning of the season up until the previous race weekend at the Nürburgring. On Sunday, Azcona received a drive through penalty for a jump start. From the back, he managed to fight his way through to seventh place. With just the finale to go, he now sits in second in the Cup rankings, 24 points behind Ellis. 50 points are still up for grabs in Hockenheim.
Milan Dontje celebrated his best race weekend of the year. The 22-year-old Dutchman reached third place on Saturday and second place on Sunday. He followed Keagan Masters like a shadow and in the end he was beaten by just 0.64 seconds. Tommaso Mosca from Italy consolidated his position at the top of the rookie rankings at the Red Bull Ring. He remains the best newcomer and third in the overall rankings after two fourth-place finishes. Behind him in the rookie rankings follows Keagan Masters and Yannik Brandt with 130 points each.
The local ski stars Max Franz and Benni Raich received a great reception. The two guest drivers wrote countless autographs and delivered some thrilling duels on the track. In both races, Franz prevailed against his rival Raich in twelfth place.
“After a thrilling round at the Nürburgring, the Red Bull Ring also brought a few surprises,” said Philipp Mondelaers, Project Manager of the Audi Sport TT Cup. “Keagan Masters delivered two superb performances, whilst Milan Dontje also had his best race weekend so far. We have also experienced the latest shift in the title fight. We are now looking forward to an exciting season ending in Hockenheim.”
In three weeks, the grand finale of the Audi Sport TT Cup lies ahead. From October 13 to 15, the title decider will coincide with the last event of the three-year history of the one-make cup. To crown this farewell, stars from the history of Audi Sport will line up in the Audi TT cup Race of Legends. Frank Biela, Dindo Capello, Marcel Fässler, Emanuele Pirro, Tom Kristensen, Stéphane Ortelli, Hans-Joachim Stuck and other well-known drivers have clinched a total of 41 international titles and 80 endurance race wins, including 31 victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The sixth round of the Audi Sport TT Cup saw a change on the winner’s step of the podium and yet another shift in the title fight. For the first time this season it was a rookie, South African Keagan Masters, who sprayed the victor’s champagne. Briton Philip Ellis took over the table lead again from Mikel Azcona. The Spaniard retired on Saturday’s race, whilst on Sunday he could only reach seventh after a jump start.
