At the 24 Hours of Nürburgring (19th-20th May), five teams will enter the Audi R8 LMS Ultra GT3 on the legendary Nurburgring circuit with its 170 corners. Four teams (Speedhunters Team WRT, Raeder Motorsport Audi Race Experience and Mamerow Racing) will receive technical support from Audi's racing departments, and Audi Sport Team Phoenix will have the status of factory team. Three of the seven R8 LMS will be driven by former winners of the Le Mans 24 Hours: Marcel Fässler (Audi Sport Team Phoenix), Frank Biela (Raeder Motorsport) and Marco Werner (Audi Race Experience).

At the 24 Hours of Le Mans (16-17 June), Audi aims for an eleventh victory in La Sarthe, and could make history if  that is done with one of its two new hybrid diesel prototype, the R18 e-tron quattro. Two (non-hybrid) R18 ultra, winner of the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps WEC, are also entered for Le Mans. Each of these two cars has proven its competitiveness in the Belgian Ardennes: the first took pole position, and the second won the race. We could not have asked for a better rehearsal for the twice around the clock race at Le Mans ...

24 Hours of Spa (July 28-29). In 2011, Mattias Ekström, Timo Scheider and Greg Franchi gave Audi its first victory in the big summer event of GT racing. The 2012 target is of course to confirm this success. Here, the Ingolstadt manufacturer is facing a challenge: three wins in three major European 24 hours races in one year. If they succeed, it would be a spectacular achievement.

Also note that the 24 Hours of Nürburgring celebrates its fortieth edition, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans the eightieth. The 24 Hours of Spa in 2012 will contested for the 64th time.