Audi will increase its presence at the Spa 24 Hours having confirmed a quartet of factory-backed cars for this year's race on July 29th-30th.
Belgian outfit Team WRT, French squad Sainteloc Racing, and Czech customer ISR Racing will all receive manufacturer support during the blue riband event of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup.
Last year, Audi ran two cars under the WRT and Phoenix Racing banners, having reduced its works involvement from four the previous year.
Sainteloc and ISR will run a single Audi R8 LMS each, with WRT fielding two examples of the chassis.
All four drivers from Audi Sport's Nurburgring 24 Hours triumph in May – Connor de Phillippi, Kelvin van der Linde, Christopher Mies and Markus Winkelhock – are part of the manufacturer's Spa plans, although they are split between three of the four lineups.
De Phillippi and Mies will share duties in one WRT machine alongside Frederic Vervisch, with Nico Muller, Rene Rast and Antonio Garcia (who is on Le Mans duty with Corvette this weekend) in the other car.
Van der Linde will drive one of the ISR cars alongside Pierre Kaffer and Frank Stippler, whilst Winkelhock joins Christopher Hase and Jules Gounon.
Additionally, this year's Spa 24 Hours marks the first time ISR Racing has been partnered with the factory Audi programme, having been a stalwart privateer entry in recent years.
“We are sending our four factory-supported race cars to compete under the supervision of experienced teams who regularly contest the Blancpain GT Series,” said Chris Reinke, Head of Audi Sport customer racing.
“Together we have drawn up promising combinations of drivers that should enable us to fight for victory in the Ardennes.”
Audi last won the Spa 24 Hours in 2014 when Rast, Winkelhock and Laurens Vanthoor pipped the Marc VDS BMW squad.
The four rings logo is usually one of the best-represented badges at the GT3-only event, with eight factory and customer cars in the Pro class alone last year.
