VSCRC: Overall victory for MPC Audi R8 LMS at the Phillip Island finale

By Johan Laubscher

Round four of the Victorian State Circuit Racing Championships (VSCRC) took place at Phillip Island this weekend, it was the finale of this Australian series. Melbourne Performance Centre took part with customer Audi R8 LMS cars.

Melbourne Performance Centre had been seen testing Audi R8 LMS cars for two new customers in recent weeks. The two cars are for two new customers, Robert Marshall and Steven McLaughlan. They took part in various test sessions at Phillip Island, where Robert Marshall unfortunately rolled his #22 MPC Audi R8 LMS a few weeks ago, but it has been repaired.

Three cars were entered for the fourth VSCRC round: the #75 R8 LMS of McLaughlan (JAMEC PEM Racing), the #22 of Marshall (PIARC), and the #79 R8 LMS of Ockert Fourie (Ockert Fourie Dental), who had debuted his green R8 LMS in the VSCRC earlier in the year. Robert Marshall was on the entry list and overall results, but he did not take part in the races this weekend. 

The Audi R8 LMS cars were entered in the VSCRC Sports Cars class. Steven McLaughlan arrived at Phillip Island in the thick of the fight for the Sports Cars championship title. During qualifying McLaughlan achieved a front row starting position, by qualifying in second place, followed by Fourie in twenty-second.

The first race concluded with Steven McLaughlan finishing third, taking a podium on his debut with his Audi. Ockert Fourie recovered up to seventeenth position.

The second and final race saw victory going to Steven McLaughlan in his #75 Audi R8 LMS. He won the race convincingly and also took the overall win for the weekend. Ockert Fourie finished eleventh and placed fourteenth overall for the weekend.

These results were enough to crown Steven McLaughlan as the 2013 VSCRC Sports Cars champion, after having campaigned in his older Viper and now in his Audi R8 LMS at the final round. 

Photo credit: Melbourne Performance Centre