California 8 Hours: Race victory and IGTC Manufacturers' trophy for Audi

Audi repeated the 1-2 victory in the second edition of the California 8 Hours at Laguna Seca Raceway, what was the fourth and the last round of the 2018 Intercontinental GT Challenge. That result secured the Manufacturers’ title for Audi while the Drivers’ champion is Tristan Vautier, who finished third in the #175 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of SunEnergy1 Racing. Vautier’s teammate Kenny Habul is the first IGTC Bronze Drivers’ champion.

The race winners in the #29 Audi R8 LMS of Land Motorsport are Kelvin van der Linde, Christopher Haase and Christopher Mies, who started the race from pole. The #29 Audi was in the lead during the first hour of the race, then the #43 Strakka Racing’s Mercedes took over and Audi’s crew returned in front in the last two hours, recovering from two drive-through penalties.

The second place was taken by the #19 Audi of Team WRT, driven by Robin Frijns, Dries Vanthoor and Markus Winkelhock. Tristan Vautier finished third in the #175 Mercedes-AMG GT3 which he was sharing with Maxi Buhk and Maro Engel, taking the Drivers’ title after four races.