Team Hardpoint adds Audi GTD program

The Team Hardpoint racing outfit will expand its efforts beyond IMSA’s Michelin Pilot Challenge training series with the addition of a new Audi R8 LMS GT3 set to debut on July 4 at Daytona International Speedway in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GT Daytona class.

Team owner/driver Rob Ferriol and his pro teammate Spencer Pumpelly will drive the No. 30 Audi as they switch between Hardpoint’s Audi R8 LMS GT4 the duo race in the Michelin series.

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“The WeatherTech Championship has been a stretch goal of ours since we started Team Hardpoint late last year,”Ferriol said. “We initially eyed 2021 to make the jump into GTD, but as with most things in racing, timing is everything.

“The temporary pause in the 2020 season, while difficult, has allowed us to continue refining our team, but also put us in a position to react when the door opened to expanding our partnership with Audi. We have a lot to learn, but I’m excited to be able to move into yet another car with Spencer as co-driver, continue growing our relationship with Audi, and see our team rise to the challenge.”

Creating a new GTD program to contest IMSA’s Sprint Cup championship for part-time entrants fits with Ferriol’s ambitious plans for the year.

“We couldn’t be happier to support Team Hardpoint as they extend their Audi Sport customer racing portfolio from GT4 to the GTD category,” said Audi Sport customer racing manager Tristan Herbert. “This is exactly the kind of multi-platform partnership we strive to obtain in motorsports.”

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the income losses felt throughout the paddock by race car mechanics, Ferriol also created a charity campaign to raise funds and deliver grants to those in the sport who felt the sting of unemployment.