B-Quik Racing is pleased to announce that it will enter a third Audi R8 LMS Cup in Thailand Super Series (TSS) this season to be driven by New Zealander Shaun Varney who makes a step up with the team having run a partial debut campaign last year.
With regular drivers Henk J Kiks and Daniel Bilski both scheduled to continue with the Audi R8 LMS Cup for another year that means B-Quik Racing will be entering three of the German sportscars for the full season – the first time it has fielded a triple line-up of these machines.
Shaun impressed the team with his commitment and pace during his TSS rookie year in 2016. He also contested the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia round in Buriram last July – the first time B-Quik Racing had placed an entry in this series – while he drove our Porsche 997 GT3 Cup in TSS Super Car GTM during the September round at Bira Circuit. Prior commitments though kept him from entering the rescheduled final TSS round, the 10th Anniversary Bangsaen Grand Prix, in February.
However, despite the lack of opportunities the 23-year-old from Auckland, New Zealand, gelled very well with the team and everyone has been working hard to ensure that a programme for 2017 came together. That has now been confirmed and we’re looking forward to Shaun being able to unlock his talents during a full TSS season, which starts at Chang International Circuit, Buriram in a little over a fortnight’s time (27-30 April), behind the wheel of an Audi R8 LMS Cup.
He also has plenty of experience racing in New Zealand to call upon having competed in the New Zealand V8SuperTourers Championship, Mahindra North Island Endurance Series and the New Zealand V8 Championship, the latter in which he placed an excellent third overall.
And our plans for 2017 very likely won’t stop there, further announcements for our participation in Super Car GTM Plus are expected in due course. We’re certainly very excited by the obvious potential of the new GTM Plus category, which will require a well thought out Balance of Performance (BoP) to prosper but we’re confident that Thailand Super Series are right on top of that and we look forward to some great racing this season.
Shaun Varney: “I’m really looking forward to stepping up into the Audi R8 this season after three TSS rounds in the Porsche last year. The Audi will be a big step up and I will need to come to grips with the amount of aero these cars have. This being said I am confident we will be at the pointy end of the field and have a good chance of landing on the podium. Having previously driven a few Thai tracks and done some testing in other GT3 cars I expect to be competitive early on.”
Henk J. Kiks (Team Owner, B-Quik Racing): “We’re very pleased to have Shaun back in the team for this year and getting him into an Audi R8 LMS Cup has been the culmination of a lot of hard work by everyone to ensure that this programme was put together and put together right, in particular we have to thank Audi Hong Kong as their ongoing support made it all possible. Shaun clearly has a lot of talent and he slotted into the team straight away and got on with everyone but last year the programme didn’t give him a continuous platform to build on. Now he’s in the team for a full season in GTM Plus in our newest Audi and we expect him to unlock his skills and turn in very strong performances. We looking forward to the start of the season and to seeing exactly what Shaun can do.”
