Seeing his name still on the #1 WRT Audi brought back plenty of memories for Christopher Haase. The car is a vital part of the GT3 Revival Series, which makes the German driver proud. From title celebrations to watching a new generation enjoy the cars he helped develop, Haase looks back on a chapter of his career that still feels like yesterday.
Haase shared the #1 Audi R8 LMS Ultra GT3 with Christopher Mies and Stéphane Ortelli in 2012. The trio secured the Blancpain Endurance series drivers’ championship at Navarra, while WRT also took the teams’ title. For Haase, the car recalls a period when both the Belgian team and Audi’s GT3 programme were still growing.
“This chapter was the beginning of the Audi Sport system. They introduced it in 2009, of course, but projects like these grow slowly,” he tells GT REPORT in an interview. “I know all the weaknesses of the cars, but I also know all the strengths and remember all the testing we did with these cars.”
A reunion with the #WRT Audi
Although he doesn’t race it anymore, the car holds a special place in his heart. It has been given a second racing life in the GT3 Revival Series, where it continues to be successful. It’s a part of the story of Audi Sport in GT3 racing, which flourished significantly before the manufacturer from Ingolstadt redirected its focus to the Formula 1 project in 2023.
Recently, Haase and the #1 WRT Audi met again. “I saw it at the Nürburgring [during the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance round]. I actually joined them on the grid for their race, because I wanted to see who was driving it, who owned it, and so on,” Haase says. “Now I’m actually like: why don’t I have this car?” Asked whether he would like to buy it, his answer is clear: “Yes, I would like to have it!” he laughs.
That familiarity makes watching ‘his’ Audi race again particularly enjoyable. With his name still on it, there is also a personal connection to a special season of his career.
The title celebrations Haase still remembers
“When we finished [the 2012 season], we were champions, and we had incredible parties,” Haase laughs. “With WRT, Vincent Vosse – we had a really good time.” WRT was a smaller operation then, with an atmosphere Haase still values. Looking at the team’s subsequent growth, he’s happy to have experienced those earlier years alongside the people who helped build it.
“It was kind of a family team. I had the chance to see a team like WRT growing from the basics to probably one of the most professional teams in the paddock,” he says. “I can proudly say I was part of it, and I still remember the parties. It was my first factory contract. Then, you think: I shouldn’t do this, I shouldn’t do that… And then you end up with a broken shirt!”
Seeing the #1 WRT Audi now also gives the German driver a chance to appreciate that period without the demands that came with racing it. He’s come to understand why people become attached to older cars and want to see them back on track. “Now I understand why people like old cars, why people enjoy the Revival Series,” he explains. “These historic moments, the chapter you actually lived through, and you can see it race without any pressure.”
Same lap times, different cars
Haase remarks that the driving experience has changed considerably since then. He had another reminder when he completed demonstration laps in a similar Audi from 2014. “It’s like going back to the roots. It was a different kind of philosophy,” he says. You had less downforce, but more engine power. You had fewer systems working perfectly. Now everything is more maxed out.”
He also remembers comparing notes with Peter Kox, with whom he did a lot of driving in the earlier years of his career. The pair won the Sepang 12 Hours with the Lamborghini R-EX in 2010. When they returned to Malaysian track in 2023 with the Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, they found themselves looking at the same laptimes despite how much the cars had changed.
“With Peter Kox it’s always nice, because I did a lot with him in the past,” Haase smiles. “We drove two-minute-six laptimes, and we were like: years ago, we did the same lap times, but in a different way. We were so much faster on the straights, but much slower in the corners!”
At some tracks, lap times had barely changed over the years, while at others, the newer cars were clearly faster. “When you look back at it, it’s funny. Sometimes you’re at the same speed [at all parts of the track], then you go to, for example, the Nürburgring, and you are so much faster everywhere. It’s just different.”
From his point of view, the improvements of the car have also made it easier for a wider range of drivers to get close to the car’s potential. The older machinery demanded more from the driver, especially when comparing professionals with amateur and semi-professional drivers.
“The difference between the pro-driver and the amateur or semi-pro is now quite a bit smaller, because the car allows it. In the past, the cars were a bit more difficult to drive, so the gap was bigger,” Haase explains. “But still, in the end, when you need every tenth, it doesn’t change how you have to perform.”
‘For me, it feels like yesterday’
With older GT3 cars finding opportunities to race again through GT3 Legends and GT3 Revival Series, Haase welcomes the interest in the cars he knows so well. What surprises him is that they are already old enough to be considered ‘revival cars’. “These cars are already, ten, twelve, fifteen years old. I find it crazy that it’s already a revival car, because for me it feels like yesterday!”
He follows the races, with particular attention to the cars he competed in himself. However, there is another model on the grid that still makes him curious: “I watch the races, especially the cars I drove. But I always wanted to drive the BMW Z4. When I see the car, I still think: I would like to drive it, just because at that time, that was the car that impressed me.
“I hope the Revival Series will grow, and I think they will. There are a lot of people in the paddock who enjoy this.”
Photos of the #1 Audi R8 LMS ultra GT3 in the 2026 GT3 Revival Series
