Unable to remove trace from sys.traces
I found the following information at this link which might be of some help:

SELECT * FROM sys.traces
WHERE path LIKE N'%audittrace_%'

Find the trace that is called audittrace.trc:
--Stop the trace
EXEC sp_trace_setstatus @traceid = &lt;traceid&gt;, @status = 0

--Delete the trace definition from the server
EXEC sp_trace_setstatus @traceid = &lt;traceid&gt;, @status = 2