Champion Racing was a

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing that uses sports cars with two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be either purpose-built Sports prototype, sports prototypes, which are the highest level in sports car racing; or grand to ...

team based in

Pompano Beach, Florida Pompano Beach ( ) is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is located along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, just north of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Fort Lauderdale and 36 miles north of Miami. The nearby Hillsboro Inlet forms part ...

, USA. Founded in 1994 by Dave Maraj, a former

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Political demonstration, a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a North American school or college sporting event Sport ...

driver from

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

, as the motorsport wing of the Champion Motors

car dealership A car dealership, or car dealer, is a business that sells new or used cars, at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. Car dealerships also often sell spare parts and automotive maintena ...

, the team has campaigned various

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

s and

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. A subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The origins of the compa ...

s in North American road racing series. Champion Racing's extensive record includes a win at the prestigious

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, and 5 straight

American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le M ...

LMP1 championships, 2 as a private team and 3 as a factory team under the name Audi Sport North America.

Porsche years

Champion entered their first race at the 1993

12 Hours of Sebring The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race for Sports car racing, sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in S ...

, finishing 21st overall and 7th in the Invitational GT class with a Porsche 911 Carrera 2 driven by Justin Bell, Mike Peters, and Oliver Kuttner. Mike Peters later stopped race driving and became team manager for the team. In 1994, they entered a 911 Turbo in several

IMSA The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida, under the jurisdiction of the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States, ACCUS arm of the Féd ...

GT races, including the

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Flo ...

and 12 Hours of Sebring. For the 1995 season, Champion partnered with Michael Colucci Racing (MCR), and the team moved up to a 2 car team with a pair of 911 GT2. Champion running the #72 car (964 chassis) and MCR running the #74 car (993 chassis). After an accident put them out a Daytona,

Hans-Joachim Stuck Hans-Joachim Stuck (; born 1 January 1951) is a German former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "Strietzel", Stuck won the World Sportscar Championship in 1985 and is a two-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans ...

and Bill Adam finished 2nd in the GTS-1 class at Sebring. They also collected class podiums at Watkins Glen and Sears Point in the #74 car. In 1995 the team adopted the livery of a white background with various streaks of colours that has since become indelibly associated with the team. In fact, this livery was used on all Champion Racing entered cars, except for the special Stars & Stripes variation, using the blue and read colors of the

American flag The national flag of the United States, often referred to as the American flag or the U.S. flag, consists of thirteen horizontal Bar (heraldry), stripes, Variation of the field, alternating red and white, with a blue rectangle in the Canton ( ...

only, as tribute to the victims of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. In 1996, Stuck and Adam won the GTS-1 class at Sebring with the #74, the first major win for Champion Racing. In 1997 Champion scaled back to a one car team, taking over the reins of the #74 Porsche with Stuck, Adam, and

Thierry Boutsen Thierry Marc Alain Boutsen (; born 13 July 1957) is a Belgian former racing driver, businessman and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Boutsen won three Formula One Grands Prix across 11 seasons. Boutsen competed in ...

finishing 2nd in class at the 1997 Daytona 24 Hours. For 1998, Champion Racing purchased a

Porsche 911 GT1 The Porsche 911 GT1 is a car designed and developed by German automobile manufacturer Porsche AG to compete in the GT1 class of sportscar racing, which also required a street-legal version for homologation (motorsport), homologation purposes. The ...

Evo. The team ran a full season in the USRRC GT1 class, winning the

6 Hours of Watkins Glen The Six Hours of Watkins Glen (currently sponsored as the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen) is a sports car endurance race held annually at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York. The race dates from 1948, and has been a part of the ...

and finishing on the podium in 3 other races, winning the makes (Porsche) and drivers (Boutsen) championships. The team also competed in three PSCR races; Boutsen,

Bob Wollek Robert Jean Wollek (4 November 1943 – 16 March 2001), nicknamed "Brilliant Bob", was a race car driver from Strasbourg, France. He won a total of 76 races in his career, 71 in Porsche cars, including four editions of the 24 Hours of Daytona an ...

, and

Andy Pilgrim Andrew Pilgrim (born 18 August 1956) is an American racing driver. He has competed in the SCCA World Challenge, 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Daytona, and NASCAR. Racing career Having taken a keen interest in motorcycles as a child, Pilgrim ...

finished 2nd in GT1 and 3rd overall at the

, Boutsen and Wollek won the GT1 class at

Road Atlanta Road Atlanta (known for sponsorship reasons as Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta) is a road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, United States. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur spo ...

in June (3rd overall), and Boutsen, Wollek and Ralf Kelleners won the GT1 class at the inaugural Petit Le Mans, finishing 3rd overall, earning an automatic entry to the

1999 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 67th 24 Hours of Le Mans, and took place on 12 and 13 June 1999. The race had a large number of entries in the fastest Le Mans Prototype classes, with Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Lola Cars, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Pan ...

. In 1999, Champion ran the GT1 in the new

. Due to the regulations, however, they were forced to run in the

Prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...

class against theoretically faster cars. They scored their best result in the

, finishing 4th overall and in class. The team also raced a

Porsche 911 GT3 The Porsche 911 GT3 is a high-performance homologation model of the Porsche 911 sports car. It is a range of high-performance models, which began with the 1973 911 Carrera RS. The GT3 has had a successful racing career in the one-make national ...

-R in the

, finishing 2nd in the GT class. With no place to run the GT1 in 2000, Champion changed cars to a Lola B2K/10 with a

engine. The team entered only two ALMS races (Sebring and Sears Point) and failed to finish either one. They also entered the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen, finishing 7th in class and 21st overall. The team spent most of the season developing the car, with the aim of a high finish at the 2001

br>
Daytona 2001 started well; the team qualified 6th. However, a loss of oil pressure seven and a half hours in caused the car to retire. The team came back to finish 2nd in the Daytona finale at the end of the season. The team finally found some success with the Lola at the 2002

, finishing 4th. After the race, the team would abandon the project, however Oliver Kuttner's Pegasus Racing would run the car in the latter half of the season.

World Challenge GT with Audi

In 2000, Champion partnered with

to develop and run the Audi S4 Competition in the

SCCA The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting Autocross, Rallycross, High Performance Driver Education, HPDE, Time trial, Time Trial, Road racing, Road Racing, Regularity rally, R ...

Speedvision World Challenge series' GT class. For their first season, the pair of cars would be driven by reigning Touring Car champion Michael Galati and

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

winner Derek Bell. Bell finished 9th in the opening round at Charlotte. Galati would take 2nd in the championship, winning at

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

and taking two other podiums. In 2001, Galati won the GT drivers' championship, taking 4 wins, and Audi won the manufacturers' championship by 1 point over

Acura Acura is the luxury and performance division of Japanese automaker Honda, based primarily in North America. The brand was launched on March 27, 1986, marketing luxury and performance automobiles. Acura sells cars in the United States, Canada, M ...

. In 2002, Galati would repeat as champion, with Bell 7th, and Audi 2nd in the manufacturers' standings. In 2003, Champion debuted the new Audi RS6 Competition. Randy Pobst finished on the podium at the first five races of the season, and won the last two rounds to take the Drivers' championship, and the manufacturers' championship for Audi.

American Le Mans Series

2001–05 (Audi R8)

In 2001, Champion Racing bought an

Audi R8 The Audi R8 is a mid-engine, 2-seater sports car, which uses Audi's trademark quattro permanent all-wheel drive system. It was introduced by the German car manufacturer Audi AG in 2006. Production ended in the first quarter of 2024. The car is ...

for competition in the

. The team finished 8 races of the 10 round season. The team claimed a third-place finish at both the

and

Petit Le Mans Petit Le Mans (French language, French for ''Little Le Mans'') is a sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, United States. The race has been held for a durat ...

as well as a second-place finish at the

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for sponsorship reasons) is a paved Racing track#Motorsport, road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and Motorcyc ...

round. The team finished 3rd in the LMP900 class championship. For 2002, the team continued to compete with their Audi R8 in the full American Le Mans Series season. Having claimed a second-place finish at both the

and

the team finished the season 2nd in the LMP900 class championship, behind the factory Joest Audi team. 2003 saw even more success for Champion Racing. After a second-place finish at the season opening

, the team went on to claim 4 overall victories including a win at

. Champion Racing finished the season 2nd in the championship, only 7 points behind the factory Audi team. In 2004, all the teams hard work paid off. With the absence of the factory Audi and Panoz teams,

Dyson Racing Dyson Racing is a professional sports car racing team based in Poughkeepsie, New York in the United States. Founded by Rob Dyson in 1974, the team competed successfully in North American sports car racing series, including the IMSA GT Championsh ...

became the team's main rival. After a second-place finish at the season opening

, the team claimed 7 overall victories and claimed the LMP1 team and drivers championship. For 2005, the team campaigned the American Le Mans Series with its Audi R8 for the 5th straight year. Despite fierce competition from the Dyson Racing team, an overall victory at the

led to another 6 victories for the Champion Racing team. At the end of the season, the team claimed its second LMP1 team and drivers title.

2006–08 (Audi R10)

In 2006, Champion Racing earned full-factory support from Audi and took over the Audi Sport North America title from

Joest Racing Joest Racing is a German sports car racing team that was established in 1978 by former Porsche works racer Reinhold Joest. Their headquarters are in Wald-Michelbach, Germany. Between 1998 and 2016, Joest Racing were strongly linked with ...

. The team started the season with an overall victory at the

with the brand new

Audi R10 TDI The Audi R10 TDI (Turbo Direct Injection) is a sports prototype designed and built by Audi in partnership with Dallara. Built to the Le Mans Prototype 1 (LMP1) regulations, the R10 was highly successful throughout its career; the R10 became th ...

. With the new car needing more testing and development, the team returned to the Audi R8 for 3 races. The R10 returned to competition at

Lime Rock Park Lime Rock Park is a natural-terrain motorsport road racing venue located in Lakeville, Connecticut, United States, a hamlet in the town of Salisbury, Connecticut, Salisbury, in the state's northwest corner. Built in 1956, it is the nation's thi ...

. The team claim overall victories at 9 of the 10 races comfortably giving the team the LMP1 team and drivers championship titles. 2007 saw the Porsche and Acura LMP2 cars become the team's biggest challenge. Rule changes by the ACO made LMP2 cars the ability to compete for overall victories, particularly at the smaller, tighter tracks on the ALMS schedule. Despite claiming 12 straight class victories, the

Penske Racing Team Penske (formerly Penske Racing) is an American professional auto racing organization, competing in the IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship. Debuting at the 1966 24 Hours of Da ...

Porsche RS Spyder The RS Spyder (Type 9R6) is a racing car designed by Porsche in conjunction with Penske to compete in Le Mans Prototype Class 2 (LMP2) racing. The car takes its name from the legendary Porsche 550 Spyder of the 1950s (combined with Porsche's ...

s were able to beat the Audi R10s 8 times for overall victory. By the end of the season, the team claimed the LMP1 team and drivers championship titles. In 2008, Champion Racing fought back against the competition of the LMP2 cars. Despite losing out on a victory at the

, the team claimed 10 class victories as well as 7 overall victories in the 11 race season. At the end of the season, Champion Racing claimed their 5th straight LMP1 team and drivers championship title. At the end of the 2008 season, Audi announced its withdrawal from the American Le Mans Series, citing economic pressures. While Audi would continue to compete in select ALMS events, it would contest them with Joest Racing, bringing to an end Champion Racing's motorsport activities.

24 Hours of Le Mans

External links

Official site

References

{{Reflist American Le Mans Series teams 24 Hours of Le Mans teams American auto racing teams Pompano Beach, Florida Intercontinental Rally Challenge teams Audi in motorsport Auto racing teams established in 1994 Auto racing teams disestablished in 2008