Penz13 is a German racing team established in 2009 that competes in international road racing on courses such as the

Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May and June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907 Isle of Man TT, 1907. The event begins on the UK Spring Bank Holiday at the e ...

Macau Grand Prix The Macau Grand Prix (; ) is an annual motorsport road racing event for automobiles and motorcycles held on the Guia Circuit in Macau. The event includes the Formula Regional and Motorcycle Grand Prix title races, with other races for Touri ...

, and the

FIM Endurance World Championship The Endurance World Championship ( FIM EWC) is the premier worldwide endurance championship in motorcycle road racing. The championship season consists of a series of endurance races (with a duration of six, eight, twelve or twenty-four hours) ...

. Its teams include the Penz13 Franks Autowelt and Penz13 BMW Motorrad.

History

The team was formed in 2009 with rider Rico Penzkofer, aiming to introduce a BMW model to the competitive racing scene. They participated in the Macau Grand Prix in 2009, where Penzkofer achieved a fifth place finish on the

Guia Circuit The Guia Circuit, or Circuito da Guia, is a street circuit located at the southeast region of the Macau Peninsula in Macau. It is the venue of the Macau Grand Prix, Macau Grand Prix #Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix (1967–), Macau Motorcycle Gran ...

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

. In the FIM Endurance World Championship, they competed professionally with additional starts at the Tourist Trophy at the Isle of Man, the International

North West 200 The International North West 200 is a motorcycle racing, motorcycle road racing, road race first held in 1929 on a street circuit known as "the Triangle" between the towns of Portstewart, Coleraine and Portrush in Causeway Coast and Glens. It ...

and the Macau Grand Prix. In 2012, they secured the Endurance World Championship title in Stocksport class and fourth overall in the

Superbike A sports motorcycle, sports bike, or sport bike is a motorcycle designed and optimized for speed, acceleration, braking, and cornering on asphalt concrete race tracks and roads. They are mainly designed for performance at the expense of comfor ...

class in 2015 and 2017.

International Road Racing

In 2015, Penz13 member

Michael Rutter Sir Michael Llewellyn Rutter (15 August 1933 – 23 October 2021) was the first person to be appointed professor of child psychiatry in the United Kingdom. He has been described as the "father of child psychiatry". Rutter was professor of de ...

won a podium finish in the Macau Grand Prix,. In 2016, Penz13 achieved a top five finish at the Isle of Man with

Gary Johnson Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 29th List of governors of New Mexico, governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republica ...

, and another win by Michael Rutter in

Frohburg Frohburg () is a town in the Leipzig (district), Leipzig district, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated 11 km northeast of Altenburg, and 34 km southeast of Leipzig. It includes the village of Flößberg and the town Kohren-Sahlis. Hist ...

, Germay. The 2017 season's lineup of riders of Penz13 included Rutter,

Dan Kneen Daniel Richard Kneen (26 June 1987 – 30 May 2018) was a professional motorcycle racer from Douglas, Isle of Man. Kneen was a race winner at the Manx Grand Prix (three times) and the Ulster Grand Prix, and finished on the podium at the 2017 I ...

, former

Moto3 Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...

championship rider Danny Webb, and

World Superbike Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a Silhouette racing car, silhouette road racing series based on heavily modified production sports motorcycles. The championship was founded in . The Su ...

rider

Alessandro Polita Alessandro Polita (born 3 June 1984) is an Italian motorcycle racer, winner of the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup in 2006. His sister, Alessia Polita, also ran as a professional rider, until an accident caused paralysis of the lower limbs. Career ...

. The 2017 Superstock TT race saw the team’s first step onto the podium with Manxman Kneen's Top 5 finish in the SBK race. In 2018, the team partnered with the Czech Corporation WEPOL and continued in the international road racing scene. Besides appearing in the International events such as the Isle of Man TT and Macau, the team competed in the

International Road Racing Championship International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

(IRRC) with a four-rider line up while contracting various wild card riders. The Penz13 squad won multiple awards during this event, with Danny Webb taking the championship crown in the IRRC Superbike Class and French rider Matthieu Lagrive winning multiple awards in the IRRC Sport Class. In addition to this, Czech rider Marek Cerveny placed fourth and British rider

Jamie Coward Jamie is a unisex name. Traditionally a masculine name, it can be diminutive form of James or, more rarely, other names and is of Scottish English origin. It is also given as a name in its own right. Since the mid-20th century it has been used as ...

placed sixth. Additionally,

Davey Todd Davey Todd (born 14 September 1995) is an English professional motorcycle racer. For 2024, he is competing in the Superstock 1000 class of the British Superbike Championship on short circuits using a BMW M1000 RR and in on-road racing, also i ...

Daley Mathison Daley, originally an Irish family name derived from the Gaelic Ó Dálaigh, as a surname, may refer to: People Given name * Daley Blind (born 1990), Dutch footballer * Daley Mena (born 1985), Colombian footballer * Daley Ojuederie (born 1985), ...

, Dan Kruger, Derek Sheils and

Martin Jessopp Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * Martí ...

took various wildcards in

Imatra Imatra is a city in Finland, located in the southeastern interior of the country. Imatra is located in the region of South Karelia, on Saima, Lake Saimaa and the River Vuoksi. The population of Imatra is approximately , while the Imatra sub-regi ...

, Finland, Frohburg, and

. Later that year, Davey Todd won the IRRC Superbike championship with two races left in the calendar.

FIM Endurance World Championship

The team debuted in the FIM Endurance World Championship in the FIM World Cup in 2010, received the runner-up position in 2011, and won in 2012. The Penz13 squad entered the

Class in 2015 and compared in the following year including pole position at the 24 Heures Motos in

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 ...

in 2016. In 2018, after ten years of working with

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

, the team partnered with

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: People * Torakusu Yamaha, a Japanese businessman and founder of the Yamaha Corporation Companies * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese musical instrument and audio equipment manufacturer ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organi ...

to receive the R1 as their bike for the following season. However, switching manufacturers caused the team lineup to change. Danny Webb remained with the team, while South African

Sheridan Morais Sheridan Morais (born 11 March 1985) is a motorcycle racer from South Africa. He has competed in the Superbike World Championship, the Supersport World Championship, the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup and the Endurance FIM World Championship. He compe ...

, French EWC champion Matthieu Lagrive, and lastly Ex-Moto GP rider

Michael Laverty Michael Laverty (born 7 June 1981) is an occasional motorcycle racer from Toomebridge, Northern Ireland. After participating in the 2017 season in the British Superbike Championship aboard a Yamaha YZF-R1, and the 2018 season on a Tyco BMW ...

were brought in for the new lineup. The 2018 season started with another podium finish in 3rd position finish as well as two 4th place awards. As of 2018, the team took 3rd in the overall FIM EWC championship after three out of five rounds.

References

{{reflist Motorcycle racing teams