Zakspeed () is a

motor racing Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

team from Germany, founded in 1968 by Erich Zakowski and after that run by his son Peter Zakowski. It is based in

Niederzissen Niederzissen is a municipality in the district of Ahrweiler, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe af ...

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

, around from the

Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...

circuit.

1973 to 1981: Saloon and sports car racing

In the late 1970s, Zakspeed was the official Ford team in the German Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft (DRM) series, a predecessor of the current

DTM DTM may refer to: Sport * Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, a motor-racing series staged annually in Germany since 2000 * Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, a motor-racing championship staged in Germany from 1984 to 1995 Computing * Deterministic T ...

. The company constructed and entered an FIA

Group 2 The term Group 2 may refer to: * Alkaline earth metal, a chemical element classification * Astronaut Group 2, also known as The New Nine, the second group of astronauts selected by NASA in 1962 * Group 2 (racing), an FIA classification for cars in a ...

Escort and the Group 5

Capri Capri ( , ; ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town of Capri that is located on the island shares the name. It has been ...

, based on the MKIII production model. During this period, the Zakspeed team achieved a number of victories including the overall championship in 1981 with driver Klaus Ludwig. In the early 1980s, Zakspeed also prepared a

Mustang The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the Western United States, descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once-domesticated animals, they ...

for Ford USA's Special Vehicle Operations to race in the domestic IMSA

Camel GT IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States, and occasionally in Canada. History The series was founded in 1969 by John and Peggy Bishop, and Bill F ...

series. The Mustang chassis was based on the Group 5 Capri.

1982 to 1989: Endurance cars and F1

In 1982, Zakspeed ran the works

Ford C100 The Ford C100 is a sports racing car, initially built and run as a Group 6 car, but later as a Group C car. The C100 was built by Ford in 1981, and initially featured a 4-litre Cosworth DFL V8 engine, which was replaced by a 3.3-litre version of t ...

Group C Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for touring cars and ''Group B'' for GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 special production cars (closed top touri ...

effort in conjunction with the factory. The Zakspeed-prepared machine was run by the works Ford Germany team with Klaus Ludwig,

Manfred Winkelhock Manfred Winkelhock (6 October 1951 – 12 August 1985) was a German racing driver. He participated in 56 Formula One Grands Prix (with 47 starts) between 1980 and 1985, driving for Arrows, ATS, Brabham and RAM Racing, with a best finish of fi ...

and

Marc Surer Marc Surer (born 18 September 1951 in Arisdorf) is a former racing driver from Switzerland currently working as TV commentator and racing school instructor. He participated in 88 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 9 September ...

at the wheel, but the car was a midfielder at best, although Jonathan Palmer and

Desiré Wilson Desiré Randall Wilson (born 26 November 1953) is a former racing driver from South Africa and one of only five women to have competed in Formula One. Born in Brakpan, she entered one Formula One World Championship Grand Prix in 1980 with a non ...

scored a 4th place overall the 1000 km of

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

in 1982. Ford Germany retracted their support and one car was sold to privateers, while the other chassis was evolved by Zakspeed into the C1/4 and the C1/8, making few appearances in international racing, but becoming a front-runner in the German Interserie, where it won the championship in 1984 with Klaus Niedzwiedz. The engine was the basis for their

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

entry from

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

. In spite of the team's engineering expertise, Zakspeed never managed to create a competitive chassis/engine package. Their first car, the 184, debuted in 1985, one year after the original plan, and was already outdated. Even with drivers such as the first Formula 3000 champion

Christian Danner Christian Josef Danner (born 4 April 1958) is a former racing driver from Germany. Career Formula Two and Formula 3000 The son of car safety expert Max Danner, Danner started his motor racing career immediately after leaving school in 1977. Aft ...

and ex- Tyrrell driver

Martin Brundle Martin John Brundle (born 1 June 1959) is a British former racing driver, best known as a Formula One driver and as a commentator for ITV Sport from 1997 to 2008, the BBC from 2009 to 2011, and Sky Sports since 2012. Brundle contested the 19 ...

, their best result (and only points finish) was a 5th place in the

1987 San Marino Grand Prix The 1987 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 3 May 1987 at the Autodromo Dino Ferrari, Imola. It was the second race of the 1987 Formula One season. It was the seventh San Marino Grand Prix and it was held over 59 laps of t ...

, thanks to Brundle. For their final season, in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

, they had to use

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

engines as turbos were banned. The Japanese engine was unreliable and drivers Bernd Schneider (former German

Formula 3 Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...

champion) and the rookie

Aguri Suzuki Aguri may refer to: *Aguri (caste), Bengali Hindu agricultural caste in India *Aguri Igarashi (born 1975), female manga artist from Japan * Aguri Suzuki (born 1960), former racing driver from Japan **Aguri Suzuki F-1 Super Driving, Formula One si ...

struggled to pre-qualify the car. Schneider only qualified the car twice and retired both times, while Suzuki never got past pre-qualifying. In the end, Zakspeed were notable for building their own chassis and engine, something only

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

did at that time, but with no competitive showings in five years, the team left Formula One and returned to touring cars, where they had once been at the top of the game.

1990s and beyond: Return to sports and touring cars

After withdrawing from F1, they ran Mercedes 190E and Opel Calibra cars in the 1990s Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft and the short-lived ITC series, now managed by Peter Zakowski who had taken over from his father after his

career. His career as a driver did not lead him into F1, but he was quick around the old

Nordschleife circuit in endurance races, winning the

24 Hours Nürburgring 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

several times. In 1998, Zakspeed entered two Porsche 911 GT1 in the FIA GT Championship, where French Team Oreca dominated the GT2-class with their heavily modified

Chrysler Viper GTS-R The Chrysler Viper GTS-R (also known as the Dodge Viper GTS-R when raced in North America) was a successful racing variant of the Dodge Viper developed in conjunction with Chrysler of North America, Oreca of France, and Reynard Motorsport of the ...

s. One of these Vipers was purchased by Zakspeed to be entered on the Nürburgring VLN series to take advantage of the new, less restrictive rules for the 1999 season. Zakowski and his teammate dominated the 1999 season, winning every race, before the rules were altered for 2000 and the Porsche 996 GT3 showed up. The team won the 24 Hours Nürburgring again in 2001 and 2002. In 2003, against factory competition, they were disqualified due to a dispute over fuel tank size. A company related to Zakspeed, Nitec, built the

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

-like V8-powered tube frame prototype cars of the

V8Star Series The V8Star Series was a touring car racing series based in Germany that ran for three seasons between 2001 and 2003. The series featured privateers racing identical cars that were covered in different silhouette designs to create visual diversit ...

Championship series which ran from 2001 to 2003. These identical cars used bodies modelled after road cars from

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

, BMW,

Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Grou ...

, Lexus and others. Zakspeed itself won in 2003 with

Pedro Lamy José Pedro Mourão Lamy Viçoso, OIH, known as Pedro Lamy (; born 20 March 1972) is a Portuguese professional racing driver currently racing in endurance races teaming up with Mathias Lauda and gentleman driver Paul Dalla Lana. He was the fir ...

in a Jaguar-bodied car. In 2001, the Zakspeed team also made a brief return to single-seaters with a foray into

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people. It is different from the flatbed tr ...

racing in the US in partnership with the long-established Forsythe Championship Racing. Nobody from Zakspeed came over to the U.S. and Forsythe ended the partnership. In 2006, the Zakspeed team returned to the FIA GT Championship with the Saleen S7-R. Currently, the company also runs a racing school operating at the Nürburgring circuit.

Superleague Formula

In 2008, Zakspeed managed the

Superleague Formula Superleague Formula was an open wheel single seater motor racing formula, which started in 2008, at Donington Park in the United Kingdom. The league introduced team sponsorship by association football clubs. It used the slogan 'The Beautiful ...

cars of

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional footb ...

and Beijing Guoan, with the latter taking the overall title from such clubs as

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, whi ...

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...

and A.C. Milan. Dortmund took one win in the season and Beijing took three on the way to the title with driver Davide Rigon. In 2009, Zakspeed managed Sporting CP (who won a race with

Pedro Petiz Pedro Petiz (born 29 October 1986 in Porto, Portugal) is a Portuguese racing driver. He was the 2007 champion of the Renault Eurocup. Since 2009 he has raced in the Superleague Formula and has raced for Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portug ...

) and

R.S.C. Anderlecht ; french: Les Mauves et Blancs) , short name = R.S.C.A. , founded = , ground = Constant Vanden Stock Stadium , capacity = 22,500 , owntitle = Chairman , owner = Wouter Vandenhaute , manager = Brian Riemer , ...

Gallery

File:Kl81-01.jpg, 1981 Group 5 Zakspeed Ford Capri at the Auto & Technik Museum in Sinsheim, Germany File:SchancheZakowskiXtrac-GBRXGP1983.jpg, Company founder Erich Zakowski (right) and

Martin Schanche Martin Schanche (born 1 January 1945), nicknamed ''"Mister Rallycross"'', is a Norwegian former racing driver and politician. Biography Schanche was born in Trondheim, as the son of a German WW2 airplane pilot, who lost his life in a plane cra ...

pictured at the British Rallycross GP 1983 at

File:Zakspeed 841 Dr. Jonathan Palmer.jpg, The Zakspeed 841 being driven by Jonathan Palmer at the

1985 German Grand Prix The 1985 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Nürburgring on 4 August 1985. It was the ninth race of the 1985 Formula One season. This was the first German Grand Prix that was held on the new GP-Strecke section of the tra ...

. File:Dodge Viper Team Zakspeed.jpg, Zakspeed

Dodge Viper GTS-R The Dodge Viper is a sports car that was manufactured by Dodge (by SRT for 2013 and 2014), a division of American car manufacturer FCA US LLC from 1992 until 2017, having taken a brief hiatus in 2007 and from 2010 to 2012. Production of the two- ...

in the 24h, 2007

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (results in bold indicate pole position)

References

External links

*
Zakspeed Formula One History and Team Record
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20140502220656/http://f1rejects.com/centrale/submitted/zakspeedyamaha/index.html Article on Zakspeed's partnership with Yamaha(archived fro
the original
{{Navboxes , title =

of Zakspeed , list1 = {{Superleague Formula Beijing Guoan {{Superleague Formula Borussia Dortmund {{Superleague Formula R.S.C. Anderlecht {{Superleague Formula Sporting Clube de Portugal {{Superleague Formula operating teams {{Superleague Formula champions German auto racing teams German racecar constructors 1968 establishments in Germany Formula One entrants Formula One engine manufacturers 24 Hours of Le Mans teams FIA GT Championship teams Superleague Formula teams Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters teams ADAC GT Masters teams Engine manufacturers of Germany German Formula 3 teams Blancpain Endurance Series teams World Sportscar Championship teams Auto racing teams established in 1968