Strakka Racing was a British

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

team founded by

Nick Leventis Nick Leventis (born 31 January 1980) is a retired British racing driver and founder of Strakka Racing. One of his most memorable successes was winning the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMP2 category with Danny Watts and Jonny Kane, breaking ...

. The team was based at the

Silverstone Circuit Silverstone Circuit is a motor racing circuit in England, near the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. It is the home of the British Grand Prix, which it first hosted as the 1948 British Grand Prix. The 1950 British Grand ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

. The team made history at the

2010 1000 km of Hungaroring The 2010 1000 km of Hungaroring was the fourth round of the 2010 Le Mans Series season. It took place at the Hungaroring, Hungary on 22 August 2010. It was the first time a Le Mans Series event took place at the Hungarian track. The race was ...

when they became the first team in

Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the ...

history to win overall in an LMP2 class car. They also became the first team in LMS history to take overall pole position in an LMP2 class car.

History

2007 – Beginnings

The team was founded by Peter Hardman in 2007 to provide a platform for Nick Leventis to compete in contemporary

GT 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 prototypes, which are the highest level in sports car racing; or grand tourers (GT cars) ba ...

. They entered an ex-works

BMW M3 GTR The BMW M3 is a high-performance version of the BMW 3 Series, developed by BMW's in-house motorsport division, BMW M GmbH. M3 models have been produced for every generation of 3 Series since the E30 M3 was introduced in 1986. The initial mode ...

in the

Britcar Britcar is an endurance sports car racing and touring car racing series in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1997, as a result of a discussion in a Nürburgring bar between Willie Moore and James Tucker. Folklore has it that James Tucker and J ...

series. Leventis was accompanied by

Peter Hardman Peter Hardman (born 7 September 1964 in Redditch, Worcestershire) is an English racing driver. Though a keen spectator of rallycross in his school days, Hardman did not look set to embark on a racing career until a visit to a Jim Russell driv ...

during the season. Leventis also competed in classic sports car races in a

Ferrari 330 P3 The Ferrari P was a series of Italian sports prototype racing cars produced by Ferrari during the 1960s and early 1970s. Although Enzo Ferrari resisted the move even with Cooper dominating F1, Ferrari began producing mid-engined racing cars in th ...

2008

In 2008, the team entered the

with an

Aston Martin DBR9 The Aston Martin DBR9 is a racing car built by Aston Martin Racing, debuting in 2005 and racing actively in international sportscar racing until the end of GT1 category in 2011. The name DBR9 is derived from the original 24 Hours of Le Mans-winn ...

in the GT1 class. The team made its début at the 1000 km of Spa with Nick Leventis and Peter Hardman partnering up. They finished 24th overall and fourth in class. They also entered the

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 ...

with the help of

Vitaphone Racing Team Vitaphone Racing, or Vita4One, was a German racing team who participated in the FIA GT Championship. The team was actually Bartels Motor & Sport GmbH, but operated under the title of its main sponsor, Vitaphone GmbH. They have successfully raced t ...

. The Vitaphone team was not allowed to race their

Maserati MC12 The Maserati MC12 (''Tipo M144S'') is a limited production two-seater sports car produced by Italian car maker Maserati from 2004 to 2005, to allow a racing variant to compete in the FIA GT Championship. The car entered production in 2004, with ...

as it did not pass the ACO's technical regulations so they raced the DBR9 along with Strakka during Le Mans. Leventis and Hardman shared the car with

Alexandre Negrão Alexandre may refer to: * Alexandre (given name) * Alexandre (surname) * Alexandre (film) See also * Alexander * Alexandra (disambiguation) * Xano (disambiguation) Xano is the name of: * Xano, a Portuguese hypocoristic of the name " Alexandre (di ...

. The car retired with prop shaft failure after 82 laps around the

Circuit de la Sarthe The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, is a semi-permanent motorsport race course, chiefly known as the venue for the 24 H ...

. The team went on to compete at the 1000 km of Silverstone where the team is based. For the race, Leventis and Hardman were joined by

Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC () is a British manufacturer of Luxury car, luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Headed from 1947 by David Brown (entrepreneur ...

works driver

Darren Turner Darren Turner (born 13 April 1974) is a British racing driver and owner of Base Performance Simulators. He races for Aston Martin Racing as a Factory-backed, factory driver and also works as a high performance test driver for Aston Martin. He w ...

. The outcome was the same as the event at Spa; Strakka once again finished in 24th overall and 4th in class. The team still raced in a few

events and competed at the Britcar 24 Hours in Class 2 with their BMW. The usual drivers, Leventis and Hardman, were joined by

Allan Simonsen Allan Rodenkam Simonsen (born 15 December 1952) is a Danish former footballer and manager. He most prominently played as a striker for German Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach, winning the 1975 and 1979 UEFA Cups, as well as for Barcel ...

and Christian Vann. They finished 13th overall.

2009

The 2009 season saw Strakka compete in every round of the Le Mans Series season. The team replaced the DBR9 with a new

Ginetta Ginetta Cars Limited is a British specialist builder of racing and sports cars based in Garforth, Leeds, West Yorkshire. History 20th century Ginetta was founded in 1958 by four Walklett brothers (Bob, Ivor, Trevers and Douglas) in Woodbridge, ...

Zytek Gibson Technology is an automotive and motorsport company based at Repton, Derbyshire, England. It was founded by Bill Gibson and Brian Mason as Zytek Engineering in 1981. Ownership history In 1981 Gibson and Mason founded the Zytek Group wi ...

GZ09S to compete in the LMP1 class. The team signed new driver

Danny Watts Danny Watts (born 31 December 1979) is a retired British professional racing driver. Career Watts was born in Aylesbury, and started racing in 1993, when he began karting. After five seasons of karting, he stepped up to single seater racin ...

to race alongside Leventis and Hardman. The first event of the season was the 1000 km of Catalunya and saw Strakka take pole position in the brand new car, qualifying half a second quicker than the fastest of

Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Racing is a British auto racing team established in 2004 as a partnership between automobile manufacturer Aston Martin and engineering group Prodrive. The partnership was initially created for the purpose of returning Aston ...

's brand new prototypes. Not a great start from Hardman meant the two Lola-Aston Martin's overtook into turn 1. After a good and eventful race, the drivers managed to finish fifth overall and in class. At the following race, they produced the slowest time of any car in qualifying but managed to finish 17th overall and 12th in class at the 1000 km of Spa. A month later, the team competed at the

finishing 21st overall and 14th in class. Following the Le Mans 24 hours, Hardman decided to stepped down from both driving and his team principal role and sold his interest in Strakka Racing to Leventis. At the

1000 km of Algarve 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, the car retired after just 67 laps around the brand new Algarve circuit. The 1000 km of Nürburgring saw the team qualifying fourth and the Ginetta-Zytek was still running with an hour and a half left, and 141 laps completed when Danny Watts crashed into a barrier to avoid colliding with a slower GT2 car. At the 1000 km of Silverstone the team were unable to participate in qualifying meaning the car had to start from the back of the grid. Leventis and Watts finished ninth overall and eighth in class. 2009 was also the last time the team raced in

Ferrari Challenge The Ferrari Challenge is a One-Design, single-marque Auto racing, motorsport championship that was created in 1993, initially catering to owners of the 348 Challenge who wanted to race their cars. The first European season took place in 1993, ...

2010

In 2010, the team focused on the

running a HPD ARX-01C, which is an updated version of Acura's LMP2 car that was successful in the

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 ...

. Peter Hardman left the team but

Jonny Kane Jonathan Ernest Kane (born 14 May 1973) is a British racing driver who has competed at various levels of motorsport. He currently drives for Strakka Racing in the Le Mans Series. Kane, who was born in Comber, Northern Ireland, began his career ...

was signed in time for the first round, the 8 Hours of Le Castellet. Watts took LMP2 pole, setting a time of just over two seconds faster than the next nearest LMP2 car. Strakka went on to win the LMP2 class finishing 35 seconds ahead of the LMP2 pack. The team went on to pick up its 2nd consecutive pole at the 1000 km of Spa. However, transmission failure forced the team to retire after 69 laps. At

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 ...

, the team secured pole position in LMP2, one second ahead of the

Patrón Patrón is a brand of tequila products founded by John Paul Dejoria and Martin Crowley. Patrón Tequilas, like all tequilas, are produced in Mexico from the "corazón" (heart or core) of the Agave tequilana, blue agave plant. Everything inc ...

Highcroft Racing Highcroft Racing was an American auto racing team based out of Danbury, Connecticut and founded by driver Duncan Dayton in 1989. Initially founded for Dayton's involvement in historic motorsport, specifically the restoration and preparation of cl ...

team with the same HPD ARX prototype which Highcroft has been developing with Acura/HPD for three years. The driver lineup of Leventis, Watts, and Kane completed 367 laps and took the LMP2 class victory, as well as fifth place overall. It was clear that the HPD ARX-01C was the dominant car as Strakka and Highcroft were for a long time battling themselves for LMP2 lead, but the Highcroft car suffered mechanical problems resulting in Strakka finishing six laps ahead of the next nearest LMP2 class finisher, the

OAK Racing OAK Racing is an Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing team specialising in sports prototypes based in Le Mans, France. In 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans, 2013 it won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in Le Mans Prototype, LMP2 class and the 2013 FIA ...

entry. Strakka secured its 4th consecutive pole at the

with Watts qualifying 0.6 seconds faster than the other LMP2 cars. Transmission failure caused the car to halt just after completing 120 laps. The 1000 km of Hungaroring was the first event of its type to be held at the

Hungaroring The Hungaroring is a motorsport racetrack in Mogyoród, Pest County, Hungary where the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix is held. In 1986, it became the location of the first Formula One Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix behind the Iron Curtai ...

. The tight, technical track favoured the LMP2 cars who were quick in free practice and qualifying as Watts proved by putting the HPD on the overall pole, the first time in Le Mans Series history for an LMP2 car. Watts qualified nearly half a second quicker than the fastest LMP1 car. The power of the LMP1 cars, however, was too much to cope at the start of the race, especially the Peugeot 908 diesel car entered by

Oreca ORECA (Organisation Exploitation Compétition Automobiles) is a French auto racing, racing team and race car constructor, founded in 1973 and run by Hugues de Chaunac, former team manager of F1 team Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives, AGS. Or ...

. However during the race, the Oreca Peugeot developed mechanical problems and the Rebellion entries spun out. Strakka overtook the Oreca Peugeot whilst it was in the pits and went on to win overall, the first time in LMS history that an LMP2 car had won outright. The LMP1 winning car finished seventh overall, the top six finishers being LMP2 entries.

FIA World Endurance Championship

Strakka joined the

2012 FIA World Endurance Championship The 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship was the inaugural running of the FIA World Endurance Championship, World Endurance Championship. It was co-organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ou ...

with a LMP1 class

HPD ARX-03a The HPD ARX-03a, ARX-03b, and ARX-03c are Le Mans Prototypes race cars developed by Honda Performance Development in 2012. The 03a model utilizes a Honda V8 engine for use in the LMP1 category, while the 03b uses a turbocharged V6 engine for the L ...

with drivers Jonny Kane, Danny Watts and Leventis. The team finished third overall in

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

and was runner-up in the privateer LMP1 Trophy behind Rebellion Racing. In 2013, the trio drove a LMP1 class HPD ARX-03c at the FIA WEC. They retired at Silverstone, and finish seventh at Spa-Francorchamps and sixth at the

. The team did not return for the rest of the season. The team developed a LMP2 car in partnership with Japanese manufacturer Dome, but the team did not enter any race in 2014. They debuted the Strakka Dome S103 at the

2015 6 Hours of Silverstone The 2015 6 Hours of Silverstone was a six-hour endurance racing (motorsport), endurance sports car racing, sports car racing event held for Le Mans Prototype and LM GTE, Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance cars at the Silverstone Circuit near Silve ...

, claiming a third place, after which they switched to a Gibson-Nissan, finishing sixth in the LMP2 teams championship. In 2016, Kane and Leventis were co-driven by Danny Watts in the first three races and Lewis Williamson for the next four races. They did not claim any podium, and missed the final two rounds, ranking seventh in the LMP2 teams' standings.

Blancpain GT Series

In 2017, Strakka joined the

Blancpain GT Series GT World Challenge Europe (known as the Blancpain GT Series between 2014 and 2019) is a sports car racing series organised by SRO Motorsports Group. It features grand tourer racing cars modified from production road cars complying with the FIA's ...

to enter four

McLaren 650S The McLaren 650S is a British sports car designed and manufactured by British automobile manufacturer McLaren Automotive. It was announced in February 2014 as a new model, but based on the existing McLaren MP4-12C, MP4-12C with 25% new parts, a ...

GT3 with factory support team. In 2018, Strakka Racing expanded its GT activities beyond Europe, forming a new partnership with Mercedes-AMG which saw the team carry Performance Team status for the German marque. The Silverstone-based ran three new Mercedes-AMG GT3s in the

Intercontinental GT Challenge The Intercontinental GT Challenge is a sports car racing series developed by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation, SRO Group in 2016. It consists of international Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance races for grand tourer racing cars complying w ...

alongside the

Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, formerly for sponsorship reasons the Blancpain Endurance Series from 2011 to 2015 and Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup from 2016 to 2019, is a sports car racing series developed by SRO Motorsports Gr ...

2019

In 2019, Strakka Racing continued its GT program in the

and

. On the 24th of July, it was revealed that team principal and team racing driver team

had tested positive for banned substances. He was thus banned for four years. Following this incident he announced his retirement from motorsports.

2020

In February 2020, it was confirmed by specialist media that the team had shut down permanently, without any formal announcement to that effect. In September 2020, it was announced that all of the team's assets, which included all of their race team equipment, race cars, trucks and their race team premises close to

, were sold to

United Autosports United Autosports is a sports car racing team based in Wakefield, England, United Kingdom, founded by businessman Zak Brown and former driver Richard Dean (racing driver), Richard Dean. United Autosports has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans (LMP2 Cl ...

for an undisclosed sum.

Drivers

(2007–2019)

(2007–2009)

(2008)

(2009–2016)

(2010–2016)

Lewis Williamson Lewis Williamson (born 11 November 1989) is a British racing driver. Career Karting Born in Dundee, Williamson began karting at the age of eight, and spent a successful decade racing in the various classes around the United Kingdom. By the ti ...

(2016–2019)

Racing record

24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Strakka Racing British auto racing teams World Series Formula V8 3.5 teams European Le Mans Series teams FIA World Endurance Championship teams 24 Hours of Le Mans teams Auto racing teams established in 2007 2007 establishments in the United Kingdom GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup teams Formula Renault Eurocup teams Mercedes-Benz in motorsport Auto racing teams disestablished in 2020