Motopark Academy (raced under Lotus moniker from 2012 to 2014) is an

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 based in

Oschersleben Oschersleben () is a town in the Börde district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The population in 1905 was 13,271, in 2020 about 19,000. History On November 23, 994 Oschersleben was first mentioned in a document by the Emperor Otto III. In 1235 ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, next to the

Motorsport Arena Oschersleben The Motorsport Arena Oschersleben is a long race track with a width of and elevation changes of . The circuit is located in Oschersleben, Börde, approximately from Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, ...

race track. In

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, the team competed in the

GP2 Series The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Ecc ...

under the name

Russian Time Russian Time (previously known as RT Russian Time) was a Russian motor racing team founded by Igor Mazepa to compete in the GP2 Series, a category of open-wheel racing cars designed to prepare drivers for Formula One. From 2015 to 2018, the tea ...

and have operated a satellite team called CryptoTower Racing.

History

Single-seaters

The team have competed in open-wheel racing consistently since the start of the 21st century. They have competed in the

Formula 3 Euro Series The Formula 3 Euro Series was a European-based junior single seater formula for Formula Three chassis that was launched (in its current form) in 2003 as a merger of the French Formula Three Championship and German Formula Three Championship. The ...

since 2009.

Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0

They were teams' champions in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 in 2004, with their American driver

Scott Speed Scott Andrew Speed (born January 24, 1983) is an American race car driver who has competed in numerous disciplines, including open-wheel racing, open-wheel, stock car racing, stock car, and rallycross racing. In , Speed became the first American ...

taking the drivers' title with eight wins. Motopark Academy won the drivers' title of the 2006 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season with

Filipe Albuquerque Filipe Miguel Delgadinho Albuquerque (born 13 June 1985) is a Portuguese people, Portuguese professional racing driver, currently driving an Acura ARX-06 in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Wayne Taylor Racing, and an Oreca 07 in the Europea ...

, with the Portuguese driver collecting four wins in all.

Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup

Motopark Academy have won all four Drivers' Championships in Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup, since it formed in 2006. They won with

in 2006,

Frank Kechele Frank Kechele (born 3 September 1986 in Nördlingen, Bavaria) is a German racing driver. He has competed in such series as Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0. He won the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup in 2007 for Motopark Academy by winning ...

in 2007,

Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Viktor Bottas (; born 28 August 1989) is a Finnish racing driver, who serves as a reserve driver in Formula One for Mercedes. Bottas competed in Formula One from to , and twice finished runner-up in the World Drivers' Championship in ...

in 2008 and

António Félix da Costa António Maria de Mello Breyner Félix da Costa (born 31 August 1991) is a Portugal, Portuguese professional racing driver for the Porsche Formula E Team, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team and the 2019–20 Formula E Championship, 2019–20 Formul ...

in 2009. Motopark Academy also won the Teams' Championship of the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC three times: 2007, 2008 and 2009.

GP2 and GP3 Series

Russian Time was established by former Russian racing driver and manager Igor Mazepa and Motopark Academy team principal Timo Rumpfkeil in 2013. The team had sought an entry to the

for two years before finally being accepted in

, replacing

iSport International iSport International was a British motor racing team that competed in the GP2 Series. The team was founded by Paul Jackson, Gavin Bickerton-Jones and Richard Selwin, former members of the Petrobras Junior Team in 2004, ahead of the inaugural ...

. iSport International withdrew from the series after being unable to secure a budget to compete in the upcoming season, and so its management elected to shut the team down in order to avoid bankruptcy. The team won its first race in only its fourth appearance, when

Sam Bird Sam Jamie Bird (born 9 January 1987) is a British people, British professional racing driver who is currently driving for McLaren#Formula E, NEOM McLaren in Formula E. He won the LMP2 title at the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship, and was ...

won the sprint race of the Bahrain round of the championship. The team took a second win on the streets of Monaco, with Bird finishing ahead of

Kevin Ceccon Kevin Ceccon (born 24 September 1993 in Clusone) is a professional Auto racing, racing driver from Italy. Career Karting Prior to his open wheel car, single–seater career, Ceccon enjoyed a long and successful spell in the junior karting ranks. ...

after a fourteen-car pile-up on the opening lap forced nine drivers out of the race. In 2014, the team was set to make their debut in

GP3 Series The GP3 Series, or GP3 for short, was a single-seater motor racing series launched in 2010 as a feeder series for the GP2 Series, introduced by GP2 organiser Bruno Michel. GP3 followed the entire European leg of the Formula One series and the ...

, taking

Bamboo Engineering Craft-Bamboo Racing is an auto racing team. It was founded in 2014 after the merger of Craft Racing from Hong Kong and Bamboo Engineering from the United Kingdom. Craft Racing was established by Frank Yu in 2009 and was a front running team in ...

's slot and continue to participate in GP2, German Formula Three and ADAC Formel Masters. The team's preparations for the 2014 season were disrupted by the death of Mazepa from complications relating to

thrombosis Thrombosis () is the formation of a Thrombus, blood clot inside a blood vessel, obstructing the flow of blood through the circulatory system. When a blood vessel (a vein or an artery) is injured, the body uses platelets (thrombocytes) and fib ...

in February 2014. On 18 February 2014, it was announced that Motopark had ended their partnership with Russian Time, leaving the position of all those drivers signed on for the 2014 GP2 and GP3 seasons, in limbo.

Formula 3 and Japanese single-seaters

In 2018, Motopark spent last season in the history of

FIA Formula 3 European Championship The FIA Formula 3 European Championship was a European Formula Three (F3) auto racing competition, organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). After one season of the FIA Formula 3 International Trophy, the FIA revived t ...

with

Jonathan Aberdein Jonathan Aberdein (born 14 February 1998) is a South African Auto racing, racing driver. He previously competed in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship with Motopark Academy, Motopark. He has also raced in the ADAC Formula 4 in both 2016 ADA ...

, Sebastián Fernández,

Fabio Scherer Fabio Luca Scherer (born 13 June 1999) is a racing driver from Switzerland, currently competing in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters for HRT Ford Performance. Scherer started his single-seater career in 2016, staying in Formula 4 series for two ...

Marino Sato is a Japanese people, Japanese Motorsport, racing driver who currently competes for United Autosports in the FIA World Endurance Championship and in the European Le Mans Series. He is the 2019 Euroformula Open Championship, 2019 Euroformula Ope ...

Dan Ticktum Daniel Charles Anthony Ticktum (born 8 June 1999) is a British racing driver, who competes in Formula E for Kiro Race Co. Born in London, Ticktum began competitive kart racing aged eight, winning several national titles. Graduating to junior f ...

and

Jüri Vips Jüri Vips (; born 10 August 2000) is an Estonian racing driver. He most recently competed part-time in the NTT IndyCar Series with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, driving the No. 75 Dallara IR-18. He has previously driven in both the FIA Formul ...

. Motopark is scheduled to make their debut in Japan in collaboration with the B-Max racing team, competing in

Super Formula The Japanese Super Formula Championship is a formula racing series held primarily in Japan. It is considered to be the pinnacle of single-seater racing in Japan or Asia as a whole, making it one of the top motorsport series in the region. The s ...

with

Lucas Auer Lucas Auer (born 11 September 1994) is an Austrian racing driver. He is the nephew of former Formula 1 driver Gerhard Berger. He currently drives for HTP Motorsport, HTP Winward Motorsport in Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, DTM. He was a member of ...

and

Harrison Newey Harrison William Innes Newey (born 25 July 1998) is a British racing driver and the son of Formula One engineer Adrian Newey. He made his ADAC Formula 4 debut in 2015 with Van Amersfoort Racing Van Amersfoort Racing (; VAR) is an auto racing t ...

and Japanese Formula 3 with

Sacha Fenestraz Sacha Fenestraz Jules (born 28 July 1999) is a French Argentines, French-Argentine racing driver competing in the 2025 Super Formula Championship, driving for TOM'S, TOM'S Racing. He is the 2017 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 champion. Early caree ...

Enaam Ahmed Enaam Ahmed (; born 4 February 2000) is a Pakistani and British former racing driver. He last competed in the 2023 Indy NXT driving for Cape Motorsports. Ahmed previously competed in the 2022 Indy Pro 2000 Championship driving for Juncos Hol ...

, 'Dragon' and Tairoku Yamaguchi. The team was also set to partake in the inaugural season of the Formula European Masters Championship reuniting with Sato and signing Red Bull Juniors Yuki Tsunoda and

Liam Lawson Liam Lawson (born 11 February 2002) is a New Zealand racing driver who competes in Formula One for Racing Bulls. Born in Hastings, New Zealand, Hastings and raised in Pukekohe, Lawson began competitive kart racing aged seven. Lawson—who is ...

, but the series ended up being cancelled due to a lack of entrants. In April 2019, it was announced Motopark would switch to the

Euroformula Open Championship The Euroformula Open Championship (formerly the Spanish Formula Three Championship, European F3 Open Championship) is a junior formula racing series based in Spain. It was one of six national and international Formula Three championships in Europe ...

and retain its intended Formula European Masters line-up with

Julian Hanses Julian Hanses (born 31 August 1997 in Hilden) is a racing driver from Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps ...

joining in a fourth car.

Current series results

Euroformula Open Championship

† Mansell drove for Carlin in round 3.

Former series results

GP2 Series

Formula 3 Euro Series

† Shared results with other teams

FIA Formula 3 International Trophy

FIA European Formula 3

† Includes points scored for

Van Amersfoort Racing Van Amersfoort Racing (; VAR) is an auto racing team based in the Netherlands. The team competes in FIA Formula 2, FIA Formula 3, Formula Regional European, and Italian F4. Notable former drivers for the team include nine Formula One drivers ...

Japanese Formula 3 Championship

ADAC Formula 4

Formula 4 UAE Championship

Super Formula

Super Formula Lights

Timeline

Footnotes

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.motopark.com/ German auto racing teams Porsche Supercup teams Formula Renault Eurocup teams Formula 3 Euro Series teams GP2 Series teams 1998 establishments in Germany Auto racing teams established in 1998 British Formula Three teams German Formula 3 teams FIA Formula 3 European Championship teams Euroformula Open Championship teams Super Formula teams Japanese Formula 3 Championship teams International GT Open teams