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| Founded | 1968 |
|---|---|
| Founder(s) | Erich Zakowski |
| Base | Niederzissen |
| Teamprincipal(s) | Peter Zakowski |
| Current series | ADAC GT Masters |
| Former series | Formula One Superleague Formula V8Star Series German Formula Three Championship |
| Current drivers |  Sebastian Asch Luca Ludwig |
| Teams' Championships | 2002 V8Star Series season 2003 V8Star Series season 2008 Superleague Formula season |
| Drivers' Championships | 2003 V8Star Series season (Lamy) 2008 Superleague Formula season (Rigon) |
| Website | http://www.zakspeed.de/ |
Zakspeed (German pronunciation:[ˈtsakspiːt]) is amotor racing team from Germany, founded in 1968 byErich Zakowski and then run by his son Peter Zakowski. It is based inNiederzissen,Rhineland-Palatinate, around 25 kilometres (16 mi) from theNürburgring circuit.
The team was, together with theRial Racing, one of the two lastGermanFormula One teams based in Germany (with the Zakspeed's base inNiederzissen).
Zakowski founded Zakspeed in 1973 with the ambition of competing in sports car racing. In the late 1970s, the team became the officialFord team in the GermanDeutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft (DRM) series, a predecessor of the currentDTM. Zakspeed constructed and entered anFIAGroup 2Escort and theGroup 5Capri, based on the MKIII production model. During this period, the team achieved a number of victories including the overall championship in 1981 with driverKlaus Ludwig.
In the early 1980s, Zakspeed also prepared aMustang for Ford USA's Special Vehicle Operations to race in the domesticIMSACamel GT series. The Mustang chassis was based on the Group 5 Capri.
| Full name | Zakspeed Racing |
|---|---|
| Base | Niederzissen, Germany |
| Teamprincipal(s) | Jean-Luc Lagardère |
| Founder(s) | Erich Zakowski |
| Noted staff | Paul Brown Chris Murphy Heinz Zollner Gustav Brunner |
| Noted drivers |  Jonathan PalmerChristian DannerMartin Brundle Piercarlo GhinzaniBernd Schneider |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| First entry | 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix |
| Races entered | 74 |
| Constructors' Championships | 0 (best finish: 10th,1987) |
| Drivers' Championships | 0 |
| Race victories | 0 (best finish: 5th,1987 San Marino Grand Prix) |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Points | 2 |
| Pole positions | 0 (best grid position: 13th,1987 Mexican Grand Prix) |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Final entry | 1989 Australian Grand Prix |
In 1982, Zakspeed ran the worksFord C100Group C effort in conjunction with the factory. The Zakspeed-prepared machine was run by the works Ford Germany team withKlaus Ludwig,Manfred Winkelhock andMarc Surer at the wheel. The car was a midfielder at best, althoughJonathan Palmer andDesiré Wilson scored a 4th place overall the 1000 km ofBrands Hatch 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 GermanInterserie, where it won the championship in 1984 withKlaus Niedzwiedz.
The engine was the basis for theirFormula One entry from1985 to1988. Zakspeed became notable for building their own chassis andengine, something onlyFerrari,Alfa Romeo andRenault did at that time. After a maiden season withJonathan Palmer, the team hired the firstFormula 3000 championChristian Danner and ex-Tyrrell driverMartin Brundle. The team's best result (and only points finish) was Brundle's 5th place in the1987 San Marino Grand Prix.
For their final season, in1989, Zakspeed switched toYamaha engines as turbos were banned. The Japanese engine was unreliable and driversBernd Schneider (former GermanFormula 3 champion),Piercarlo Ghinzani and the rookieAguri Suzuki struggled to pre-qualify the car. Schneider only qualified the car twice and retired both times, while Suzuki never got past pre-qualifying. Despite announcements in late November about an exclusive engine supply deal withYamaha for the1990 season,[1] the team retired from the sport at the end of the year.
In 1987 while still doing Formula 1 Zakspeed also returned to their touring car roots with a works programme with BMW using the M3 in both the DTM and the European Championship the latter while the 2 main BMW works teams Schnitzer and Bigazzi focused on the World Championship while also running the revived BMW Junior Team in the DTM, in 1988 after the World Championship was cancelled Schnitzer and Bigazzi returned to being BMW's works teams in the European Championship in its final season with Zakspeed running the works DTM BMWs along with Linder, in 1989 in the DTM they and Linder were joined by Schnitzer after the European Championship was axed at the end of 1988 and in 1990 for Zakspeed's final season as a BMW works team Zakspeed focused on the DTM full time after quitting Formula 1 and Bigazzi joining the DTM full time after focusing on the Italian series in 1989 after which Zakspeed would switch to Mercedes for 1991.
After withdrawing from F1, Zakspeed focused again exclusively on sport cars. The team ranMercedes 190E andOpel Calibra cars in the 1990sDeutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft and the short-livedITC series. Around this time,Peter Zakowski, who had raced inFormula 3 and endurance races (he had won the24 Hours Nürburgring in 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2002) took over from his father.
In 1998, Zakspeed entered twoPorsche 911 GT1 in theFIA GT Championship, where French TeamOreca dominated the GT2-class with their heavily modifiedChrysler Viper GTS-Rs. One of these Vipers was purchased by Zakspeed to be entered on the NürburgringVLN 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 thePorsche 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 theNASCAR-like V8-poweredtube frame prototype cars of theV8Star Series Championship series which ran from 2001 to 2003. These identical cars used bodies modelled after road cars fromJaguar,BMW,Opel,Lexus and others. Zakspeed itself won in 2003 withPedro Lamy in a Jaguar-bodied car.
In 2001, Zakspeed made a brief return to single-seaters with a foray intoCART racing in the US in partnership with the long-establishedForsythe Championship Racing.[2]
In 2006, Zakspeed returned to the FIA GT Championship with theSaleen S7-R. The team also runs a racing school operating at the Nürburgring circuit.
In 2008, Zakspeed managed theSuperleague Formula cars ofBorussia Dortmund andBeijing Guoan, with the latter taking the overall title from such clubs asPSV Eindhoven,Liverpool F.C. andA.C. Milan. Dortmund took one win in the season and Beijing took three on the way to the title with driverDavide Rigon.
In 2009, Zakspeed managedSporting CP (who won a race withPedro Petiz) andR.S.C. Anderlecht.
(key) (results inbold indicate pole position)
* Points scored using 871 chassis
