EMKA Racing was a British racing team founded in 1980 bySteve O'Rourke, manager of the bandPink Floyd. The team occasionally ran under the name ofEMKA Productions, the name of O'Rourke's management company. The team's name comes from O'Rourke's two daughters,Emma andKatheryne. O'Rourke and EMKA concentrated onsports car racing with brief interludes intoBritish Formula One until 1985 when the team was broken up before returning again in 1991. The team was finally dissolved in early 2004 following O'Rourke's death. The team had won the drivers championship for O'Rourke and Tim Sugden in the British GT Championship in 1997 and 1998.
Following Steve O'Rourke's years of amateurauto racing, he had succeeded in entering the1979 24 Hours of Le Mans where he took a respectable 12th-place finish in aFerrari 512BB. With Pink Floyd's scheduling becoming less of a conflict, O'Rourke was able to fully concentrate on racing and formed EMKA Racing, a division of his EMKA Productions record label, for the 1980 season. Debuting at the Six Hours ofSilverstone, he took a seventh-place finish before taking 23rd at Le Mans.
Now established, O'Rourke purchased aBMW M1 and signed driverDerek Bell as his co-driver. Collaborating with Michael Cane Racing the team took a second-place finish at Silverstone before suffering problems at Le Mans with driversDavid Hobbs andEddie Jordan, future owner ofJordan Grand Prix. ForBrands Hatch, the team took a third-place finish although O'Rourke himself did not drive the car.
For 1982, Derek Bell was replaced on the team byNick Mason, drummer forPink Floyd, who had been participating the past few years with the Dorset Racing team. The team did not see much success. In the same year, O'Rourke and EMKA also entered theBritish Formula One series for two races with aWilliams FW07, scoring a third place atThruxton Circuit.
For 1983, EMKA's success was recognised byAston Martin, with the two reaching an agreement to run sportscars built by Michael Cane Racing and powered by Aston Martin engines. The first chassis, known as anEMKA C83/1, was designed byLen Bailey and used a production-based Aston Martin V8 engine as its powerplant. O'Rourke was joined in the cockpit byTiff Needell and took 17th place at Le Mans in their debut year.
For 1985 the EMKA ASTON-MARTIN was modified by Michael Cane Racing with design work being done by Richard Owen and continued support from Aston Martin. O'Rourke and Needell took an eleventh-place finish at Le Mans which saw the entry briefly leading the race in the opening hours. TheEMKA Aston Martin failed to finish any of the other races it appeared at that season. Steve O'Rourke decided to take a break from international motorsport.
O'Rourke would briefly return to racing in 1993, entering an oldPorsche 935 in the newBritish GT Championship. However come 1995 he would bring EMKA Racing back full-time. Initially using his 935, he later purchased a newPorsche 911 GT2, which saw an eleventh-place finish at Silverstone in theBPR Global GT Series event. Joined by Guy Holmes, he would participate in the bulk of the1996 BPR Global GT Series season, with best finishes of 18th at bothMonza andPaul Ricard. He also made his first return to Le Mans since 1985, although his car would last a mere 32 laps before retiring.
For 1997, EMKA Racing would return to the British GT Championship. O'Rourke and co-driver Tim Sugden would take a best finish of second atDonington Park en route to taking the GT2 class drivers championships by the end of the season. With this success, O'Rourke made the decision to move to the more powerful GT1 class for 1998, purchasing a usedMcLaren F1 GTR. The team managed two wins in British GT atOulton Park andSpa-Francorchamps, again earning them the championship in their class. The duo would also be joined byBill Auberlen for Le Mans, earning a fourth-place finish, O'Rourke's personal best.
The team continued to campaign the McLaren F1 GTR in British GT in 1999, winning the round atSilverstone. Unfortunately the team would not be able to manage to win the drivers championship, finishing fifth instead. The top GT class would be abandoned in 2000 making the team's McLaren illegal, so O'Rourke joined EMKA Racing with fellow British team GTC Competition and moved the duo to the internationalFIA GT Championship's lower N-GT class, running a newPorsche 911 GT3-R. The team would have a best finish of second in class at theA1-Ring and would finish fourth in the teams championship.
The co-operation with GTC Competition and EMKA continued to campaign their Porsche in the N-GT class in 2001, again scoring their best result at the A1-Ring with a fourth-place finish in class. Unfortunately in the teams championship they managed to tie for eighth place, down from the previous year. The team would return again to British GT for 2002, with two third-place finishes atBrands Hatch andCastle Combe Circuit.
Citing health concerns, O'Rourke would retire towards the end of the 2002 season, with Martin Short taking over O'Rourke driving position alongside Tim Sugden as the team went into 2003. The team once again switched back to theFIA GT Championship's N-GT class, but with greater success. At the third round atPergusa, the team won the N-GT class. This led to Porsche taking interest in the team and offering factory driverEmmanuel Collard. This led to a second class win atAnderstorp, and eventually fourth place in the N-GT team championship.
Mere days after the end of the FIA GT season, Steven O'Rourke would pass away in the United States due to a stroke. The team, which had received strong support fromPorsche for preparation for the 2004 season, was unable to survive without O'Rourke's leadership. The team would fold prior to the start of the 2004 season, with its assets being sold off, including O'Rourke's racing cars such as his McLaren F1 GTR and the EMKA-badgedGroup C cars. Tim Sugden would also move on to the GruppeM team.