HISAQ Competition

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HISAQ Competition is a German motorsport team from Delbrück .

The HISAQ Competition GmbH was founded in 2006 as a subsidiary of Belte AG founded which specializes in aluminum heat treatment. The term "HISAQ" stands for "High Speed ​​Air Quenching", which describes a process for the heat treatment of aluminum components. By using it in motorsport, the company wanted to demonstrate performance and test new materials.

The greatest successes of the motorsport team around the former team boss Arndt Schmidt include winning the title in the Porsche Supercup 2007 and a race win at a round of the BFGoodrich endurance championship in 2008.

history

Porsche Supercup

For the 2007 season , the newly formed HISAQ Competition team registered for the Porsche Supercup . Already in its debut year, the title was strived for, so the team tried to find a top-class driver line-up. That's why HISAQ Competition signed reigning champion Richard Westbrook . Originally Nicolas Armindo was supposed to be at his side as a team-mate, but they parted ways before the start of the season. Michael Schrey , who was the best newcomer the previous year, took over his position .

In his first race for the young team in Bahrain , Richard Westbrook immediately finished fourth. In the second race that followed, he improved to second place. At the third championship round in Barcelona , Westbrook fought his way up from fourth on the grid and won his first race win of the season. So he took over the championship leadership. Westbrook finished third in Monaco . At the fifth round at Magny-Cours , Westbrook, who started the race from sixth on the grid, again crossed the finish line in third place. At the following race at Silverstone a third vehicle was used for guest starter Steven Kane . Westbrook managed the fastest lap time in qualifying, but his pole position was denied due to an infringement and he had to start from the back. In the course of the race he fought his way up to the points until he received a drive-through penalty after a collision with Alessandro Zampedri and was thrown back. Next up was the championship run at the Nürburgring , where Michael Schrey was replaced by Marc Basseng , who also competed for the rest of the season for HISAQ Competition. Westbrook achieved a podium finish with third place. In Budapest Westbrook was victorious for the second time. With five laps to go, he overtook Jeroen Bleekemolen, who had been the leader until then, and defended his lead until the end. At the ninth race in Istanbul Westbrook came fourth. For the penultimate race of the season in Monza , Westbrook went twelve points ahead of his biggest competitor Damien Faulkner. Starting the race from fifth on the grid, he worked his way up to second. At the end of the season in Spa-Francorchamps , Westbrook and Faulkner were only separated by ten championship points. Shortly before the end of the race, Westbrook was in third place ahead of Faulkner. On the last lap there was a collision between the opponents in the last chicane when Faulkner turned Westbrook around in an unsuccessful attack. He was still able to continue and finally crossed the finish line in sixth, which he secured the title.

Endurance racing at the Nürburgring

After winning the championship in the Porsche Supercup, HISAQ Competition left this series again. A new challenge was sought for the 2008 season in the BFGoodrich endurance championship , in which the team fielded a Porsche 997 GT3 RSR on the Nordschleife . The vehicle was prepared independently for races, but equipped with a long-distance kit from Olaf Manthey .

Five days after HISAQ Competition picked up the vehicle from the factory, it was already competing in its first race in the endurance championship. Emmanuel Collard , Frank Stippler and Richard Westbrook took turns at the wheel of the HISAQ-Porsche in the first race of the season. In the qualification, a starting position was achieved among the top ten. In the race that followed, the team lost a bit of ground to the leaders in the beginning, but later turned the fastest laps. Aided by the breakdowns of other top vehicles, the HISAQ-Porsche was brought up to second place.

Marino Franchitti and Frank Stippler drove the HISAQ-Porsche in the second race. They initially qualified the vehicle for second place on the grid behind the Zakspeed Viper. However, the Zakspeed-Viper was moved back ten starting positions by the race management, so that the HISAQ-Porsche inherited the pole position. Stippler completed the first stint in the race. At the start he lost the lead to the Manthey-Porsche, but regained it a few corners later. In the following laps there was a duel with the Zakspeed Viper, with the lead changing constantly. In the eighth lap, the HISAQ-Porsche completed its first pit stop and thereby lost its lead to the Paragon-Porsche. After its pit stop, the lead went back to the HISAQ-Porsche, which was now controlled by Franchitti. In the further course of the race, the lead increased and so the HISAQ-Porsche was now just under two minutes ahead of the first chaser. 20 minutes before the end, the pits were refueled and the tires were changed. A little later, however, the HISAQ-Porsche had to return to the pits because of problems with the fuel pump. Then the HISAQ-Porsche went back on the track and crossed the finish line as the winner. HISAQ Competition thus achieved its first victory in its second race in the endurance championship.

After the preparatory races in the Endurance Championship HISAQ Competiton appeared as one of the dark horses with drivers Richard Westbrook, Emmanuel Collard, Frank Stippler and Marino Franchitti at the 24-hour race at the Nurburgring on. A podium placement was aimed for. However, there was a fire in the vehicle during the first qualifying, which meant that the start of the race was uncertain. Fortunately, driver Frank Stippler was able to save himself from the burning vehicle in time and was uninjured. The HISAQ-Porsche was brought to the nearby workshop of competitor Olaf Manthey, where the mechanics were able to fix the vehicle by the evening. So the team was able to take part in the second timed practice, in which it secured eleventh place on the grid. After HISAQ Competiton had already worked its way up to third place one hour after the start of the race, the team took the lead after 33 laps around 6 p.m. due to an accident with the previously leading Wochenspiegel-Porsche. When the HISAQ-Porsche pitted at 9 p.m., it temporarily lost the lead to the Schubert-BMW, ​​until the HISAQ-Porsche regained the lead half an hour later on lap 42. HISAQ Competition then held the lead for a long time until the vehicle had to be parked in the pits at 2:22 am due to a gearbox failure. After over an hour and a half of repairs, the team was able to resume the race, but the vehicle had to be parked for good after 19 hours in the morning, as Westbrook slipped on an oil trail and consequently hit a boundary wall.

Current development

On June 13, 2008, Arndt Schmidt resigned as team leader and managing director of HISAQ Competition GmbH. Markus Belte, CEO of Belte AG, took over provisional management of the company.

It was planned to take part in the 24H Series in 2009 , which will be held in Dubai and Budapest. Konrad Motorsport should be in charge of operations. However, since the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring in 2008, there has never been another race.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b HISAQ-Porsche one of the secret favorites
  2. ↑ HISAQ® Competition Start of its first season
  3. ↑ HISAQ Competition with Westbrook and Armindo
  4. ↑ Hisaq Competiton signs Schrey
  5. ↑ Damien Faulkner triumphs at the season opener
  6. ↑ Uwe Alzen wins the second race in Bahrain
  7. ↑ Unstoppable Westbrook
  8. ↑ Loud beam men
  9. ↑ Alzen wins confidently in the rain
  10. ↑ First win for Armindo
  11. ↑ HISAQ-Porsche with a new pilot at the Nürburgring
  12. ↑ Bleekemolen wins
  13. ↑ Westbrook profits and wins
  14. ↑ Another win for Bleekemolen
  15. ↑ Faulkner keeps the title fight open
  16. ↑ Westbrook is a master
  17. ↑ 33rd DMV 4-hour race run 1 of the BFGoodrich endurance championship April 12, 2008
  18. ↑ 50th ADAC ACAS H&R Cup: First overall victory for HISAQ Competition
  19. ↑ Co-favorite Hisaq before the end?
  20. ↑ One on the one: pole position for Manthey ( Memento from December 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  21. ↑ The happening between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.
  22. ↑ The happening between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.
  23. ↑ Exciting 24-hour premiere for HISAQ
  24. ↑ Team boss Arndt Schmidt leaves HISAQ® Competition ( Memento from July 27, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  25. ↑ HISAQ® Competition targets 24H Series ( Memento from July 27, 2010 in the Internet Archive )

Coordinates: 51 ° 46 ′ 14.5 "  N , 8 ° 35 ′ 1.7"  E