Peter Zakowski
Peter Zakowski (born May 13, 1966 ) is a German racing driver and, as the successor to his father Erich Zakowski , owner of the Zakspeed racing team . His residence is Burgbrohl in Rhineland-Palatinate .
Beginnings in motorsport
Peter Zakowski has been connected to racing since he was a child: he and his father Erich Zakowski traveled to many racing events as a child. Even then, he wanted to be a racing driver.
After finishing school in the boarding school with secondary school leaving certificate, Peter Zakowski completed an apprenticeship as a car mechanic in his parents' company. This enabled him to dedicate himself professionally to motorsport at the age of 14, parallel to his school and professional training. The victory of the European Kart Championship in 1982 was followed by the victory of the US Thunderbird Championship in the USA in 1983.
He then had the opportunity to do an internship at Cosworth in England for several months, where he was not only given an insight into commercial processes, but also into all technical areas. This internship was followed by another at Ford USA in the SVO (special vehicle operation) department with the same focus. In 1984 Zakowski moved from Ford USA to Jack Roush, where he worked in the racing team until 1986. A close friendship grew out of this activity and continues to this day.
career
Zakowski celebrated his first successes in karting . There he became European champion in 1980 and then switched to Formula Ford . 1986 to 1990 Formula 3 and 1990 to 1991 Formula 3000 were his last driving excursions into formula racing . In 1991 Zakowski switched to the DTM , where he drove a BMW M3 for the private Unitron team . In 21 races he scored four points and finished 24th in the overall standings. That year he also won the ITR Cup.
In 1997 Zakowski won the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring for the first time , in this race still in a BMW M3 from the Scheid Motorsport team. In 1999, 2001 and 2002 he repeated the triumph and won on Zakspeed Viper . In 2000 he came second here, in 2005 third.
Formula and touring car motorsport
Peter Zakowski switched from kart racing to Formula Ford 2000 in 1983. After only two years, he received one of the coveted VW works driver contracts and was the best young driver for the Wolfsburg until 1987. In 1989 he founded his own Formula 3 team and was the first to win a Honda in Germany. With the change from formula to touring car racing, Zakowski won the ITR Cup championship straight away and successfully rounded off his career.
Zakspeed
In the season change from 1990 to 1991, father Erich Zakowski decided to retire and began to train his son Peter in the Zakspeed racing team. In 1993 Peter Zakowski took over the company and paid off his family.
The first decision was to withdraw from Formula 1 involvement, as there were no positive prospects for him in Germany in this class. Since the season registration had already taken place, non-contractual exit negotiations with Bernie Ecclestone were necessary. Ecclestone's sympathy for the first German private team continued, so that Peter and Erich Zakowski are welcome guests in Formula 1.
Thanks to the growth in the following years, Peter Zakowski separated the technology, motorsport and trading businesses under his leadership. In particular, carbon production under the name Nitec made such a strong name for itself through innovations that even competitors from motorsport had their vehicles and parts manufactured by ZAK. After a personal stroke of fate in 2001, Peter Zakowski sold Nitec Engineering, including the production capacities, to a large German defense company and a German automotive / engineering service provider.
Nürburgring Nordschleife
Parallel to his business activities, Zakowski has been involved as a racing driver on the Nordschleife of the Nürburgring since 1995, first with a Mercedes 190 EVO and then with the legendary Zakspeed Viper. In addition to four overall victories in the 24-hour race on the Nordschleife, he achieved an additional 22 overall victories in the VLN endurance championship by 2004.
trouble
In September 2006, Peter Zakowski filed for personal bankruptcy at the Bitburg (Eifel) bankruptcy court. The extent to which this will affect the racing team is still unclear, but the Saleen, which was used in the FIA GT1 category in 2006, was offered for leasing in various motor sport magazines. The planned use of three Mosler MT900s in the GT3 category for 2007 failed due to a lack of homologation by the FIA . Team manager Andreas Leberle has since left the Zakspeed racing team.
Zakspeed racing school
To promote the next generation, Peter Zakowski founded the first German racing driver's school in 1990, from which well-known drivers emerged. In 2008, this racing driver school was merged into the Nürburgring Adventure as part of the new building at the Nürburgring.
today
Peter Zakowski from the Niederzissen site is still in charge of Zakspeed's business. In the past two years he has mainly been involved in consulting in both the automotive and motorsport sectors. The racing team location and its facilities were partially rented out. Today Zakspeed operates as a consulting company and operates, among other things, classic motorsport as well as a restoration and construction company for historic automobiles.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Zakowski, Peter |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German racing driver and owner of the Zakspeed racing team |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 13, 1966 |