Raeder Motorsport
| Raeder Automotive GmbH | |
|---|---|
| legal form | GmbH |
| founding | 2001 |
| Seat | Meuspath |
| management |
Martin Raeder Nicolas Raeder |
| Number of employees | 22nd |
| Branch | Motorsport |
| Website | Raeder Motorsport |
Raeder Motorsport is a German motorsport team that was founded in 2001 by Martin and Nicolas Raeder. It specializes in the construction, development and use of vehicles for various racing series. The team itself competes in the BFGoodrich endurance championship and the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring .
history
In the founding year 2001, Raeder Motorsport used a Honda Accord Type R in the endurance championship. The highlight of the season was participation in the 24-hour race. There the Honda, which was driven by Elmar Deegener, Jonathan Price, Martin Putsch and Nicki Raeder, was temporarily in the top 20 and in first place in its class, until a defect pushed him back to 28th place shortly before the end and prevented class victory.
2002 was upgraded to a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII . With the all-wheel-drive vehicle, the endurance championship now regularly placed in the top 20. With the same driver line-up as in the previous year, the team competed in the 24-hour race, in which they achieved 20th overall and third place in the class standings.
In 2003 the team switched to a Porsche 996 GT3 RS . At the beginning of the season, Jonathan Price and Frank Stippler celebrated race wins in the endurance championship in both outings. At the 24-hour race, Phil Bennett , Markus Grossmann, Jonathan Price and Vincent Vosse were in fourth place with the car in the late evening hours until they were thrown far behind by increasing clutch problems and a puncture.
In addition to the Porsche, a Jaguar from the V8 Star series was also used from 2004 . The vehicle fleet was completed by another Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII. With the V8 Star Jaguar Hermann Tilke , Ullrich Galladé and Dirk Adorf won two rounds of the endurance championship. The Jaguar also led the field briefly after the start of the 24-hour race, but retired during the night due to an accident. The best-placed vehicle was the Porsche with which Thomas Jäger , Frank Schmickler and Jonathan Price drove to sixth overall despite a broken suspension in the afternoon.
In 2005 there was no more victory in the endurance championship. In the 24-hour race, Hermann Tilke, Dirk Adorf and Patrick Simon in the V8 Star Jaguar were in the top positions in the early stages, but after a short time the race had to be abandoned due to a gearbox damage. The Mitsubishi, which started the race from 18th place on the grid, did not see the checkered flag either.
In November 2005, the construction of a Lamborghini Gallardo began. The vehicle was first used in 2006 in the 24-hour race, which started from eighth on the grid. The Lamborghini, piloted by Hermann Tilke, Dirk Adorf, Peter Oberndorfer and Markus Grossmann, had to pull into the pits after the introductory lap due to problems with the alternator. Two hours later, the car was finally parked because of a torn engine mount. The Mitsubishi Lancer still in use fell behind due to a defect in the fuel pump, and finished the run in 26th place. In the endurance championship, the Lamborghini later achieved fourth place as the best result, while the Mitsubishi achieved two placements in the top ten. The V8 Star Jaguar was sold before the 2006 season for capacity reasons.
In 2007 the Lamborghini Gallardo had its second outing in the 24-hour race. Tilke, Adorf, Oberndorfer and Grossmann started the race from eighth place and meanwhile moved up to fourth place. However, an oil line was destroyed in a lapping accident and the Lamborghini was thrown far back. Although he took up the race again, he retired after 41 racing laps due to consequential damage to the engine. Since the Mitsubishi also failed, no Raeder Motorsport vehicle reached the destination. In the endurance championship, however, the Mitsubishi Lancer reached tenth place in the first race. After the 24-hour race, the Lamborghini Gallardo initially achieved fourth place and three races later achieved a podium finish for the first time in third place.
At the Nürburgring 24 Hours, Hermann Tilke, Dirk Adorf, Marc Hennerici and Ralf Schall started the race with the Lamborghini from sixth on the grid. However, the car was thrown back further and further by several unscheduled pit stops and was only in 106th place towards the end of the race. Nevertheless, this meant the first finish of the vehicle in the endurance race. The second vehicle used was an Audi A3 , which replaced the Mitsubishi Lancer that had been used up to now. The Audi also saw the checkered flag, but only to 61st place due to defects. In the endurance championship, the Lamborghini only crossed the finish line in two of the nine championship races, but was able to finish both races in the top ten.
The 2009 season started with a serious setback for Raeder Motorsport when the Lamborghini burned down in the first round of the endurance championship. A Ford GT was purchased at short notice as a replacement vehicle for the 24-hour race , which Matech Racing had previously used in the FIA GT3 European Championship . Dirk Adorf surprisingly qualified the Ford GT against the teams supported by automobile manufacturers with Audi, BMW and Porsche in pole position . Adorf, who was allowed to open the race as Raeder's starting driver, also maintained his lead at the start. He then defended his position for several laps against his pursuer Marc Lieb in the Porsche of Manthey Racing . During a lapping maneuver, however, he collided with a slower vehicle and had to head for the pit unplanned. A short time later, the journey could be continued behind. Dirk Adorf, Hermann Tilke, Marc Hennerici and Thomas Mutsch then kept the Ford GT in the top ten until morning. A defect in the oil pump ended the mission prematurely. The Audi A3, the second Raeder vehicle, took over the lead of the second starting group and finished the race in 19th place overall and in second place in the SP3-T class. In the endurance championship, the Ford GT finished in the top ten in two races. At the end of the year, Elmar Deegener, Jürgen Wohlfarth and Christoph Breuer in the Audi A3 finished the championship with six class wins and two further podium finishes in ninth place in the overall classification.
In 2010 the team developed the Audi TT-RS in cooperation with Audi Quattro GmbH. The first works outings took place as part of the VLN endurance championship and the vehicle turned out to be extremely fast. From 2013, Raeder Motorsport drove in the endurance championship with the Audi TT RS 2.0, a chassis of the 2.5 liter five-cylinder turbo engine and the engine of the TT S with four cylinders, two liters displacement and a turbocharger. The team continued to compete in the SP3T class and at the end of the season was able to take third place behind Manthey Racing with the Wochenspiegel Porsche GT3 RSR and the Renault Clio III RS Cup from Groneck Motorsport. In line with the success, the rumored merger of Manthey Racing and Raeder Motorsport was finally announced from 2014 at the end of the year. In addition to all of the racing activities in the VLN, Raeder Motorsport has its own department for the construction of customer vehicles for the road and racetrack, through to complete conversions of the chassis, engine, brakes and other aspects. The in-house racing department also looks after various customers around the world during VLN missions and track days.