GermanyÂ’s Motorsport History

[JackJason]

The following article by Stefanie Gork Ruiz-Herrera (TU Munich) appeared in the September, 2009 issue of Professional Motorsports World.

In the early part of the 20th century, Mercedes was one of the strongest names in the era of OEM-dominated motorsport. In the 1930s this presence was magnified as Mercedes, together with Auto Union (now Audi), successfully met the edict from Hitler, backed up with finance, to export Third Reich sporting success.
Post-World War II, Germany was banned from international competition until 1950. Private entrants did use pre-war BMW engines in single-seater specials in the Formula 2 category but the subsequent re-emergence of the OEMs reabsorbed many of these specialist builders.
Mercedes made a successful F1 re-entry in the mid- 1950s as a manufacturer team, and also had conspicuous success in international sportscar events. The company pulled out of motorsport again due to financial pressure and the bad publicity surrounding the 1955 Le Mans disaster, when a works-run Mercedes went into the crowd, killed 80 people and injured many more.
By the 1960s, the success of the UK industry’s network production system had made OEM in-house motorsport involvement an extremely expensive option. Porsche, for example, found this out to its cost in when it entered F1 as both a chassis and engine manufacturer. Estimates have put Porsche’s financial commitment to an only moderately successful motorsport program at some ten times the expenditure of its successful UK motorsport rivals at the time. A few small specialist German firms did attempt success in Formula One – such as ATS and Rial – but they remained generally uncompetitive, and reliant to a greater or lesser extent on UK-built components and personnel.
It is not until 2001 that Germany saw a revival of single-seat chassis manufacturing based almost entirely upon one company, the Japanese firm Toyota. Toyota Team Europe had, for 30 years, run successful world rallying, and occasional world sportscar, programs from its base in Cologne. In 2001, and with huge financial backing (estimated to be at least $1 billion over five years), Toyota expanded the former rally team into a fully fledged F1 chassis and engine-building organization.
In contrast, German OEMs had maintained a Formula One presence through the provision of engines to specialist (UK) chassis constructors. Following Renault’s introduction of the turbocharged engine in the mid-1970s, BMW built engines for Brabham and Porsche for McLaren.
Germans OEMs have found great success in motorsport since the 1960s in international formulae below the specialized arena of F1. Porsche, for example, has achieved outstanding success in sportscar events, particularly Le Mans, and, likewise, BMW has won countless championships in national and international saloon car racing.
Audi, currently part of the VAG Group, is another German OEM with a strong history of motorsport success in the lower professional categories of motorsport. Its parent company was the former Auto Union, famed for pre-war sporting success in Grand Prix racing. After a long post-war gap from competition, in the 1980s the company successfully rewrote the technical rules in rallying with its four-wheel-drive rally car, the Quattro, which went on to gain much success. The four-wheel-drive aspect of this success soon became a part of the Audi “brand” that the company successfully exported to other aspects of motorsport, particularly national saloon car racing in many different countries. Audi has recently dominated long-distance sportscar racing and in 2006 won Le Mans, using a diesel engine for the first time. VAG enjoyed reflected success when their UK-based Bentley subsidiary won Le Mans at its third attempt – resulting in huge global publicity and an enormous growth in sales, which has not diminished since.


An interesting and well written article

[Saint Devote]

Porsche a marque I am intimately familiar with, did not achieve only moderate success. It won world championships with Alain Prost, Niki Lauda and Mclaren through TAG.

In 1982 the sound of the Porsche engined Mclarens was unique because you could hear the turbo whistling!! And German company KKK's turbos ought to have a place and a mention in this.

Porsche has an amazing record with its iconic cars such as the wonderful 917 and the number 23 917 that won Le Mans for the first time in 1970. And these cars can all be viewed in the new Porsche museum at Weissach.

Then the 936's and 956 cars - still the prettiest and most special of long distance racing cars with its Rothman livery. [sigh - the memories].

Another contribution has been the air cooled beetle engine that was a mainstay for so many in road and off-road racing. Formula Vee was a great formula and drivers like Lauda and Rosberg [Super Vee] cut their teeth on it.

Lauda, one of my alltime favorite people in racing, had his helmet painted red because he thought it would be easily visible by emergency workers if he crashed into the forests at the Nurburgring while he was racing Formula Vee.

Niki has such a marvellous sense of humer - love it!!! Heard the one about his reply to tourists that saw him at the Nurburgring?

They asked him what he was doing at the Bergwerk corner whjere he crashed and he answered that he was searching for his ear! LOL!!!!

Quintessential Lauda - the only driver I know of that gave his trophies away after he was presented with them at the grand prix!

[Valve Bounce]

Porsche a marque I am intimately familiar with, did not achieve only moderate success.

Then how come you didn't know they never achieved much as a manufacturer? Be careful you don't dislocate your elbow while patting yourself on the back - it might hurt.

[Saint Devote]

Then how come you didn't know they never achieved much as a manufacturer? Be careful you don't dislocate your elbow while patting yourself on the back - it might hurt.

Cheeky huh? You waste a message on criticism again? Whats the matter with you?

Porsche manufacturered engines that won championships in f1 and long distance racing sports cars and did win the French Grand Prix.

They manufactured racing cars that won championships as well as Le Mans.

You consider this nothing?!

How come you add NOTHING to this thread. Given the subject is there not a solitary person here that can offer additional comment on Germany's motorsport? Pathetic.

[Josti]

Porsche manufacturered engines that won championships in f1 and long distance racing sports cars and did win the French Grand Prix.

They manufactured racing cars that won championships as well as Le Mans.

Plus they won the Dakar Rally, twice, but that's hardly an achievement is it Saint Devote...

[Valve Bounce]

Cheeky huh? You waste a message on criticism again? Whats the matter with you?

Porsche manufacturered engines that won championships in f1 and long distance racing sports cars and did win the French Grand Prix.

They manufactured racing cars that won championships as well as Le Mans.

You consider this nothing?!

How come you add NOTHING to this thread. Given the subject is there not a solitary person here that can offer additional comment on Germany's motorsport? Pathetic.

In this forum, before your arrival, F1 manufacturers were regarded as the teams which manufacturer chassis like Frank Williams, McLaren, Ferrari etc while those people who supplied engines were regarded as engine suppliers.

Nothing cheeky about my post - I just don't like braggarts.

[Vitesse]

I read the Porsche reference as pertaining purely to their 1961-62 effort: in that respect it's accurate.

Less accurate is the oft-repeated claim that MB withdrew from racing due to the Le Mans disaster: at least this writer acknowledges the real reason, which was cost. MB's withdrawal had already been announced before Le Mans.

[Saint Devote]

Plus they won the Dakar Rally, twice, but that's hardly an achievement is it Saint Devote...

indeed, hardly!!

[Saint Devote]

In this forum, before your arrival, F1 manufacturers were regarded as the teams which manufacturer chassis like Frank Williams, McLaren, Ferrari etc while those people who supplied engines were regarded as engine suppliers.

Nothing cheeky about my post - I just don't like braggarts.

Well you can include or exclude whoever you want - but the truth remains, reality makes it evident, that Porsche IS a manufacturer of sports cars and MANUFACTURED racing engines and racing cars that have won championships. And THAT IS called success.

Secondly, a team like Williams is not a manufacturer, they are CONSTRUCTORS or as Ferrari called them garagistes, which is why the formula 1 CONSTRUCTORS championship is so named because it includes everyone.

And what goddam bragging are you referring to? - this like nursery school.

How come the posters here that have posted billions of messages are all so cantankerous and bitchy??

[blito]

Cant beat a good bit of bitchiness! TBH, it seems to me that after a while of reading and posting, ones mind becomes crammed with alsorts of info and we become "picky" about facts - a bit like school nerds arguing every last detail from their top-trumps cards as if it were life-and-death important!

My take on the "manufacturers" thing -

Manufacturer = car company that makes and sells products for normal road use.
Constructor = entrant/team/builder of track-specific cars.

So, Porsche would be a Manufacturer that have dabbled in various racing programmes over the last 60 years with varying degrees of success. Pretty much like most other manufacturers TBH.

BTW JackJason , great article, thanks for sharing