Konrad Motorsport knows racing backwards and forwards

Konrad Motorsport is the racing team founded in 1976 by the Austrian racer Franz Konrad. Over the years team competed in various championships, mostly running Porsches.

Konrad was an accomplished driver

Franz Konrad, born on 8th of June 1951 in Graz, Austria, is one of those great motorsport enthusiasts who was an accomplished driver. During his racing career he was German Formula 3 champion, winner of Nurburgring 24 Hours and the European GT Championship winner. Still being an active racing driver, he decided to use his knowledge and experience, and established his own team.

Franz Konrad, founder and owner of Konrad Motorsport

The team based in the town of Verl in Germany quickly became one of the leading racing teams in the country and soon after broke to the international stage. Over the decades, Konrad Motorsport mostly ran Porsche cars but also operated with Lamborghini, Ferrari, and Saleen. The preparation and planning of both sprint and endurance racing are not the only work of Konrad Motorsport. The factory also supports a tuning business for private customers wishing to have expert advice for their cars.

Blistering start

It is difficult to enumerate all the success that Konrad himself and the team achieved during more than 40 years, so we’ll try to focus only on the most important.

In the year of its foundation, Franz Konrad won the European GT Championship title while the next great success was achieved in 1983 when Konrad became German Formula 3 champion driving an Anson SA4-Toyota. Two years earlier he was the series runner-up. In 1987 Konrad was 4th at Le Mans 24h driving the Leyton House/Kremer Porsche alongside South Africans Wayne Taylor and George Fouche. Three years later, as a member of Jaguar factory squad alongside Jan Lammers and Andy Wallace, Konrad finished 2nd at Le Mans.

1991 Konrad KM-011 Lamborghini

In 1991 Franz Konrad won Sportscar World Championship title driving the Konrad Lamborghini KM011. Two years later, with the Porsche 911 Carrera prepared by Konrad Motorsport, Franz and his co-drivers Ornulf Wirdheim, Frank Katthofer, and Tonico de Azevedo, won the Nurburgring 24 hours and also triumphed in the 1000 miles of Brasilia race. Konrad Motorsport also was 3rd in the Porsche Carrera Germany that year and 3rd at Spa 24h.

Two years later another victory at 1000 miles of Brasilia was achieved. The start of 1997 season was good after Konrad Motorsport, with Franz Konrad, Bob Wollek, Yannick Dalmas, and Wido Rossler behind the wheel of Porsche 911 GT2, finished 3rd in the class at Daytona 24 hours. The same year team won its maiden Porsche Carrera title.

Victory at Daytona and the ALMS title

The 1998 season was even better. Konrad Motorsport won the GT2 class at Daytona 24h. That was followed by a victory at 12 Hours of Sebring while the crown of the campaign was another triumph in the Porsche Carrera Cup.

Konrad – Saleen S7R

In the following years Konrad Motorsport raced in various championships but had to wait until 2001 when the team won the title in GTS class of the American Le Mans Series with Konrad Saleen S7R. With the same car Konrad Motorsport was the 2002 ALMS Cup Champion in the GT class. In the following years Konrad Motorsport competed with a considerable success in FIA GT Championship (3 race wins scored in 2004) and other series.

Excellent results in both sprint and endurance racing

In 2006 Konrad Motorsport won the 24 Hours of Bahrain with the 911 GT3 RSR car and competed in the Porsche Supercup without too much success. The following year was somewhat better after Patrick Huisman scored two wins before finishing 4th in the Drivers’ Championship while 6th position was won in the Teams’ standings. In 2007 Konrad Motorsport also was 2nd overall in 24 Hours of Dubai.

Konrad Motorsport won both 2009 Porsche Supercup titles

The seasons of 2008 and 2009 were excellent. Konrad Motorsport won the Porsche Supercup Teams’ title in 2008 while in the following year both Drivers’ (Jeroen Bleekemolen) and Teams’ Championship titles were won.

Konrad Motorsport is onne of the best Porsche teams

Nick Tandy was the Porsche Supercup runner-up in 2010 while the team finished 3rd in the standings that year. The British driver also was a runner-up in the Porsche Carrera Germany that year after winning five out of nine races. In 2011 Konrad Motorsport took the 3rd place in the Porsche Supercup Teams’ Championship while Tandy managed to win the title in the Porsche Carrera Cup. Konrad Motorsport remained among the top teams in both Porsche Series in 2012 and finished 3rd in the standings.

Sean Edwards, Konrad Motorsports, 2012 Porsche Supercup at Monza

At the beginning of 2013 Konrad Motorsport won the pole position for Daytona 24 Hours GT class but the car retired from the race on lap 181. However, the rest of the season was better. Rolf Ineichen became the B-class champion of the Porsche Carrera Cup and Christian Engelhart was the series vice-champion.

Lamborghini as a new ‘toy’

Ineichen defended his B-class crown in 2014 and Engelhart dropped to the 3rd place overall in the Porsche Carrera standings. The Supercup campaign also was a solid one after the 4th place was won in the final classification. In 2015, for the third year in a row Ineichen won the B-class title in the Porsche Carrera Cup.

The same year Konrad Motorsport debuted in the European Lamborghini Super Trofeo championship and immediately made an impact. Mark Ineichen finished 2nd in Am-class while Adrian Amstutz was 3rd in the Pro-Am class. The team finished 3rd in the standings of both classes.

Konrad Motorsport’s Lamborghini at Nurburgring

Finally, in 2016 Konrad Motorsport dominated Porsche Carrera Cup Germany. Factory junior driver Sven Muller became a champion and also led to the Teams’ championship title. At the same time, Konrad Motorsport was 5th in the European Lamborghini Super Trofeo.

Photo: konradmotorsport.de, drivetribe.com, wheelsage.org, racingnews.co