Zakspeed: Encyclopedia II - Zakspeed - 1982 to 1989: Endurance cars and F1

Zakspeed - 1982 to 1989: Endurance cars and F1

Their turbocharged 1.4 L engine from the Capri was later enlarged and used in the World Endurance Championship from 1982 onwards in the Ford C100. The Zakspeed-prepared machine was run by the works Ford Germany team with Klaus Ludwig, Manfred Winkelhock and Marc Surer at the wheel, but the car was a midfielder at best, although Jonathan Palmer and Desire Wilson score a 4th place overall the 1000 Km of Brands Hatch in 1982. Ford Germany removed their support and one car was sold to privateers, while the other chassis were evolved by Zakspeed into the C1/4 and the C1/8, making few appearances in international racing, but becoming a front-runner in the German Interserie, where it won the championship in 1984 with Klaus Niedzwiedz.

The engine was the basis for their Formula 1 entry from 1985 to 1988. In spite of the team's engineering expertise, Zakspeed never managed to create a competitive chassis/engine package. Their first car, the 184, debuted in 1985, one year after the original plan, and was already outdated. Even with drivers such as the first Formula 3000 champion Christian Danner and ex-Tyrrell driver Martin Brundle, their best result was a 5th place in the 1987 San Marino Grand Prix, thanks to Brundle.

For their final season, in 1989, they had to use Yamaha engines as turbos were banned. The Japanese engine was unreliable and drivers Bernd Schneider (former German Formula 3 champion) and the rookie Aguri Suzuki struggled to pre-qualify the car. In the end, Zakspeed were notable for building their own chassis and engine, something only Ferrari did at that time, but with no competitive showings in five years, the team left Formula One and returned to touring cars, where they had once been at the top of the game.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "1982 to 1989: Endurance cars and F1", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki