Motopark Academy (raced under Lotus moniker from 2012 to 2014) is an

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

team based in

Oschersleben Oschersleben () is a town in the Börde district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The population in 1905 was 13,271, in 2020 about 19,000. History On November 23, 994 Oschersleben was first mentioned in a document by the Emperor Otto III. In 1235 ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, next to the

Motorsport Arena Oschersleben The Motorsport Arena Oschersleben is a long race track with a width of and elevation changes of . The circuit is located in Oschersleben, Börde where is approximately from Magdeburg), Germany. Its fairly flat contours create a smooth, fast ci ...

race track. In

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, the team competed in the

GP2 Series The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Eccle ...

under the name

Russian Time Russian Time (previously known as RT Russian Time) was a Russian motor racing team founded by Igor Mazepa to compete in the GP2 Series, a category of open-wheel racing cars designed to prepare drivers for Formula One. From 2015 to 2018, the team ...

and have operated a satellite team called CryptoTower Racing.

History

Single-seaters

The team have competed in open-wheel racing consistently since the start of the 21st century. They have competed in the

Formula 3 Euro Series The Formula 3 Euro Series was a European-based junior single seater formula for Formula Three chassis that was launched (in its current form) in 2003 as a merger of the French Formula Three Championship and German Formula Three Championship. The ...

since 2009.

Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0

They were teams' champions in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 in 2004, with their American driver Scott Speed taking the drivers' title with eight wins. Motopark Academy won the drivers' title of the 2006 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season with

Filipe Albuquerque Filipe Miguel Delgadinho Albuquerque (born 13 June 1985) is a Portuguese professional racing driver, currently driving a Acura ARX-05 in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Wayne Taylor Racing, and an Oreca 07 in the FIA World Endurance Cham ...

, with the Portuguese driver collecting four wins in all.

Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup

Motopark Academy have won all four Drivers' Championships in

Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup The Formula Renault Northern European Cup (formerly Formula Renault 2.0 NEC) was a Formula Renault, Formula Renault 2.0 championship originally held in Northern Europe (Germany, Netherlands and Belgium), but has expanded over the years to the whol ...

, since it formed in 2006. They won with

in 2006,

Frank Kechele Frank Kechele (born 3 September 1986 in Nördlingen, Bavaria) is a German racing driver. He has competed in such series as Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0. He won the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup in 2007 for Motopark Academy by winning e ...

in 2007,

Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Viktor Bottas (; born 28 August 1989) is a Finnish racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Alfa Romeo, having previously driven for Mercedes from to and Williams from to . Bottas has scored race wins and podiums. H ...

in 2008 and

António Félix da Costa António Maria de Mello Breyner Félix da Costa (born 31 August 1991) is a Portuguese professional racing driver for the Porsche Formula E Team and the 2019–20 Formula E Drivers' Champion. He won the Macau Grand Prix invitational Formula Thr ...

in 2009. Motopark Academy also won the Teams' Championship of the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC three times: 2007, 2008 and 2009.

GP2 and GP3 Series

Russian Time was established by former Russian racing driver and manager Igor Mazepa and Motopark Academy team principal Timo Rumpfkeil in 2013. The team had sought an entry to the

for two years before finally being accepted in

, replacing

iSport International iSport International was a British motor racing team that competed in the GP2 Series. The team was founded by Paul Jackson, Gavin Bickerton-Jones and Richard Selwin, former members of the Petrobras Junior Team in 2004, ahead of the inaugural ...

. iSport International withdrew from the series after being unable to secure a budget to compete in the upcoming season, and so its management elected to shut the team down in order to avoid bankruptcy. The team won its first race in only its fourth appearance, when

Sam Bird Sam Jamie Bird (born 9 January 1987) is a British professional racing driver who currently drives for Jaguar TCS Racing in the FIA Formula E World Championship. Career Formula BMW Bird made his name in single seater racing in the Formula B ...

won the sprint race of the Bahrain round of the championship. The team took a second win on the streets of Monaco, with Bird finishing ahead of

Kevin Ceccon Kevin Ceccon (born 24 September 1993 in Clusone) is a professional racing driver from Italy. Career Karting Prior to his single–seater career, Ceccon enjoyed a long and successful spell in the junior karting ranks. In 2005 he achieved a fif ...

after a fourteen-car pile-up on the opening lap forced nine drivers out of the race. In 2014, the team was set to make their debut in

GP3 Series The GP3 Series, or GP3 for short, was a single-seater motor racing series launched in 2010 as a feeder series for the GP2 Series, introduced by GP2 organiser Bruno Michel. GP3 followed the entire European leg of the Formula One series and the ...

, taking Bamboo Engineering's slot and continue to participate in GP2, German Formula Three and ADAC Formel Masters. The team's preparations for the 2014 season were disrupted by the death of Mazepa from complications relating to

thrombosis Thrombosis (from Ancient Greek "clotting") is the formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel, obstructing the flow of blood through the circulatory system. When a blood vessel (a vein or an artery) is injured, the body uses platelets (thro ...

in February 2014. On 18 February 2014, it was announced that Motopark had ended their partnership with Russian Time, leaving the position of all those drivers signed on for the 2014 GP2 and GP3 seasons, in limbo.

Formula 3 and Japanese single-seaters

In 2018, Motopark spent last season in the history of

FIA Formula 3 European Championship The FIA Formula 3 European Championship was a European Formula Three(F3) auto racing competition, organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). After one season of the FIA Formula 3 International Trophy, the FIA revived t ...

with

Jonathan Aberdein Jonathan Aberdein (born 14 February 1998) is a South African racing driver. He currently competes for Jota Sport in the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship. He previously competed in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship with Motopark. He ...

Sebastián Fernández Sebastián Bruno Fernández Miglierina (born 23 May 1985) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Danubio. Club career upFernández with Málaga in 2012 Born in Montevideo, Fernández started his professional pla ...

Fabio Scherer Fabio Luca Scherer (born 13 June 1999) is a racing driver from Switzerland, currently competing in the endurance racing, representing Inter Europol Competition in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Scherer started his single-seater career ...

Marino Sato is a Japanese racing driver who most recently raced for Virtuosi Racing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship. He is the 2019 Euroformula Open champion. He is not related to former Formula One driver Takuma Sato. Racing career Formula 4 In ...

Dan Ticktum Daniel Charles Anthony Ticktum (born 8 June 1999) is a British racing driver currently racing with the NIO 333 FE Team in the Formula E World Championship. Ticktum became a member of the Red Bull Junior Team in 2017. During his time with Red ...

and

Jüri Vips Jüri Vips (born 10 August 2000) is an Estonian professional racing driver, currently competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship with Hitech Grand Prix. He is the 2017 ADAC Formula 4 champion, and formerly a member of the Red Bull Junior Team. ...

. Motopark is scheduled to make their debut in Japan in collaboration with the B-Max racing team, competing in

Super Formula The Japanese Super Formula Championship is a formula racing series. It is considered as being the top level of single-seater racing in Japan and regional motorsports in Asia. The series is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) an ...

with

Lucas Auer Lucas Auer (born 11 September 1994) is an Austrian racing driver. He is the nephew of former Formula 1 driver Gerhard Berger. He currently drives for HTP Winward Motorsport in DTM. He was a member of the Red Bull Junior Team. Early career In ...

and

Harrison Newey Harrison Newey (born 25 July 1998) is a British racing driver and the son of Formula One engineer Adrian Newey. He made his ADAC Formula 4 debut in 2015 with Van Amersfoort Racing. He also competed in the BRDC Formula 4 Championship The GB ...

and Japanese Formula 3 with

Sacha Fenestraz Sacha Fenestraz Jules (born 28 July 1999) is a French-Argentine racing driver currently competing in the Super Formula Championship with Kondō Racing. He is the 2017 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 champion. Currently, he drives for the Nissan For ...

Enaam Ahmed Enaam Ahmed (born 4 February 2000) is a British- Pakistani racing driver. Ahmed currently competes in the Indy NXT with Cape Motorsports, having previously driven for RP Motorsport in the 2021 season. He previously raced in the 2020 FIA Form ...

, 'Dragon' and Tairoku Yamaguchi. The team was also set to partake in the inaugural season of the Formula European Masters Championship reuniting with Sato and signing Red Bull Juniors Yuki Tsunoda and

Liam Lawson Liam Lawson (born 11 February 2002) is a New Zealand motor racing driver set to compete in the 2023 Super Formula Championship with Team Mugen. Lawson, who is mentored by three-time New Zealand Grand Prix winner Ken Smith, previously competed f ...

, but the series ended up being cancelled due to a lack of entrants. In April 2019, it was announced Motopark would switch to the

Euroformula Open Championship The Euroformula Open Championship (formerly the Spanish Formula Three Championship, European F3 Open Championship) is a junior formula racing series based in Spain. It was one of six national and international Formula Three championships in Europe ...

and retain its intended Formula European Masters line-up with

Julian Hanses Julian Hanses (born 31 August 1997 in Hilden) is a racing driver from Germany. He currently competes in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany The Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, also known as Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, between 1986-1989 as Porsc ...

joining in a fourth car.

Current series results

Euroformula Open Championship

† Mansell drove for Carlin in round 3.

Former series results

GP2 Series

Formula 3 Euro Series

† Shared results with other teams

FIA Formula 3 International Trophy

FIA European Formula 3

† Includes points scored for

Van Amersfoort Racing Van Amersfoort Racing is an auto racing team based in the Netherlands. In 2022 the team competes in the Formula 2 Championship, the Formula 3 Championship, the Formula Regional European Championship, Euroformula Open Championship, Italian F4 Ch ...

Japanese Formula 3 Championship

ADAC Formula 4

Formula 4 UAE Championship

Super Formula

Super Formula Lights

Timeline

Footnotes

References

External links

* * {{Twitter German auto racing teams Porsche Supercup teams Formula Renault Eurocup teams Formula 3 Euro Series teams GP2 Series teams 1998 establishments in Germany Auto racing teams established in 1998 British Formula Three teams German Formula 3 teams FIA Formula 3 European Championship teams Euroformula Open Championship teams Super Formula teams Japanese Formula 3 Championship teams International GT Open teams