Obermaier-Racing GmbH was a German

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 and tuning garage founded by Hans Obermaier and

Jürgen Lässig Jürgen Lässig (born February 25, 1943 in Tuttlingen) is a German former racing driver. Lässig began competing in endurance sports car racing, often World Sportscar Championship races in the early 1980s for Obermaier Racing and drove in several ...

. Specializing in

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...

s for much of their history, the team competed at the top level of the

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and No ...

from 1983 until 1990 before finding success in the various incarnations of the

Porsche Carrera Cup Porsche Carrera Cup (sometimes abbreviated PCC) is a number of one-make racing by Porsche premier series competed with, initially Porsche 911 Carrera Cup, then later Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars. The cars are specifically built by Porsche for one-m ...

. The team was later known as Oberbayern Motorsport before their auto racing activities ceased in 2000.

History

Johann Obermaier started his small engine repair company in

Halsbach Halsbach is a municipality in the district of Altötting in Bavaria in 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 ...

in 1933. A takeover of the Allgaier tractor repair shop in 1952 brought Obermaier their first experience with Porsches through their tractor business. As agriculture sales started to diminish in the 1960s the company moved to automotive repairs until Johann passed away in 1967. Hans took over the company, eventually specializing in Porsche automotive repairs by the early 1970s while still working with agricultural equipment. The move into motorsports began in 1978, as the business was able to cover the cost of racing endeavors of Hans Obermaier with a Porsche Carrera RS and later

Porsche 934 The Porsche 934 was a racing version of the Porsche 911 Turbo, prepared to FIA Group 4 rules, similar to the Porsche 935 which was prepared to FIA Group 5 rules. History The Porsche 934 was introduced for the 1976 racing season. It was manufactur ...

. Obermaier had early amateur success, including winning a four-hour race at the

Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...

and aiding the development of a rallying Porsche for

Walter Röhrl Walter Röhrl (; born 7 March 1947) is a German rally and auto racing driver, with victories for Fiat, Opel, Lancia and Audi as well as Porsche, Ford and BMW. Röhrl has scored 14 victories over his career, with his notable achievements including ...

but became frustrated with Porsche. Instead, a former factory

BMW M1 The BMW M1 (model code E26) is a mid-engined sports car produced by German automotive manufacturer BMW from 1978 until 1981. In the late 1970s, Italian automobile manufacturer Lamborghini entered into an agreement with BMW to build a production ...

was purchased for the

Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft (translated as ''German Racing Championship'') or simply DRM as it was known, was a touring car and Sportscar racing series. It is regarded as a predecessor of the current DTM as Germany's top national series. Hist ...

(DRM) in 1980 for driver

, achieving mixed success over the following years. The pair formally created Obermaier Racing in 1983 following the purchase of a

Porsche 956 The Porsche 956 was a Group C sports-prototype racing car designed by Norbert Singer and built by Porsche in 1982 for the FIA World Sportscar Championship. It was later upgraded to the 956B in 1984. In 1983, driven by Stefan Bellof, this car est ...

with funding from sponsor

Hugo Boss Hugo Boss AG, often styled as BOSS, is a luxury fashion house headquartered in Metzingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company sells clothing, accessories, footwear, and fragrances. Hugo Boss is one of the largest German clothing companies, ...

, setting their sights on international motorsport with the

Interserie Interserie is the name of a European-based motorsport series started in 1970 that allows for a wide variety of racing cars from various eras and series to compete with less limited rules than in other series. Created in 1970 by German Gerhard Härl ...

and

European Sportscar Championship The European Sportscar Championship was a name used by several sports car racing championships based in Europe. Initially created in 1970 by the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) as the European 2-Litre Sports Car Championship f ...

with their new Porsche. Lässig with co-driver

Axel Plankenhorn Axel may refer to: People * Axel (name), all persons with the name Places * Axel, Netherlands, a town ** Capture of Axel, a battle at Axel in 1586 Arts, entertainment, media * ''Axel'', a 1988 short film by Nigel Wingrove * ''Axel'', a Cirque ...

completed the European Endurance Championship for Drivers in seventh place, finishing all races during the season. Belgian

Hervé Regout Hervé Regout (born 4 November 1952) is a Belgian racing driver. He competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans nine times between 1980 and 1994 and also competed in the 1979 British Formula One Championship The 1979 British Formula One Championship (f ...

became Lassig's new teammate for the

from

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

onward before later being joined by Spaniard

Jesús Pareja Jésus Pareja (born 6 March 1955) is a retired Spanish racing driver. Pareja drove in the FIA World Sports-Prototype Championship, the Spanish Touring Car Championship and Global GT Championship. The 1990 Montreal incident Pareja was involved ...

, earning consistent top-ten finishes over the years. During this time Obermaier also made an entry in the

Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft The Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM) was a touring car racing series held from 1984 to 1996. Originally based in Germany, it held additional rounds elsewhere in Europe and later worldwide. The original DTM had resumed racing with producti ...

(DTM) with a BMW 635 CSi for

Harald Grohs Harald Grohs (born 1944) is a race driver and team owner from Essen, Germany. Grohs took part in more than 50 24 Hours endurance racing races, mainly 24 Hours of Le Mans and 24 Hours Nürburgring. Career as driver *1973 first races in a Porsc ...

, finishing third in the championship in 1984 and 1985. Obermaier upgrade to a new

Porsche 962C The Porsche 962 (also known as the 962C in its Group C form) is a sports-prototype racing car built by Porsche as a replacement for the 956 and designed mainly to comply with IMSA's GTP regulations, although it would later compete in the Europe ...

in 1987 as well as new sponsorship from French company Primagaz brought by new driver

Pierre Yver Pierre Yver (born 23 July 1947) is a French racing driver 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 invent ...

. The highlight of the year was a second-place finish at the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

, one of only 14 cars to complete the race duration. Meanwhile, Grohs competed in Porsche's new 944 Turbo Cup series, finishing in third place in 1986 and 1988. Lässig and Yver returned for a full World Championship campaign in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

but earned no points over the season. Otto Altenbach joined the team as a driver and team principal in 1990, purchasing a second 962C for the team but the season was yet again fruitless. Obermaier partnered with Antoine Salamin's eponymous team for the

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

campaign with the best finish of fourth at the Nürburgring for Altenbach and

Jürgen Oppermann Jürgen or Jurgen is a popular masculine given name in Germany, Estonia, Belgium and the Netherlands. It is cognate with George. Notable people named Jürgen include: A * Jürgen Ahrend (born 1930), German organ builder *Jürgen Alzen (born 1 ...

. The team rounded out their 962 era with two final appearances at Le Mans in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

with a seventh-place finish in latter event. The team instead concentrated on the new

Porsche Supercup The Porsche Supercup (officially known as Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, known as Porsche Michelin Supercup prior to 2007) is an international one-make sports car racing series supporting the FIA Formula One World Championship organized by Porsche ...

series starting in 1993, although international sports car racing was kept alive by appearances in the

BPR Global GT Series The BPR Global GT Series (sometimes referred to as the BPR Global GT Endurance Series or simply abbreviated as BPR.) was a grand tourer-based sports car racing series which ran from 1994 to 1996 before becoming the FIA GT Championship in 1997. The ...

with Porsche 911 Turbos as well as a joint effort with a

Ferrari F40 The Ferrari F40 (''tipo'' F120) is a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive sports car engineered by Nicola Materazzi with styling by Pininfarina. It was built from 1987 until 1992, with the LM and GTE race car versions continuing production until 1994 ...

at Le Mans in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

. Obermaier continued to rank in the top five in the Porsche Supercup and Carrera Cup Germany championships, including winning the Supercup teams championship in 1996, until Hans Obermaier ended racing activities in 2000, concentrating instead on motorsport and automotive repairs and restorations.

References

External link

* {{webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161113173345/http://www.kfz-obermaier.com/, date=13 November 2016, title=Official site German auto racing teams 1983 establishments in Germany 24 Hours of Le Mans teams World Sportscar Championship teams Porsche Supercup teams Auto racing teams established in 1983 Auto racing teams disestablished in 2000