EMKA Racing was a British racing team founded in 1980 by

Steve O'Rourke Steve O'Rourke ( – ) was an English music manager and racing driver. He is known for being the manager of Pink Floyd, a position he held from 1968 until his death. Among his accomplishments is negotiating Pink Floyd's split with bass player and ...

, manager of the band Pink Floyd. The team occasionally ran under the name of EMKA Productions, the name of O'Rourke's management company. The team's name comes from O'Rourke's two daughters, Emma and Katheryne. O'Rourke and EMKA concentrated on

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is ...

with brief interludes into British Formula One until 1985 when the team was broken up before returning again in 1991. The team was finally dissolved in early 2004 following O'Rourke's death. The team had won the drivers championship for O'Rourke and Tim Sugden in the British GT Championship in 1997 and 1998.

History

1980–1985

Following Steve O'Rourke's years of amateur

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 ...

, he had succeeded in entering the

1979 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 47th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 9 and 10 June 1979. With no other major works cars this year, the Porsche team were the strong favourites to win. Their competition would be from Cosworth-pow ...

where he took a respectable 12th-place finish in a Ferrari 512BB. With Pink Floyd's scheduling becoming less of a conflict, O'Rourke was able to fully concentrate on racing and formed EMKA Racing, a division of his EMKA Productions record label, for the 1980 season. Debuting at the Six Hours of Silverstone, he took a seventh-place finish before taking 23rd at Le Mans. Now established, O'Rourke purchased a BMW M1 and signed driver Derek Bell as his co-driver. Collaborating with Michael Cane Racing the team took a second-place finish at Silverstone before suffering problems at Le Mans with drivers David Hobbs and

Eddie Jordan Edmund Patrick Jordan, OBE (born 30 March 1948), also known as EJ, is an Irish businessman, television personality and former motorsport team owner. Born in Dublin, Jordan worked first at the Bank of Ireland. He won the Irish Kart Championship ...

, future owner of

Jordan Grand Prix Jordan Grand Prix was a Formula One constructor that competed from 1991 to 2005. The team was named after Irish businessman and founder Eddie Jordan. The team was based at Silverstone, UK but raced with an Irish licence. In early 2005, the t ...

. For

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

, the team took a third-place finish although O'Rourke himself did not drive the car. For 1982, Derek Bell was replaced on the team by Nick Mason, drummer for Pink Floyd, who had been participating the past few years with the Dorset Racing team. The team did not see much success. In the same year, O'Rourke and EMKA also entered the British Formula One series for two races with a

Williams FW07 The Williams FW07 was a ground effect Formula One racing car designed by Patrick Head, Frank Dernie, and Neil Oatley for the 1979 F1 season. Design 1979 It was closely based on the Lotus 79, even being developed in the same wind tunnel at ...

, scoring a third place at

Thruxton Circuit The Thruxton Circuit is a motor-racing circuit located near the village of Thruxton in Hampshire, England, United Kingdom, about 30 miles north of Southampton. It has hosted motorsport events including the British Touring Car Championship, B ...

. For 1983, EMKA's success was recognised by Aston Martin, with the two reaching an agreement to run sportscars built by Michael Cane Racing and powered by Aston Martin engines. The first chassis, known as an EMKA C83/1, was designed by

Len Bailey Leonard Bailey (25 July 1926 – 23 June 1997) was a British automobile designer. Career Leonard Bailey became an apprentice at Austin at Longbridge in 1942 which at that time were building Short Stirlings for the Royal Air Force of World War ...

and used a production-based Aston Martin V8 engine as its powerplant. O'Rourke was joined in the cockpit by

Tiff Needell Timothy "Tiff" Needell (born 29 October 1951 in Havant, Hampshire) is a British racing driver and television presenter. He is a presenter of '' Lovecars'', and formerly served as co-presenter of ''Top Gear'' and ''Fifth Gear''. Biography Need ...

and took 17th place at Le Mans in their debut year. For 1985 the EMKA ASTON-MARTIN was modified by Michael Cane Racing with design work being done by Richard Owen and continued support from Aston Martin. O'Rourke and Needell took an eleventh-place finish at Le Mans which saw the entry briefly leading the race in the opening hours. The EMKA Aston Martin failed to finish any of the other races it appeared at that season. Steve O'Rourke decided to take a break from international motorsport.

1991–2003

O'Rourke would briefly return to racing in 1993, entering an old Porsche 935 in the new

British GT Championship The British GT Championship is a sports car racing series based predominantly in the United Kingdom. The series was originally created by the British Racing Drivers' Club in 1993 and, for its first two seasons, was known as the National Sports GT ...

. However come 1995 he would bring EMKA Racing back full-time. Initially using his 935, he later purchased a new

Porsche 911 GT2 The Porsche 911 GT2 is a high-performance, track-focused sports car built by the German automobile manufacturer Porsche from 1993 to 2009, and then since 2010 as the GT2 RS. It is based on the 911 Turbo, and uses a similar twin-turbocharged engin ...

, which saw an eleventh-place finish at Silverstone 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 ...

event. Joined by Guy Holmes, he would participate in the bulk of the

1996 BPR Global GT Series season The 1996 BPR International Endurance GT Series was the third and final season of BPR Global GT Series. It is a series for Grand Touring style cars broken into two classes based on power and manufacturer involvement, called GT1 and GT2. It began o ...

, with best finishes of 18th at both Monza and

Paul Ricard Paul Louis Marius Ricard (; July 9, 1909 – November 7, 1997) was a French industrialist and creator of an eponymous pastis brand which merged in 1975 with its competitor Pernod to create Pernod Ricard. Ricard was also an environmentalist and t ...

. He also made his first return to Le Mans since 1985, although his car would last a mere 32 laps before retiring. For 1997, EMKA Racing would return to the British GT Championship. O'Rourke and co-driver Tim Sugden would take a best finish of second at Donington Park en route to taking the GT2 class drivers championships by the end of the season. With this success, O'Rourke made the decision to move to the more powerful GT1 class for 1998, purchasing a used

McLaren F1 GTR The McLaren F1 GTR is the racing variant of the McLaren F1 sports car first produced in 1995 for grand touring style racing, such as the BPR Global GT Series, FIA GT Championship, JGTC, and British GT Championship. It was powered by the nat ...

. The team managed two wins in British GT at

Oulton Park Oulton Park is a hard surfaced track used for motor racing, close to the village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England. It is about from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington, with a nearby rail connection al ...

and Spa-Francorchamps, again earning them the championship in their class. The duo would also be joined by

Bill Auberlen Bill Auberlen (born October 12, 1968) is an American factory race car driver known for his affiliation with BMW, driving cars made and run by the famous German marque for a number of years. Auberlen currently competes for Turner Motorsport i ...

for Le Mans, earning a fourth-place finish, O'Rourke's personal best. The team continued to campaign the McLaren F1 GTR in British GT in 1999, winning the round at Silverstone. Unfortunately the team would not be able to manage to win the drivers championship, finishing fifth instead. The top GT class would be abandoned in 2000 making the team's McLaren illegal, so O'Rourke joined EMKA Racing with fellow British team GTC Competition and moved the duo to the international

FIA GT Championship The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...

's lower N-GT class, running a new

Porsche 911 GT3 The Porsche 911 GT3 is a high-performance homologation model of the Porsche 911 sports car. It is a line of high-performance models, which began with the 1973 911 Carrera RS. The GT3 has had a successful racing career in the one-make national ...

-R. The team would have a best finish of second in class at the A1-Ring and would finish fourth in the teams championship. The co-operation with GTC Competition and EMKA continued to campaign their Porsche in the N-GT class in 2001, again scoring their best result at the A1-Ring with a fourth-place finish in class. Unfortunately in the teams championship they managed to tie for eighth place, down from the previous year. The team would return again to British GT for 2002, with two third-place finishes at

and

Castle Combe Circuit Castle Combe Circuit is a motor racing circuit in Wiltshire, England, approximately from Bristol. The circuit is based on the perimeter track of a former World War II airfield, and was opened for racing in 1950. History The Castle Combe ...

. Citing health concerns, O'Rourke would retire towards the end of the 2002 season, with Martin Short taking over O'Rourke driving position alongside Tim Sugden as the team went into 2003. The team once again switched back to the

's N-GT class, but with greater success. At the third round at

Pergusa Pergusa is an Italian village of Sicily. It is a ''frazione'' of Enna, the administrative seat of the same-named province. Geography Pergusa lies in hills about 10 km south of Enna. Pergusa is reached by the '' Enna- Gela Road'', which all ...

, the team won the N-GT class. This led to Porsche taking interest in the team and offering factory driver

Emmanuel Collard Emmanuel Collard (born 3 April 1971) is a French professional racing driver. He is a former member of the Porsche Junioren factory team, but also drives for other marques. Born in Arpajon, Essonne, Collard is the winner of the Le Mans Serie ...

. This led to a second class win at Anderstorp, and eventually fourth place in the N-GT team championship.

Demise

Mere days after the end of the FIA GT season, Steven O'Rourke would pass away in the United States due to a stroke. The team, which had received strong support from Porsche for preparation for the 2004 season, was unable to survive without O'Rourke's leadership. The team would fold prior to the start of the 2004 season, with its assets being sold off, including O'Rourke's racing cars such as his McLaren F1 GTR and the EMKA-badged

Group C Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for touring cars and ''Group B'' for GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 special production cars (closed top touri ...

cars. Tim Sugden would also move on to the GruppeM team.

External links

Aston Martin Picture Gallery
– EMKA Aston Martin {{DEFAULTSORT:Emka Racing British auto racing teams Aston Martin 24 Hours of Le Mans teams FIA GT Championship teams British GT Championship teams World Sportscar Championship teams Auto racing teams established in 1980 Auto racing teams disestablished in 2004

History

1980–1985

1991–2003

Demise

See also

External links