Phoenix Racing (Germany)
Encyclopedia
Phoenix Racing is a motor racing team based at the Nürburgring
Nürburgring
The Nürburgring is a motorsport complex around the village of Nürburg, Germany. It features a modern Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a much longer old North loop track which was built in the 1920s around the village and medieval castle of Nürburg in the Eifel mountains. It is located about...

 in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. The team competes in series such as the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters is a touring car racing series based in Germany, but also with rounds elsewhere in Europe....

 and FIA GT1 World Championship
FIA GT1 World Championship
The FIA GT1 World Championship is a world championship sports car racing series developed by the SRO Group and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . It features multiple grand tourer race cars based on production road cars and conforming with the GT1 regulations competing in...

.

History

Phoenix Racing competed in the German Supertouring Championship in 1999 with Michael Bartels
Michael Bartels
Michael Bartels is a professional racing driver. He is a multiple FIA GT champion and former Grand Prix driver who failed to qualify for 4 Formula One races with Lotus.-Career:...

 and Arnd Meier
Arnd Meier
Arnd Meier is a former race car driver. After finishing second in the 1996 German Formula Three Championship behind Jarno Trulli, but ahead of teammate Nick Heidfeld, Meier participated in the 1997 and 1998 seasons of the CART World Series for Project Indy and Davis Racing...

 driving Audi A4
Audi A4
The first generation Audi A4 debuted in 1994, with production starting November 1994. It was built on the Volkswagen Group B5 platform, which it shared with the fourth generation Volkswagen Passat . It had a front-mounted longitudinal engine and front-wheel drive...

s. The team moved to the revived Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters is a touring car racing series based in Germany, but also with rounds elsewhere in Europe....

 series in 2000, running Opel Astra V8 Coupe
Opel Astra
The Opel Astra is a small family car engineered and manufactured by the German automaker Opel since 1991.It is branded as Vauxhall Astra in the United Kingdom, the Buick Excelle XT in China and the Chevrolet Astra/Vectra in Latin America...

s, with Manuel Reuter
Manuel Reuter
Manuel Reuter is a German former race car driver.He has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice:*in 1989 24 Hours of Le Mans for Sauber-Mercedes*in 1996 24 Hours of Le Mans for Joest Racing...

 finishing as runner-up and Bartels finishing seventh. The team also won the 24 Hours of Nürburgring in a Porsche GT3-R with Bartels, Uwe Alzen
Uwe Alzen
Uwe Alzen is a German racing driver specialised in touring car racing and sports car racing....

, Altfrid Heger
Altfrid Heger
Altfrid Heger is a German racing driver who competed in the 1987 World Touring Car Championship. He won the 1988 Guia Race. Heger is the co-founder of Hegersport, a German company which organizes auto racing series such as the V8Star Series....

 and Bernd Mayländer
Bernd Mayländer
Bernd Mayländer is a German racing driver.- Racing career :Bernd started his career in karting sport at the end of the 1980s. In the following years he made his way to the Formula Ford, the Porsche Carrera Cup and the original DTM. In 2000, he won the 24 Hours Nürburgring in a Porsche 911 GT3-R...

 as drivers. Phoenix repeated this victory in 2003 in an Opel Astra with Reuter, Timo Scheider
Timo Scheider
Timo Scheider is a German racing driver who competes in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters for Audi. He won the title in 2008 and 2009.-Karting:...

, Volker Strycek
Volker Strycek
Volker Strycek is a German racecar driver and automobile manager.In 1984 he became the first Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft champion, driving a BMW 635 CSi, without winning a race...

 and Marcel Tiemann
Marcel Tiemann
Marcel Tiemann is a race driver from Germany. He is best known for being a five-time winner of the 24 Hours Nürburgring race....

. Opel began to struggle in the DTM in 2001, with Reuter the best Opel in ninth position and Phoenix teammate Yves Oliver finishing down in 22nd place. Phoenix and Opel never won another DTM race up until the end of 2005, when the manufacturer withdrew. For 2006, there was a need for more cars to be run by the remaining two manufacturers, Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...

 and Audi
Audi
Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand , positioned as the premium brand within the Volkswagen Group....

. This led to Phoenix running one-year old Audi A4
Audi A4
The first generation Audi A4 debuted in 1994, with production starting November 1994. It was built on the Volkswagen Group B5 platform, which it shared with the fourth generation Volkswagen Passat . It had a front-mounted longitudinal engine and front-wheel drive...

s from the 2006 season onwards. In 2011 Matin Tomcyzk won the DTM
DTM
In sport:* Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, a motor-racing series staged annually in Germany since 2000* Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, a motor-racing championship staged in Germany from 1984 to 1995In computing:...

 drivers title for Pheonix at the penultimate race in Valencia, with 3 victories, 7 total podiums, and 1 pole postion.
Phoenix Racing also began competing in the FIA GT Championship
FIA GT Championship
The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout the years has visited other continents including Asia and South...

 in 2006, with Jean-Denis Deletraz
Jean-Denis Deletraz
Jean-Denis Délétraz is a racing driver from Switzerland. He participated in three Formula One Grands Prix, debuting in the 1994 Australian Grand Prix, and scored no championship points during his career....

 and Andrea Piccini
Andrea Piccini
Andrea Piccini is a Italian racing driver, currently competing in the FIA GT1 World Championship for Hexis AMR.-Single Seaters:...

 finishing the season as runners-up in an Aston Martin DBR9
Aston Martin DBR9
The Aston Martin DBR9 is a racing car built by Aston Martin Racing, debuting in 2005. The name DBR9 is derived from the original 24 Hours of Le Mans-winning DBR1 car, named for then-owner David Brown, which not only won the 24 Hour race in 1959 but also the World Sportscar title.-Development:Based...

. For 2007 the team joined up with Toine Hezemans
Toine Hezemans
Toine Hezemans was an active Dutch touring and prototype racing car driver in 1960s and 1970s, nowadays one of principals of Phoenix Carsport....

' Carsport Holland team to form Phoenix Carsport. Deletraz and Mike Hezemans
Mike Hezemans
Mike Hezemans is a professional racecar driver from the Netherlands. He was born in Eindhoven in 25 July 1969 and is son of Toine Hezemans.Hezemans has been a regular driver in the FIA GT Championship since its inception in 1997, having also driven for its predecessor series, the BPR Global GT Series...

 finished in third place in the standings racing a Corvette C6.R. In 2008, Hezemans and Fabrizio Gollin finished as runners-up for the team. In 2009, Carsport returned to running their team with Peka Racing, but Phoenix and Carsport will again partner each other in 2010 for the first season of the FIA GT1 World Championship
FIA GT1 World Championship
The FIA GT1 World Championship is a world championship sports car racing series developed by the SRO Group and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . It features multiple grand tourer race cars based on production road cars and conforming with the GT1 regulations competing in...

.
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