MERCEDES BENZ SLS AMG GT3
GRAVITY-CHAROUZ RACING MEDIA GUIDE
MEDIA GUIDE CONTENT • About Charouz Racing System • Gravity-Charouz Racing Team • Main Team partner introduction • Racing Drivers • FIA GT3 Championship introduction • Format of the race weekend • Racing calendar • Technical specification of the racing car • Gravity-Charouz Racing Team partners • Heico Motorsport – Filip Sladecka • 2011 season • Media & contact information
ABOUT CHAROUZ RACING SYSTEM Charouz Racing System has operated in motorsport for more than twenty years. Over time it has built the reputation of a highly professional team that has been successful in many motorsport disciplines. In recent seasons, Charouz Racing System has reaped major success in sport car endurance races such as the Le Mans Series. When participating in the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Czech team has been one of the very best in the regal LMP1 category of cars powered by petrol engines. Charouz Racing System has operated successfully in the Czech Touring Car Championship for a long time. Some renowned drivers were on the Charouz Racing System roster between 2008 and 2010 in particular. They include former Formula 1 drivers and both touring and sports cars stars: Vitantonio Liuzzi, Nicolas Kiesa, Pedro Lamy, Stefan Mücke, Tomáš Enge, Peter Kox, Harold Primat and others. All the drivers drove the MercedesBenz DTM C-Klasse cars tuned by Charouz Racing System before Czech audiences. The team can boast an extensive collection of prizes from both domestic and international car races. • 1994 – victory in the High Performance Showroom Stock category at Pikes Peak (Antonín Charouz) • 2002, 2003, 2005 – 2008 – victory in the Czech Republic’s International Rally Championship (Václav Pech – 5 times, Roman Kresta in 2008) • 2004 – 2006 – victory in the Czech Republic Sprintrally Championship (Václav Pech – twice, Josef Semerád in 2006) • 2006 – victory in F3000 International Masters in the teams category (Jan Charouz, Jarek Janiš, Filip Salaquarda, Tomáš Kostka, Luiz Razia) and in the drivers category (Jan Charouz) • 2009 – participation in the victory of Aston Martin Racing at Le Mans Series in the team category (Aston Martin Racing) and in the driver category (Jan Charouz, Tomáš Enge, Stefan Mücke) • 2009 – Martin Semerád’s participation in FIA Production Car WRC • 2002 – 2010 – International Czech Republic Touring Cars Championship (25 champion titles in total) • 2010 – 2nd place in the team category of the Auto GP formula series • Antonín Charouz has won 43 champion titles over the 35 years of his career as a race car driver with Charouz Racing System www.racing.charouz.cz
GRAVITY-CHAROUZ RACING TEAM Charouz Racing System and Mercedes-Benz achieved an incredible amount of success together as part of the International Czech Republic Touring Car Championship. Out of a total of two hundred and twenty races, the cars with the three-point star logo won one hundred and fifty, gaining twenty-three titles. This is why Charouz Racing System again joined forces with Gravity Sport Management and Genii, two companies that control the Lotus Renault GP Formula 1 team among other things, and will run two brand new Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 cars under the Gravity-Charouz Racing moniker in the 2011 season, plus a third one in cooperation with Heico as part of the European FIA GT3 Championship where it wants to strive for the top positions and succeed in international competition. The Czech team’s extensive experience with German cars and touring specials of various categories make them one of the favourites. Gravity Sport Management was set up in Luxembourg in 2008 with the purpose of identifying, supporting and promoting young talent in the motorsport arena. The company began its activities in the GP2 Series, the Formula BMW Europe series, ADAC Masters, and the Moto GP 125 cc class. Gravity Sport Management works with talented young people who have the prerequisites – the willpower, talent and discipline – to become champions. In addition to other talented racers, Gravity Sport Management represents Jerome d’Ambrosio who joined the Marussia Virgin Racing Formula 1 team this year and Romain Grosjean who was a member of the Renault F1 team in 2009 and won the Auto GP series last year. The owner of Gravity Sport Management is Genii Capital, which is also the majority owner of the Lotus – Renault F1 team. Genii Capital is a private equity company based in Luxembourg. Eric Lux is the CEO. Gerard Lopez, the Chairman of the Lotus Renault GP team, is also the key member of the Board at Genii Capital, which owns a majority interest in the UK-based Formula 1 team. Genii Capital has launched the Lotus Renault GP Academy campaign in Formula 1, which involves Jan Charouz as well as Gravity Sport Management drivers.
MAIN TEAM PARTNER INTRODUCTION Interwetten Interwetten.com, an international betting provider, is the new partner to the Gravity-Charouz Racing team. Interwetten has been actively involved in the top rank motoring sport as part of the Moto GP and the World Rally Championship series. Interwetten is coming to the Czech market this year. This is why the betting company has joined forces with Charouz Racing System, the most successful Czech motoring team, which will sport Interwetten’s yellow colours in the Czech Republic and on European circuits as part of the World Series by Renault and the European FIA GT3 championship under the Gravity-Charouz Racing name.
About Interwetten Interwetten has been satisfying the desires of gamers for 20 years. Founded in 1990 as a sports betting provider, the company went online in 1997 with the website www.interwetten.com. In 2010 Interwetten presented itself to the world as an online entertainment company and in addition to the classic sports betting it served up a comprehensive live betting offer, live streams, a casino and a range of exciting games. Last year at Interwetten bets were placed on over 100,000 different sports events in over 70 countries. More than 5,000 sports events were streamed live at Interwetten.com and over 30,000 customers visited Interwetten’s Online Casino or tried their luck at one of the many Online Games.
LEONID MACHITSKI Date of birth: 4 January 1983 Nationality: Russian First race: 2006 Leo Machitski is an experienced Gran Turismo car driver. In 2006 he first drove the Aston Martin DBRS9 as part of UK’s GT3 championship and won the champion’s title straight away. Following this feat, the Russian racer was given an opportunity to drive a GT1 Aston Martin DBR9 and a LMP1 prototype of Rollcentre, which he tested during that year. In 2007 Leo Machitski participated in the FIA GT2 series with a Porsche 997 of the Tech9 Motorsport team. The best result of the Russian driver in the series was third position in the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps event. For the 2008 season, Leo Machitski stayed with Tech9 and participated in UK’s Gran Turismo championships with a Lamborghini Gallardo GT3. Aged 25 at the time, the driver had a season of bad luck as his Italian car was unreliable. In 2009 Leo Machitski focused primarily on his family and he only drove two races in UK’s GT championship. Similarly, the 28 year-old driver only participated in two events of UK’s GT series last year, driving an Aston Martin DBRS9.
Season 2011
Driver line-up no. 1 – STARTING NUMBER 11
JAKUB KNOLL Date of birth: 14 January 1991 Nationality: Czech First race: 1999 Jakub Knoll launched his racing career in Roztoky in 1999 at a Czech Republic Autocross Championship race in the Race Buggy 120 cc category. His greatest success was his overall victory in 2001. For the 2002 season, the Czech racer moved up the ranks to the Junior Buggy 600 cc category. Jakub Knoll won the European Cup in 2005 and the Czech Republic Championship in 2006. For 2007 Jakub Knoll left autocross for circuits. His premiere season was in Switzerland in the LO Formula Renault 2.0 where he was ranked 30th overall. Jakub continued in Formula Renault 2.0 in 2008 in Northern European Cup, coming 27th. The Czech driver moved up the ladder to 23rd position in 2010. In 2010 Jakub Knoll drove Charouz Racing System’s Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 for the first time. More information on www.jakubknoll.com
Season 2011
Season 2011
Driver line-up no. 2 – STARTING NUMBER 12
JAN ŠŤOVÍČEK Date of birth: 14 August 1972 Nationality: Czech First race: Hockenheim, 2010 In 2010 Jan Šťovíček started regularly appearing at the wheel of a Lamborghini Gallardo in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo brand series and in the selected events of the Czech Republic’s International Touring Championship. 2010 was an apprentice season for Jan Šťovíček who received assistance from Jarek Janiš, a successful Czech racer. Jan Šťovíček best results are fifth position in Vallelunga and three sixth positions in Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps and in Hungaroring.
Season 2011
Season 2011
Driver line-up no. 2 – STARTING NUMBER 12
FIA GT3 CHAMPIONSHIP The FIA GT3 Championship was introduced at the end of 2005. Its premier season 2006 hosted 44 cars; their number grew to 50 in the following year and exceeded 50 in 2008. The GT3 specials also quickly found their way to national championships, appearing in a number of categories. The European GT3 series is intended for semi-works and private teams. Format Teams enrol two to three cars for the FIA GT3 series; two drivers take turns on every one of them during a race. The racing weekend starts with two one-hour free practices and continues with qualifications with both drivers participating. One racing weekend involves two one-hour races. The pilot with the worse qualification results starts the first race on the grid and his team mate starts the second one. Each car must take an obligatory pit stop between the 23rd and 37th minute of the race, during which the drivers change. Racing weekend format: • 2 free practices (2 x 60 min) • 1 qualification run (50 min split into 20´/10´/20´) • 2 races (2 x 60 min – flying start) Points: 25 – 18 – 15 – 12 – 10 – 8 – 6 – 4 – 2 – 1 More information on www.fiagt3.com
RACING CALENDAR 07. – 08. 5. 04. – 05. 6. 02. – 03. 7. 16. – 17. 7. 20. – 21. 8. 15. – 16. 10.
Algarve (Portugal) Silverstone (Great Britain) Navarra (Spain) Paul-Ricard (France) Smolensk (Russia) Zandvoort (Holland)
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION OF THE MERCEDES-BENZ SLS AMG GT3 RACE CAR The German carmaker first introduced the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG in September 2009. At that point, Mercedes-AMG started working on the racing version of the “Silver Arrow”, as the German maker’s cars are often nicknamed. This is the first time that Mercedes-Benz and AMG introduced a car with a chassis and body made of an aluminium alloy. The new body incorporates an aluminium frame. The exclusive design combines a smart, lightweight structure and exceptional strength, allowing for uncompromisingly dynamic driving properties – an essential requirement for a Supersport. In addition, the aluminium body was reinforced with the mandatory protective frame. The car’s classic interior was replaced by a race car seat adapted for the mandatory HANS spine protection system and six-point seat belt. The chassis of the Mercedes-Benz AMG SLS was also fitted with racing suspension and shock absorbers. Production brakes were replaced by special racing ones, maintaining the ABS for increased braking effect. The Silver Arrow will be powered by a 6.3-litre eight-cylinder engine putting out more than 500 HP in its stock trim. However, the engine’s power will be ultimately determined by FIA, which tries to keep GT3 specification cars equally competitive using ballast.
GRAVITY-CHAROUZ TEAM – PARTNERS FOR 2011 SEASON
Charouz Racing System company cooperate in 2011 season Heico Motorsport racing Team, which entered into FIA GT3 Championship with his two Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG racing cars. Under the Heico Motorsport will compete Filip Sladecka, Charouz Racing System racing driver.
PORTRAIT / HEICO MOTORSPORT The founding HEICO Motorsport was founded 1986, as a subsidiary company of the HEICO Group. Their main focus was on the historical motor sport. This was such a success that 1991 a professional race service for modern sports cars was complemented, focusing on cars made by Porsche and BMW. With class victories in Zhuhai, Suzuka and Daytona with the Porsche 911 RSR, an overall victory at the 24h-Race at the Nürburgring with the BMW M3 and the first victory of a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, HEICO Motorsport achieved their yet biggest accomplishments. 1995 Volvo Germany stepped closer to the race team from Wiesbaden and entrusted HEICO Motorsport with the development, engineering and employment of the Volvo 850 T5. Subsequently the classics on the race track were back in focus.
The comeback In the end of 2010 HEICO Motorsport starts a comeback. Dirk-Rainer Ebeling and Norbert Brückner got together and stepped back in the Spotlight with two Mercedes-AMG SLS GT3. The Goal is to prepare the race cars for the ADAC GT Masters and a selection of long distance events of 2011. Driver line-up: Filip Sladecka – Patrick Hirsch STARTING NUMBER 45 www.heico-motorsport.com / www.patrick-hirsch.de
Starting Number 45 FILIP SLÁDEČKA Born: 8th November 1990 Nationality: Slovak First race:
Filip Sládečka started his racing cereer in 2006 when he took part in the Slovakian hill climbing championship. The Slovak won class A-1400 and was second best junior driver overall. Sládečka continued hill climbing races also in 2007 and finished second in the class A-1400 winning junior overall classification. Year 2009 marked chenge from hills to circuits. Behind the wheel of an Alfa Romeo 156 dominated Slovak championship, winning also among juniors and won FIA Central European zone under 2000 ccm. He changed car for 2010 and drove Audi A4 DTM which he used well to take second overall place in the International Czech Championship. He won Slovak championship again and also FIA Central Europe zone in the class ST-E1 +2000.
Season 2011
Season 2011
2011 SEASON In 2011 season, the company Charouz Racing System s.r.o. together with BPA sport marketing a.s. and Gravity Sport Management is cooperating on another motorsport projects.
Blancpain Lamborghini Super Trofeo project Three Lamborghini Gallardo racing cars / Gravity-Charouz Racing Team Racing drivers: Gerhard Tweraser, Petr Charouz Jan Šťovíček, Jakub Knoll Filip Sládečka, Štěpán Vojtěch www.lamborghinisupertrofeo.com
World Series by Renault project Technical background – French DAMS Team Two Formula Renault 3,5 racing cars Racing Drivers: Jan Charouz Brendon Hartley www.worldseriesbyrenault.com, www.jan-charouz.cz, www.brandonhartley.co.nz
DAMS Team in 2011 season with the support of Charouz Racing System and Gravity Sport Management will be competing in AutoGP series with Lola-Zytek racing car and Adrien Tambey (racing driver).
Other racing drivers under BPA sport marketing a.s. / Charouz Racing System s.r.o. in 2011 season: Tomas Enge GT1 World Championship / Aston Martin DBR9 – Young Driver AMR Team www.tomas-enge.com, www.gt1world.com, www.youngdriver-amr.com Vaclav Pech
International Championship of the Czech Republic v rally / Mitsubishi Evo IX. – tým Charouz Racing System Team www.vaclavpech.cz
MEDIA & CONTACT INFORMATION TV BROADCASTS CZECH REPUBLIC & SLOVAKIA GERMANY, AUSTRIA OTHER
Sport 5 Sport 1 ESPN, SkySport
INTERNET Charouz Racing System s.r.o. BPA sport marketing a.s.
www.racing.charouz.cz www.bpa.cz
Gravity Sport Management
www.gravitysportmanagement.com
Tomas Kostka Jakub Knoll
www.tomas-kostka.com www.jakubknoll.com
Sport5 FIA GT3 Championship
www.sport5.cz www.fiagt3.com
Current photos in high-resolution please visit the media web site of BPA sport marketing agency media.bpa.cz
CONTACT INFORMATION • Charouz Racing System s.r.o., technical provision of motorsport events. • BPA sport marketing a.s., the owner of the marketing and advertisement rights in the motorsport events and the satellite and cable TV focused only on motorsport within the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Jakub Knoll, press releases knoll.jakub@gmail.com Milan Bydzovsky, press releases bydzovsky@bpa.cz / motorsport@bpa.cz