Land motorsport – over 40 years of passion

The Land-Motorsport team traditionally combines passion for motorsport. The owner-managed company of Wolfgang Land realizes all assignments with experience and competence in the most diverse racing series – both for sprint and long-distance races. Team manager Wolfgang Land, was himself a successful pilot in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany and won the championship 1993 and 1997. Not until ten years later was Uwe Alzen (2007) able to follow this double success, followed by René Rast (2013) and Philipp Eng (2015). Until the end of the 2017 season, Wolfgang Land remains the champion in the statistics with the “Most race victories” in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany.

For many years, Land-Motorsport exclusively raced with Porsche. The Westerwälder team was on the starting lists of the Porsche brand cups in Germany and the Netherlands as well as at the endurance classics VLN, 24h at the Nuerburgring, in Spa and Dubai. In 2009 the team celebrated a legendary overall victory with a Porsche Cup vehicle at the 24h Dubai.

In 2012 the first AMG SLS races were added and in 2016 the team celebrated its most successful year in team history with two Audi R8 LMS.

At the season opener, the Land-Motorsport fans followed the Audi R8 LMS debut at the 24-hour race in Dubai. The following season saw 14 ADAC GT Masters races, seven of ten Nordschleife races of the VLN and the legendary 24-hour race at the Nürburgring.

After 19 overall victories at the legendary Nürburgring in Vita, another milestone in the team history was set in 2016 with the 20th overall victory in the VLN.

The debut year in the ADAC GT Masters was one of the most exciting challenges of the 2016 season. After 14 races the team won three out of four championships:

• Driver classification – Connor De Phillippi & Christopher Mies
• Junior classification – Connor De Phillippi
• Team ranking – Montaplast by Land-Motorsport

2017, the MONTAPLAST by Land-Motorsport team competes for the first time in selected IMSA races in the USA.

The team celebrates its premiere at the 24h Rolex at Daytona. The Montaplast Audi R8 LMS, called ‘Peggy Sue’, finishes with just 0.293 seconds behind the winner, managed immediately to jump onto the podium at the premiere. The team establishes itself with this second place in the GTD class in the US American racing series.

A 4th place at the 12 hour race in Sebring was followed by the deserved victory of the GTD class at the ‘Petit Le Mans’ in Road Atlanta.

In Germany, the team also continues in 2017 to compete in the ADAC GT Masters, the VLN Long Distance Championship and the ADAC Zurich 24h Race. And here, too, special new challenges will be awaiting the team from Niederdreisbach.

Under the application ‘Audi Sport Team Land’ the crew will compete for the first time in the green hell. With two works-supported Audi R8 LMS the team participates in two Nordschleife races, the Qualirennen and the ADAC Zurich 24h race.

After exhausting 24h hours this headline brings tears to our eyes:

Audi Sport Team Land wins the 45th ADAC 24h race at the Nürburgring

First overall victory in the legendary 24-hour race for Land Motorsport. In the 45th edition of the endurance classic, Audi Sport Team Land writes a new chapter for the Eifel thriller with a happy ending.

Connor De Phillippi/Christopher Mies/Markus Winkelhock and Kelvin van der Linde lose the lead in the Audi R8 LMS with start number 29 90 minutes before the end and regain their top position on the final lap. The sister car with start number 28 (De Phillippi/Mies/Kaffer/Haase) has to finish the race prematurely in the pits.

Team chief Wolfgang Land comments on the overwhelming success: “We led the field for 22 hours, lost the lead after a problem so close to the end and finally won the race. The team and the drivers did a great job and in the end were deservedly rewarded for their efforts. We’ll enjoy the success.”

In 2018, the team headed by Wolfgang and Christian Land competed in five different race series and three 24-hour races and celebrated numerous victories, podium places and pole positions.

After a successful year 2017 the aim in the GT Masters was clear: to fight for the title again! After a strong season they missed the championship by just one point.In addition to the vice titles in the drivers’ and team classification, the team with Sheldon van der Linde also repeatedly provided the champion of the junior championship.

The most successful races the team had at the two starts in the Intercontinental GT-Challenge: At the 24h in Spa they started for the first time and achieved a 3rd place with the best Audi in the field right away.

Even better was the result at Laguna Seca: After a promising qualifying session, the team was able to fight its way through the race and crossed the finish line in a superior manner!

In the American racing series IMSA as well as in the VLN at the Nürburgring the Land-Audi was always fast and hoped for podium places but due to punctures or technical problems the performance could not be turned into top results.

At the end of the season the team tested the new generation of the Audi R8 LMS GT3 at the last round of the VLN Endurance Championship. This test laid the foundation for a successful 2019 season.

24 events in four championships on three continents: The 2019 season offered an extensive programm for Team Land-Motorsport.

In 2019 MONTAPLAST by Land-Motorsport was again one of the top 3 teams in the ADAC GT Masters. With 7 podium finishes and a victory in Zandvoort, the team not only achieved the 3rd place in the team championship but especially the good work of the youngsters was rewarded. Max Hofer was not only the junior champion this year but Ricardo Feller also finished third in this ranking.

Audi Sport Team Land showed an impressive performance in the 24 H race at the Nürburgring. However, the dreams of another victory in the endurance classic were suddenly disrupted due to a puncture 2.5 hours before the end of the race.

The missions over the big ocean offered successes and challenges. After the team was withdrawn from second place at the 24h in Daytona, they were able to secure the same at the IMSA finale, the Petit le Mans, after a strong race and thus end the season in America in a conciliatory manner.

The racing calendar of the Intercontinental GT Challenge took the team around Wolfgang and Christian Land to Belgium and America, and for the first time to South Africa.  At the 9h of Kyalami, Audi Sport Team Land fought its way through a turbulent race and narrowly missed the podium with a good 4th place.

Due to the worldwide pandemic, the 2020 season started later than usual but nevertheless offered track action galore. In light of the team’s race calendar concentrating on just a few months, it was a case of consolidating strengths and braving difficult conditions to achieve success. For MONTAPLAST by Land-Motorsport, this meant focusing on races in Europe, which turned out to be an effective strategy, with the team establishing a milestone in the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie. The Niederdreisbach-based squad secured its 25^th victory in the series formerly known as VLN – a success that only four other teams achieved in the championship’s 40-year history.

The team also maintained its successful course in the Nürburgring 24 Hours until the Eifel thriller started living up to its name: Car #29, with drivers Christopher Mies, René Rast, Kelvin van der Linde and Mattia Drudi, was headed for the podium but in the end couldn’t clinch the sought-after position on the rostrum. Despite all setbacks, the Audi Sport Team Land secured sixth place in the nerve-racking endurance classic, which was reduced to just 14.5 hours driving time due to heavy rain.

Land-Motorsport mobilised all its energy for the ADAC GT Masters title fight. Twelve Top 10 results – including two podiums and a victory – were recorded at the end of a vivid season.

To the current news …

In 2021, in the second year marked by the corona pandemic, MONTAPLAST by Land-Motorsport made it clear from the get-go that they would be a force to be reckoned with. The team immediately caused a stir at the start of the ADAC GT Masters season: together with its new partner MANN-FILTER, Land-Motorsport presented the first Audi R8 LMS GT3 in the typical, yellow-green Mamba design. But that wouldn’t be all. After 14 races on seven different tracks, the squad again secured all three championship titles in a repeat of 2016, something no other team has achieved to date. After a thrilling finale at the Nürburgring, the squad’s home track, Land-Motorsport not only crowned itself the most successful team, but also celebrated victory in the drivers’ championship with Christopher Mies and Ricardo Feller. On top of that, the team launched Ricardo Feller to the Junior championship – the fourth Junior title since entering the series.

In the 24-hour race in the Eifel at the beginning of June, however, lucked wasn’t on Land-Motorsport’s side. The 49th edition went down as the shortest race in the history of the event. The #29 Audi piloted by Christopher Mies, René Rast and Kelvin van der Linde dropped out of the race 1.5 hours before the chequered flag while on course for the podium.

The Land-Motorsport 2022 team competed in the ADAC GT Masters for the seventh time in a row. As reigning champions in all classes, the team lined up with three Audi R8 LMS GT3s for the first time in the team’s history. However, the racing team from Niederdreisbach mastered the new challenge: successes such as the race wins at the season opener in Oschersleben and at the Lausitzring were among the highlights of the season. Under the lead of Wolfgang and Christian Land, who increasingly took over the reins as Team Manager, the focus remained on young talents. Young drivers such as Tim Zimmermann and Jusuf and Salman Owega made great strides over the year. The interaction with a well-practiced crew, experienced engineers and professionals once again formed a valuable basis for the young drivers.

Strong results on the Nordschleife and in international endurance races characterized the 2023 season: The team was especially eye-catching at the Nürburgring 24 Hours – and not just because of a strong sixth place. The design of the Audi R8 LMS GT3 driven by Christopher Mies, Christopher Haase and Patric Niederhauser was reminiscent of Walter Röhrl’s glory days in rallying.

In 2023, several races in the 24H Series stood on the program. With the Kirchhoff Group and its drivers, Land-Motorsport not only found new partners, but also new friends. The same can be said for Stefan Wieninger, who enriched the racing team and provided refreshments in the paddock with his brewery. And there was no shortage of work with young talent either: Land-Motorsport was responsible for the GTC Race screening test, among other things, to help young talents move up into GT3 racing.

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