Hippe is a former Formula and LMP3 driver. First outing as team manager of Inter Europol Competition at Spa-Francorchamps.

Martin Hippe enjoyed a successful weekend at the inaugural Prototype Cup Germany event at the end of April. The 36-year-old was making his first appearance as team manager of Inter Europol Competition at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium, and his team claimed a podium at the first attempt: the pairing of Jamie Winslow and Damian Ciosek finished runner-up in race two at the wheel of the yellow and green Ligier JS P320. Former racing driver Hippe watched the on-track action closely, having switched to the other side of the pit wall this year.

Hippe’s career started in 2003 in Formula BMW ADAC. Two years in this junior competition were followed by a season in the German Formula 3 Cup. “In the winter of 2006, my Formula 3 team HS Technik and I worked with chassis manufacturer Lola to develop Lola’s Formula 3 car. The project was really promising. Unfortunately, a big sponsor jumped ship and my career as a driver was put on ice for the moment,” says Hippe. However, as one door closed, another one opened: “I learned a lot through the cooperation with the Lola engineers, which paved the way for me to work as a race engineer,” recalls Hippe, who had already gained some experience in this field. After a few years with GU Racing, he switched to Inter Europol Competition when GU Racing sold a Formula 3 car to the Polish team. “GU, my old team, called it a day with motorsport, so I simply moved with the car.”

When the LMP3 class was launched in 2016, Inter Europol just happened to be looking for a new challenge in endurance racing. The first driver was to be Jakub Smiechowski, who had been a regular member of the team for many years; has partner was to be Martin Hippe, who had previously been race engineer. “At this point, it was ten years since I had last gone racing. However, I apparently did enough in a test drive to convince the team.” In the subsequent years, right through to 2021, the man from Essen contested many LMP3 races and enjoyed plenty of success – including the title in the LMP3 class of the 2018/19 Asian Le Mans Series. Apart from his comeback year in 2016, he was always classed as a Bronze driver, although not without a bit of a battle sometimes. “On two occasions, I was able to overturn an upgrade to the Silver category, because I was able to explain in detail that I am simply not a Silver driver. Motorsport is just a hobby for me, and I cannot spend every day in the simulator or working on my fitness.” This winter, he was eventually graded as a Silver driver. His objection was overruled. “That was the end of my driving career,” he says dryly.

At this time, his Inter Europol team was preparing to enter the Prototype Cup Germany, the fourth series after the Asian Le Mans Series, the European Le Mans Series, and the FIA World Endurance Championship WEC. “That was too much for our team manager Sascha Fassbender, and he asked me whether I was able to help him out, particularly in the Prototype Cup Germany. As I have always been interested in things like regulations, strategy and tactics, I was happy to accept his offer.” And how did he find the switch from driver to team manager? “As an endurance driver, I was already familiar with seeing my car on the track without me at the wheel. I think my biggest challenge was to maintain an overview of all the processes. With this in mind, it was probably a good thing that we have two races in relatively quick succession in the Prototype Cup Germany, and that we only have one car in action,” says Hippe, honestly but gratefully. “I have to thank my team for the faith they showed in me to give me this position. Since the team started out, we have followed this path together, and it feels good to have made it to where we are. I am rather proud of that.”

He is also impressed by the Prototype Cup Germany. “There are obviously always going to be a few things that do not go entirely to plan at the first race weekend. Attempts are then made to solve any problems. The teams, with all their experience, are also listened to in this regard. So far, we have found reasonable solutions to everything. There is a good togetherness. I really like the communication with those responsible for the series. Another positive is that we have a former racing driver as our clerk of the course in Jan Seyffarth. He knows what he is talking about, as he recognises the drivers’ viewpoint.”