The racing team from Lonsee near Ulm made its first start with an LMP3 race car at the Hockenheimring. Team principal Karsten Molitor loves both the class and the Prototype Cup Germany. MRS will remain involved in prototype racing in the long term.
There was a very special guest appearance at the finale of the Prototype Cup Germany at the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg. Renowned German team Molitor-Racing-Systems made its debut in prototype racing, and impressed at the first attempt. Driver Rory Penttinen (43/FIN) immediately claimed two podiums, finishing third and second in the team’s Ligier JS P320. “We are obviously very happy with the results, and never expected things to run so smoothly from the word go,” says team principal Karsten Molitor, looking back at the successful race weekend.
The start at the finale of this season’s Prototype Cup Germany saw the team thrown in at the proverbial deep end: the current shortage of parts meant they only received the Ligier a few days before the race weekend. “We only fired up the engine once in the workshop, in order to familiarise ourselves with the sound. The car did its first metres at the official test in Hockenheim on the Thursday evening,” Molitor explains. “With this in mind, we had no real expectations for the race weekend. We just wanted to get to know the technology and get as many kilometres as possible under our belt. It is hard to describe how nice it feels to be so successful at the first attempt. It was a great team effort.”
Molitor-Racing-Systems is a big name in German motorsport. The team was founded in its current form in November 1993 – but it had already contested its first races by that point. MRS spent many years racing in Renault one-make cups. At the turn of the millennium, it also put pedal to the metal in the spectacular V8 Star series. From 2003, the team turned to Porsche and at times ran up to six cars in the Carrera Cup and Supercup.
In 2011, MRS pulled off a very special coup with the Porsche 911 GT3 R. Making its debut in the ADAC GT Masters, the team claimed its maiden victory at the Red Bull Ring. MRS always remained true to ADAC motorsport in the following years. Three seasons each with cars from McLaren, Nissan and BMW brought more success. In 2019, it expanded its programme to include ADAC GT4 Germany. For years, MRS has also been a regular starter in the 24H Series run by Dutch promoter Creventic, which also organises the Prototype Cup Germany together with the ADAC. “We seem to be lucky on our debuts,” Molitor chuckles. “Not only did we win on our first appearance in the ADAC GT Masters, but we also claimed the class victory at the 24-hour race in Dubai on our first outing with the BMW M4 GT4. The fact that we also made it onto the podium at the first attempt in LMP3 racing seems rather fitting.”
The decision to line up in the Prototype Cup Germany was an easy one for MRS. “We spent twelve years in the ADAC GT Masters and simply love this platform. It is the most valuable one we have in German motorsport,” says Molitor. “The fact that we were not racing in the ADAC GT Masters or the Porsche Carrera Cup in 2022 made the Prototype Cup Germany an ideal opportunity for us to appear on that platform again this year.”
Molitor also finds the international LMP3 class very exciting. “It is a totally new technical challenge. For example, we can now work with the aerodynamic set-up. You can set the LMP3 cars up to make it possible to overtake cars on the straights. This makes the set-up of the car a strategic instrument for track position,” he says. “The LMP3 is a proper race car. We were so excited about receiving it, we were like little kids looking forward to their birthday.”
Given all that, it is clear that the move into prototype racing is a long-term one for Molitor-Racing-Systems. “Our Ligier will now be shipped to America, as we want to start in Daytona in January, and also to race at the 12 Hours of Sebring,” Molitor explains. “The big goal is obviously the 24 Hours of Le Mans. I feel there is more chance of us competing there with a prototype than with a GT car.”
MRS also hopes to remain loyal to the Prototype Cup Germany. “On the whole, we really like the series. We are working on being involved again in 2023 – although it is obviously too soon to confirm anything at the moment. We are also considering acquiring a second car for next year, in order to position ourselves more broadly and gain as much experience as possible.”
