Axel Plankenhorn

Axel Plankenhorn (born December 16, 1951 in Spaichingen) is a former German car racing driver and today's racing team manager.

Axel Plankenhorn started his racing career in Formula Vee . There he and his brother Jörg Plankenhorn successfully drove several seasons in the Formula V 1300 and Formula Super V. In 1977, he became Vice European Champion in Formula Super V. He then moved a year in the Formula 2 before he went into touring car racing. 

There he started in 1979 together with Klaus Ludwig for the Porsche Kremer Racing Team with a Porsche 935 / 77A in the 1st division of the German Racing Championship (DRM) and also in the World Sports Car Championship. He won his first class win in Group 5 with Klaus Ludwig at the 6-hour race at Brands Hatch, where they drove the car to second overall.

Plankenhorn In the DRM reached as the best race position a second place at the international ADAC Hessen-Cup at Hockenheim. Through his regular good finishes in the top six in all season runs he was able to secure 5th place in the overall standings 1979th. In the same year, Plankenhorn drove a Porsche 935 K3 at the Le Mans 24-hour races in which he and his team drivers “John Winter” and Philippe Gurdjian finished 5th in Group 5. In 1980 Plankenhorn drove in the DRM against his former team mate Klaus Ludwig, who switched to the Zakspeed team, and fought several duels with him, which caused unrest between Kremer and Zakspeed. In the mid-DRM season parted Kremer and Plankenhorn, whose best finish was a second place finish at Hockenheim. 

At the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1980 he started with Rolf Stommelen and the Japanese Tetsu Ikuzawa in a 935 K3 - but could not finish the race because of a defective cylinder head gasket. A year later he went to Le Mans againat the start with a Porsche 935 L1 from the Tuff-Kote-Dinol-Racing-Team, which he had to give up due to an engine failure.

In 1982 Plankenhorn only drove a few races in the DRM and sports car world championships until the following year he was hired again for a full world championship season with the Obermaier Racing team in a Porsche 956 . With the Group C racing car, he regularly achieved places in the top five. In his last 24-hour Le Mans race with Jürgen Lässig and Desiré Wilson , he drove the 956 to 7th place. In 1984 he ended his racing career after the 1000 km race in Monza .

In 2000 he returned to motorsport with his racing team Carsport Racing in the Porsche Supercup. In the meantime, he has taken the lead of Araxa Racing over Porsche squad run Supercup teams.

Subject ID: 52737