The Peter Schöfer Drag Race Team was founded in 1984/85 by Peter and his brothers, Wolfgang and Rudi. The three brothers are still the heart of the organisation, although Peter always credits the whole team for the results throughout those years. In 1996 the team, based near München, entered the FIA Top Methanol Dragster class and, since then, the Schöfers have always been one of the leading teams in the class. Peter and his team had their greatest successes in 2002 and 2008 when they won the FIA European Top Methanol Dragster title.



But 1984 was not the start of Peter Schöfer’s racing career. Speed has always been in Peter’s blood. In 1972, 18-year-old Peter started his career in motorsport by racing a Kawasaki and a Ducati. Until 1979 Peter raced his bikes all over Europe, competed in World Championship races against such legends as Johnny Cecotto and Anton Mang and was ‘Berg-Europameister’ twice! Lack of funds was Peter’s reason for giving up motorcycle racing. But American cars became his new hobby. In 1984 Peter saw his first drag race in Hannau and was hooked. Just a year later the Peter Schöfer Drag Race Team was founded and Peter entered the ET Bracket class in a 400hp Plymouth Roadrunner. At the end of 1985 the famous Rico Anthes 2CV ‘Wildente’ became Peter’s next race car. Using all their technical skills, the team rebuilt the car completely and were very successful in the Competition class. But again the brothers wanted to go faster and from 1992 they raced a former Top Alcohol Dragster ‘streamliner’ in Competition with many wins, records and championships as a result.

In 1996 the three brothers entered the Top Methanol Dragster class. The self-designed chassis was built by Peter Lantz and, with a small-block Chevy, Peter competed in his first European Championship. In 2002 the team switched to a Hemi, the block they still use. In 14 years of FIA Top Methanol Dragsters, Peter, famous for his fabulous reaction times, won the title twice (2002 and 2008), was runner-up three times and third four times. So far this season the team has run good numbers but has not won a race. “We run on a limited budget and can’t afford to use too many parts. Other teams invest more and that makes it more difficult for us to stay at the top. We always have to run a bit conservatively and can’t take the risk of big damage,” says a still-ambitious Peter.



Wolfgang, who lives next to the team’s workshop, is responsible for the engineering. The team has a reputation for preparing the car well. In all these years they have hardly skipped a single run because of technical failure. Wolfgang has also rebuilt the chassis several times so only the middle section remains original. In their shop the Schöfers build engines for other racers too and can certify PSI blowers. The team is supported by ‘Friends of Peter Schöfer Racing’ and of course they will all come to Hockenheim. “At this year’s NitrOlympX we celebrate our 25th anniversary in drag racing. Besides 50 friends there will be 40 members of a local motor club. Our friends are also our sponsors and I can’t express how thankful I am for that. A good result at Hockenheim would be nice, but so it would at every race. Most important is that everybody has fun, the spectators see a good race and everybody gets home safely. For all of this I want to thank all our team members and also all our friends, who travel all over Europe and have made it possible for us to race all these years. Without them, 25 years of Peter Schöfer Drag Race Team would not have been possible.”