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Inter Europol Competition
Polish motorsports team From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Inter Europol Competition is a Polish auto racing team that competes in endurance racing. The team contests the 24 Hours of Le Mans, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series, Asian Le Mans Series and Le Mans Cup in 2025.[1][2][3][4][5] They formerly competed in FIA World Endurance Championship, V de V Endurance Series, BOSS GP and Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup. As a reference to the focus of its owner and sponsor, the bakery goods producer Inter Europol SA, the team is often referred to as Turbo Piekarze (Turbo Bakers).[6][7][8][9][10]
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2010-2015: Pre-endurance efforts
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The team was founded in 2010 and grew out of a cooperation between Maurycy Kochański's Kochanski Motorsport and Michael Keese Motorsport. Their joint effort competed first in Formula Ford and Formula Three, then in 2009 in the Italian Formula Renault Championship and in 2010 in the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup. At the end of the 2010 season, Kochański ran into financial problems. His share in the team was taken over by Wojciech Śmiechowski, father of its driver Jakub Śmiechowski and owner of the Inter Europol SA bakery. The new team was named Inter Europol Competition after its new owner-sponsor.[11][12]
Inter Europol Competition started as a single-seater team. Inter Europol's drivers competed in the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup in the 2010–2016 seasons, with team's drivers' best overall result being 12th by Jakub Śmiechowski in the 2011 season.[13] 2014 marked the beginning of 6-years long team's effort in BOSS GP, which championship was claimed by Jakub Śmiechowski in that year. Śmiechowski also finished as the runner-up in the 2015 season.[14][15]
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2016-2018: Begininngs in endurance racing
2016 marked an important milestone for Inter Europol Competition as the team made its full European Le Mans Series and 2016 V de V Endurance Series entries, taking first steps in the endurance racing. The maiden LMP3 campaign in the ELMS with Jakub Śmiechowski and Jens Petersen driving the Ligier JS P3 brought the team 10th place overall. The effort in the V de V was more successful, as Śmiechowski paired with Martin Hippe claimed the championship of the series.[16][17]
In their second year in the endurance racing Inter Europol Competition continued their effort in the European Le Mans Series, bringing to the 2017 field a single LMP3 car, Ligier JS P3 number 13. Jens Petersen has been replaced by Martin Hippe, who became team's regular ELMS driver in the years to come.[18] After scoring their maiden podium in the 4 Hours of Castellet, the team achieved a fifth-place finish in the general LMP3 standings.[19] The team entered the V de V Endurance Series as well, claiming the championship with a car number 22 with Jakub Śmiechowski and Hendrik Still behind the wheel. The best of the #33 car drivers, Paul Scheuschner, finished eighth.[20]
In 2018, Inter Europol Competition once again entered the LMP3 class of the European Le Mans Series, this time with two Ligier JS P3 cars.[21] 2018 was a breakthrough for a car number 13, as Martin Hippe and Jakub Śmiechowski scored a race win in 4 Hours of Portimão and a third place in 4 Hours of Red Bull Ring – two podiums in total - to finish runners-up in the championship standings. A new entry from the team, car number 14, hosted a total of six drivers in six races, resulting in 15th place in the final LMP3 classification.[22][23] 2018 also marked the final run of Inter Europol Competition in the V de V Endurance series. Paul Scheuschner, driving a car number 33, finished 3rd in the general standings, while the pair of Jakub Śmiechowski and Pontus Fredriksson in a car number 22 claimed 5th overall.[24] In the first years in the endurance racing Inter Europol Competition remained in the BOSS GP series, however, without Jakub Śmiechowski behind the wheel. The best result was Walter Seding’s fourth overall in the 2018 season.[25][26][27]
2019-2020: Le Mans and LMP2 debuts
The new season of 2019 saw Inter Europol Competition branching out into new territory of Asian Le Mans Series with Martin Hippe and Jakub Śmiechowski behind the wheel of a number 13 Ligier JS P3 car. The campaign proved to be successful for the team, which claimed the overall victory and an invitation for the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans.[28]
In 2019 European Le Mans Series the team stepped up to the LMP2 class after purchasing a Ligier JS P217 in addition to fielding two LMP3 Ligier JS P3 cars for the second consecutive year.[29] The LMP2 campaign didn't bring good results and after frequent lineup changes Inter Europol Competition claimed 17th place in the overall classification. The effort of a car number 13 in the LMP3 class turned out to be much more fruitful with the team claiming the back-to-back 2nd place overall after a penalty in the last race of the season and rejection of the team's appeal.[30][31] Car number 14 finished 12th overall.
In June Inter Europol Competition made their debut in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. Jakub Śmiechowski, Nigel Moore and James Winslow (who replaced Léo Roussel three weeks before the race as the effect of Roussel's back injury),[32] driving a Ligier JS P217, recorded 45th in the race overall standings and 16th in the LMP2 class standings, after having dealt with a lot of technical issues.[33]
In team's last season in BOSS GP the only full-season driver Walter Steding took 9th place in the general standings.[34]
In 2020 Inter Europol Competition again started the year with Asian Le Mans Series bid, claiming 4th with car 33 and 5th with car 34 in the LMP2 standings.[35] The team ran also one full season entry in the LMP3 class with car 13, who finished 3rd overall, and two part season entries with cars 14 and 18.
Inter Europol Competition contested the shortened European Le Mans Series season as well, with one entry in LMP2 and LMP3 classes. LMP2 #34 car, the only Ligier on the grid, saw a major lineup overhaul with Rene Binder[36] and Matevos Isaakyan[37] joining Jakub Śmiechowski for the ELMS and Le Mans effort. The LMP2 crew finished the season 12th overall, while Hippe, Moore and Dino Lunardi from car number 13 claimed the third consecutive ELMS LMP3 vice champion title for the Inter Europol Competition.[38]
The team appeared on the grid of the 24 Hours of Le Mans race for the second time, struggling with technical[39] and regulatory[40] issues, finishing 17th in class and 45th overall.
Inter Europol Competition wrapped the 2020 season up with two races of the IMSA SportsCar Championship, in which the team used the Oreca 07 prototype for the first time. They finished 3rd in LMP2 class and 9th overall in the Petit Le Mans.[41] and 4th in class and 17th overall in the 12 Hours of Sebring.[42]
2021-2023: Performing in the WEC and winning Le Mans
With a single Oreca 07 the team made their debut the World Endurance Championship, moving up there for the 2021 season from European Le Mans Series. Car 34 was driven by Jakub Śmiechowski, Renger van der Zande, Alex Brundle and Louis Delétraz.[43][44][45][46]
In their first season in WEC, the "Turbo Bakers" have consistently achieved results in the middle of the pack, finishing 5th in as many as four out of six races.[47][48] The worst result was 9th at 6 Hours of Bahrain, after plenty of incidents.[49] This allowed Inter Europol Competition to finish their debut season in the World Endurance Championship in 5th place.
The team's third participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans was the most successful race to date - the team finished 5th in the LMP2 class and 10th overall. Śmiechowski, Brundle and van der Zande, driving a car number 34 avoided major mistakes and bad luck - with the exceptions of a puncture in Brundle's car, an unfaulted collision with the Racing Team India Eurasia car and problems with the refuelling machine.[50][51][52]
The other part of Inter Europol Competition racing programme for 2021 was LMP3 class of European Le Mans Series, in which the team took part running two Ligier JS P320 machineries.[53] Prototype number 13, as in the 2018 and 2019 seasons, recorded better results than its sister crew, scoring three podiums in total, including one win[54] - thanks to the efforts of German Martin Hippe,[55] who has been driving for the team since the 2016 season, young Belgian Ugo de Wilde[56] and their changing partners. This was enough to finish fourth overall - primarily due to crashes and car's failures at Le Castellet and Spa-Francorchamps.[57][58] Crew number 14 recorded results in the middle of the ELMS stakes, finishing 6th overall - the best result ever for the #14. A total of nine drivers drove a second Ligier.
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Inter Europol Competition began their 2022 season with a single LMP3 entry in the Asian Le Mans Series, finishing 7th despite showing a race-winning pace - after a sudden and forced change to the driver line-up, technical problems and drivers' mistakes.[59][60][61][62]
For the rest of the 2022 season the team expanded their programme, which included two LMP2 entries in total - one in the World Endurance Championship and the other in the European Le Mans Series, as well as two LMP3 cars in the ELMS.[63][64][65][66][67]
The WEC part of the 2022 season went poorly for the team. In every race, besides the 6 Hours of Monza,[68] Inter Europol Competition was struggling with all kinds of problems - drivers' mistakes,[69] technical problems,[70] and sheer lack of pace,[71] which resulted in scoring 20 points and placing 11th in the general standings.
The story of poor results continued in the 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans; IEC cars crossed the finish line in 13th (number 34) and 14th (number 43) place in class. The WEC car struggled with maximum speed, and other lesser issues. Car number 43 (loaned from the DragonSpeed team, as Oreca due to worldwide supply chain issues wasn't able to deliver the purchased car on time) has been swinging in the latter half of the top ten of the ranks up till early morning, when the ignition coil failure forced David Heinemeier Hansson to come to the pits for repairs. The main reasons for the team's poor performance were the sudden departure of team's technical director, the need to restructure the team and significant turnover among the staff.[72][73]
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ELMS performances were full of ups and downs. The LMP2 car came alive in the second part of the season, which was a sign of things to come in 2023 and subsequent seasons, including scoring team's first ever LMP2 podium, placing 2nd at Spa-Francorchamps after starting from the bottom of the pile,[74] and 4th in the season finale at Portimao, finishing the year in 8th place. Dramatic was the LMP3 season, which started with car's disqualification,[75] taking three wins in a row at Monza, Circuit de Catalunya and Spa-Francorchamps and finally losing the championship an hour before the finish of the 4 Hours of Portimao - as a result of a collision between Nico Pino and Mathias Beche and the resulting suspension damage. The damage, originally resulting in a significant pace drop, soon proved to be terminal and eliminated the car from the race 12 minutes before the end of the season.[76][77] Car No. 14, meanwhile, finished last, 13th overall, mainly as a result of slow runs and numerous mistakes by James Dayson.[78]
The last part of the team's 2022 effort was a guest start in the new Prototype Cup Germany series - with a single LMP3 car, driven by James Winslow, returning to the team, and Damian Ciosek. They have finished 6th and 2nd during the weekend at Spa-Francorchamps.[79]
In the 2023 season Inter Europol Competition contested the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, European Le Mans Series, Asian Le Mans Series and Le Mans Cup with respectively two, one, two, four and three entries.[80][81][82][83][84]
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The season started with a four car effort in Asian Le Mans Series. LMP2 car was very quick throughout the whole season, with pace of Nolan Siegel being one of the most important factors. However, two mechanical failures in last minutes of the first and last races, with Siegel respectively in P3 and P1, stripped the team from the championship. LMP3 crews finished 7th, 12th and 15th (last) in the general standings.[85]
The World Endurance Championship season was finished by Jakub Śmiechowski, Albert Costa and Fabio Scherer as runner-ups with 114 points scored. This was how the team ended their three-year stint in the WEC, following the removal of the LMP2 class from the series (with the exception of the 24 Hours of Le Mans).[86][87]
The high point of the season and team's highest point to date was victory at the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans. The team again fielded two cars - a regular car competing in the WEC and a car numbered 32, crewed by Jan Magnussen, Anders Fjordbach and amateur driver Mark Kvamme (the crew started in the Pro-am subclass). The crew of the second car ended its participation in the race during the night after Magnussen's accident.[88]
Śmiechowski, Scherer and Costa showed pace which second-place finisher Robert Kubica described as "in a league of its own"[89] and avoided mistakes other than Costa's minor exit in a gravel trap in the Mulsanne's corner in the final hours of the race[90] and a safety car infringement, for which the team had to serve a drive-through penalty.[91] Widely recognized was Scherer's drive, who got hit in the leg by a Corvette Racing machinery when exiting the car in the first hour of the race and suffered ligament and heel damage and an incomplete fracture to his mid-left foot with three bones broken. After being cared for by the team's physiotherapists, the Swiss maintained a good pace and spent more than eight hours behind the wheel of the Oreca 07, despite having to change his braking method and limping on one leg when getting in and out of the car. Scherer also had to deal with a radio malfunction at the end of the race.[92][93][94] A big improvement was made by Jakub Śmiechowski, who showed the pace of a quality silver-category driver, and Albert Costa was, as usual, the team's fastest driver.[95]
After the race, the team's rivals, notably the driver of the second-placed car at the finish, Louis Deletraz, accused the team of breaching the technical regulations, citing short refuelling times, low fuel consumption and high acceleration of the car.[96][97] After a procedure that lasted more than a month, the race organisers officially confirmed the results on the basis of a report from the FIA and ACO technical delegates, who 'after deep analysis' found all cars - including the Polish team's Oreca - in compliance with their respective regulations.[98]
The ELMS season was not particularly successful for the IEC. In the LMP2 class, a gearbox failure in the first race proved to be the harbinger of the whole season, during which car #43 scored just one podium in the seven-team field. The drivers showed mostly average pace as well as kept making mistakes.[99] At Aragon they had to withdraw from the race after an unfaulted crash.[100] The team showed from a better side in the LMP3 class, whose season ended in fourth place overall with two second places. The drivers of a Ligier JS P320 were not lucky either – not finishing two races, at Aragon and Algarve, was due to car breakdowns.[101]
The team's debut season in the Le Mans Cup saw all three crews finish in last places in the overall standings. The best and most consistent performances came from the drivers of the number 15 car, Bryson Morris and Chris Short, while Santiago Concepción Serrano and Ben Stone of the number 13 Ligier failed to finish as many as five out of the seven races of the season.
2024-: Remaining at the front
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The team's programme for the 2024 season included 24 Hours of Le Mans - with one LMP2 car,[102] European Le Mans Series - with two LMP2s and one LMP3,[103] Le Mans Cup - with two cars in the LMP3 class[104] and the IMSA SportsCar Championship with one entry in the LMP2 class.[5] As a result of the withdrawal of the LMP2 class from the FIA WEC, the team's only start in this series was the race at Le Mans. Inter Europol also entered its cars in the less prestigious series - a Ligier JS P4 in the Ligier European Series[105] and the Ligier JS P320 in the Ultimate Cup.[106]
In the IMSA series the team's management decided to partner with the American PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports team, due to lack of familiarity with the specifics of car racing in the USA and logistical issues. The day-to-day running of the car in the 2024 season was left to PR1, while the engineers working on it came from both teams. The selection of drivers – including American jewellery company owner Nick Boulle, Tom Dillmann and Jakub Śmiechowski - was down to the team from Poland.[107] The American outings of the team brought them IMSA LMP2 champions title in the debut year. Victory at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, podiums at Watkins Glen and Indianapolis and overall consistent performance from Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen, with 7th at Road America being the worst result of the season, not only brought the Polish-American project the champions’ crown, but also an invitation for team’s bronze driver Nick Boulle to 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans – with Boulle choosing Inter Europol Competition as his team for the race.[108][109][110]
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In the 92nd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the team came very close to defending last year's victory. Śmiechowski, Vladislav Lomko and Clement Novalak finished second, 18 seconds behind the winners from United Autosports.[111] In the fourth hour of the race, Novalak found himself in an unfortunate situation, losing his left front wheel and returning to the pits on three wheels, soon coming down for another enforced stop to change the front of the car.[112][113] Eventually the Frenchman brought the car to the finish in second position, remaining in the top five for the last hours of the race.[114][115]
The ELMS part of the 2024 season also went very well for the team. At Circuit Paul Ricard team achieved their first win in the LMP2 class of the series, after a dramatic race and missing on 1-2 result just before the finish.[116] This victory turned out to be the only one of the season, but just as in IMSA consistency (7th similarly being worst result) was the deciding factor on the way to second position in overall classification for the informal captain of the #43 car Dillmann, as well as Lomko and Sebastián Álvarez. The crew finished the final race of the season in Portimao in fourth place, after confusion over serving a later revoked penalty.[117][118] Driving the No. 34 Oreca 07, Luca Ghiotto, Oliver Gray and Novalak placed seventh overall, scoring a single podium in Mugello. The LMP3 car, plagued by issues throughout the season, just as #34 scored a single podium in the campaign, which was enough only for 9th, next-to-last, place overall.
The second season in the Le Mans Cup series ended with better results than the first. Alexander Bukhantsov and Rik Koen from the #34 Ligier ended the season in 11th place overall, scoring a single podium place,[119] while Timothy Creswick, Sebastian Gravlund and Daniel Ali generally presented a weaker pace and finished the season in 19th place.
In 2025 Inter Europol Competition again takes part in IMSA SportsCar Championship with a single LMP2 car, numbered 43 - with a standalone effort, managed from a new base set up in the United States. Team took also part in the Asian Le Mans Series with two LMP3 cars. Finally, Inter Europol returned to the ELMS and Le Mans Cup.[2][3][4][5]
With two official invitations received - one for Nick Boulle for winning the IMSA Jim Trueman Award and another for the team for placing 2nd overall in 2024 ELMS - the team also raced at the 24h Le Mans. Śmiechowski, Dillmann and new team driver Nick Yelloly scored Inter Europol's second win and third podium of the race. The number 43 car led the race from the morning, maintaining a lead of no more than twenty seconds over the number 48 car of the VDS Panis Racing team. The last hour of the race had a dramatic twist; 34 minutes before the finish, the team was given a drive-through penalty as a result of Yelloly's speeding in the pit lane during the previous stop. Subsequently lost lead was regained after another few minutes due to a suspension failure in the rivals' car. Yelloly finished the race with a lead of nearly two minutes over Panis team.[1][120][121][122]
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Racing record
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24 Hours of Le Mans
FIA World Endurance Championship
IMSA SportsCar Championship
(*) Season in progress.
European Le Mans Series
(*) Season in progress.
Asian Le Mans Series
Le Mans Cup
(*) Season in progress.
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Notes
- Lomko and Bukhantsov are Russian, but they compete under foreign or neutral licences as Russian national emblems were banned by the FIA following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Bukhantsov uses an Emirati licence, while Lomko has held both French and Grenadian licences.
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