Dauer

Dauer Sportwagen GmbH was a German automotive company founded by former racing driver Jochen Dauer in Nuremberg. Initially founded as Jochen Dauer Racing in 1987, the racing team had several years of participation in the German Supercup and European Interserie championships, as well as occasional runs in the World Sports-Prototype Championship and Camel GT Championships with the Porsche 962. Following the demise of sports prototype racing in the early 1990s, Dauer Racing GmbH was created to begin limited production of road cars, including a road-legal version of the 962, known as the Dauer 962 Le Mans, which later went on to win the 1994 24 Hours of Le Mans. Once changing to Dauer Sportwagen, the company sold a continuation of the Bugatti EB110. The company went bankrupt in 2008 and parts for the EB110 were transferred to Toscana-Motors GmbH.

For several years, Jochen Dauer had run for a number of teams, mainly in the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft and its successor championship, the ADAC Supercup. Dauer Racing purchased John Fitzpatrick's successful team, including all racing cars, team transporters and equipment at the end of 1986. Dauer also purchased a Zakspeed C1/8. Dauer was able to secure sponsorship from the Victor Computer company, and confirmed a full-season campaign in the Supercup for the 962C, while the Zakspeed car would run in the Interserie. Jochen Dauer was the sole driver of the machines in both championships. Towards the end of 1987, Dauer also chose to enter the World Sports-Prototype Championship, with Johnny Dumfries and Harald Grohs co-driving in the endurance events.

Dauer Racing continued to run their old Zakspeed as well as another newly purchased Porsche 962 (chassis 962-133) in Supercup and Interserie into 1988, and earned their first victory in the Interserie event at Autodrom Most, followed by a one-two victory at Zeltweg Airfield with Franz Konrad in the second entry. Jochen Dauer won the Interserie drivers championship for the year.

In 1989, Dauer Racing chose to concentrate fully on the World Championship and Supercup, only occasionally attending Interserie events. Franz Konrad remained as the co-driver initially, but was later replaced by Will Hoy. Tic Tacs replaced Victor Computer as the team's primary sponsor. Dauer Racing struggled in the World Championship, finishing only one race in which they competed in. In Supercup however, the team finished second in the championship behind the dominant Joest Racing squad, although no victories were earned during the year, nor in the Interserie.