When you listen to Patrick Brennd\u00f6rfer talk about racing, you quickly realise that his career has always been driven by two things: passion for pure motorsport and a constant search for meaningful stories around sustainability and innovation.\u00a0On the eve of Round 2 of RCCO World eX Season 9 at Sepang, the founder and owner of Bremotion joined the latest Bizz Talk and gave deep insights into his EuroNASCAR project, his sim racing history, and why a \u201cgreen racing\u201d idea ultimately led to the creation of his own company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Patrick\u2019s motorsport journey started trackside at the N\u00fcrburgring.\u00a0As a young fan he visited the DTM and 24 Hours races and still remembers the moment the Mercedes 190 Evo II flew past at 9,800 rpm on the long straight.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThis was the first ignition to say, \u2018Okay, racing is what I want to do,\u2019\u201d he recalled.\u00a0From that point on, his goal was simple and ambitious: become a racing driver, ideally a Formula 1 world champion.\u00a0\u00a0He went through karting, Formula Ford and the Ford Puma Cup and then, in 1999, joined Heico Sportiv, a professional Volvo tuner, where he would stay for 15 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At Heico Sportiv, Brennd\u00f6rfer was responsible for PR, marketing \u2013 and soon racing.\u00a0\u00a0In the corner of the workshop stood a Volvo S40 race car from a former factory program that Volvo had stopped.\u00a0\u201cI asked my boss what we can do and he said, \u2018Okay, you can have the car, but do what you want \u2013 but not in working time and not with my money,\u2019\u201d Patrick said with a smile.\u00a0\u00a0For him it was the dream opportunity to start racing on the Nordschleife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The early days were as grassroots as it gets.\u00a0Bremnd\u00f6rfer remembers their first VLN\/NLS race with almost no budget: the team turned up with a trailer, two or three mechanics \u2013 and street tyres from Continental because they simply couldn\u2019t afford slicks.\u00a0\u201cWe went there with street tyres on the Nordschleife race \u2013 absolutely crazy,\u201d he said. Step by step he built a more professional structure, found sponsors, and developed their own cars.\u00a0\u00a0The Volvo S40 \u201cOdin\u201d and later a C30 with nearly 400 horsepower, special Nordschleife chassis and sequential gearbox became the core of a serious program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A key turning point \u2013 and the seed for Bremotion \u2013 was his decision in 2007 to run on alternative fuels. Brennd\u00f6rfer switched his Volvo project to E85 bioethanol and branded it \u201cgreen racing\u201d.\u00a0\u201cThe plan was to tell a new story, to use economic and environment\u2011friendly fuel,\u201d he explained.\u00a0The idea worked: the project attracted strong media attention and sponsors such as Evonik, a German chemical company.\u00a0\u00a0After bioethanol came biodiesel.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThis opened the doors to media and also to sponsors,\u201d Patrick said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Looking back, he openly links this sustainable story to the foundation of his own company.\u00a0\u201cVery short version, yes,\u201d he confirmed when asked whether the bioethanol project helped bring Evonik on board as a partner for his first major project after leaving Heico Sportiv.\u00a0The search for a future\u2011oriented, sustainable angle in motorsport \u2013 combined with his marketing mindset \u2013 gave him both the credibility and the partners needed to take the next step.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m also a marketing guy, so my question is always what is interesting for people, media, fans and also for the technical side,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0Green fuels were his answer, and that answer led straight toward Bremotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2014, Patrick finally founded Bremotion.\u00a0\u00a0The timing was perfect: Evonik asked him to develop and support the Roding Roadster, a carbon monocoque sports car with BMW power from the Bavarian town of Roding.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI said, \u2018Yeah, that\u2019s a one\u2011time in a life chance to start an own project, to start an own company.\u2019 And we did it,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0At the same time, he expanded Bremotion\u2019s business model beyond racing.\u00a0\u201cJust racing is high\u2011risk business,\u201d he admitted.\u00a0\u00a0With a strong background in tuning and performance road cars, he became an official Brabus dealer in Frankfurt in 2015, later adding AC Schnitzer and TechArt.\u00a0Today, Bremotion\u2019s daily business is building high\u2011end, individual supercar projects based on customer road cars \u2013 a \u201cspecial garage\u201d rather than a classic car dealer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite that focus on street cars, racing has always remained part of the Bremotion DNA.\u00a0\u00a0From 2019 to 2020, the team ran an AMG GT4 program, very much aligned with its road\u2011car tuning portfolio.\u00a0\u201cIf you are Brabus Mercedes tuner, you are running with a Mercedes on track. Win on Sunday, sell on Monday is the idea \u2013 and it\u2019s still working,\u201d Patrick said.\u00a0\u00a0The COVID\u201119 pandemic forced Bremotion to pause its racing activities at the end of 2020, but the break did not last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2022, a private trip to the United States reignited a long\u2011held dream: watching a NASCAR race live. The experience of the sound, the simple but spectacular cars and the atmosphere had a big impact. \u201cIt was very special \u2013 the sound, the action, all this kind of racing, very simple cars \u2013 that I decided to check if it\u2019s maybe possible or interesting for us to do this in Europe,\u201d Brennd\u00f6rfer explained. Within just two weeks he decided to enter the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series for 2023 with Bremotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The debut could not have gone better.\u00a0\u00a0Bremotion entered the NASCAR Euro Series with two cars and immediately made history.\u00a0\u201cIn our debut season, we won directly two races, which makes history because we were the first German racing team ever which won a NASCAR race worldwide,\u201d Patrick said proudly.\u00a0\u00a0Since then, Bremotion has been fully invested in the NASCAR Euro Series, combining its street\u2011car expertise with a series that offers pure, driver\u2011focused racing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Brennd\u00f6rfer, the NASCAR Euro Series ticks many boxes.\u00a0\u00a0Technically, the series is built around identical cars \u2013 same chassis, same engines and no electronic driver aids.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAll cars are the same, basically. The chassis, engine and everything is the same \u2013 just the body is different,\u201d he said, referring to the Chevrolet Camaro, Toyota Camry and Ford Mustang silhouettes.\u00a0\u00a0There is no ABS, no traction control, no BoP.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cFrom my point of view, it\u2019s, from drivers\u2019 possibilities, the best series we have. You can compare it maybe with Porsche Cup, where the cars are also the same, but that\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The race format is also unique in Europe.\u00a0The NASCAR Euro Series runs on classic road courses rather than ovals, with 30\u201340 minute sprint races at tracks like Valencia, Paul Ricard, Brands Hatch, Most and others.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe racing is pure racing,\u201d Patrick emphasised.\u00a0\u00a0Two drivers share one car but each has his own race and his own championship, which helps with budgets without turning weekends into traditional endurance events with driver changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Financially, the NASCAR Euro Series is still a challenge.\u00a0The series is European\u2011wide, which means travel and logistics quickly add up, but at the same time it is not yet big enough to be an obvious marketing platform for very large international corporations.\u00a0\u201cWe are a European championship, so the costs are high \u2013 travelling costs and logistic costs,\u201d Brennd\u00f6rfer explained.\u00a0\u201cTo find a partner who is European\u2011wide involved is not so easy, because for the very big companies the European championship is maybe a little bit too small, and for German companies it\u2019s too big. So this is a big challenge.\u201d Nevertheless, he is convinced that the series will continue to grow, highlighting live TV coverage with Sportdigital, a German\u2011language TV partner, and an English\u2011language YouTube feed as important steps forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To increase awareness and reach, Bremotion invests heavily in events and fan activation, especially in Germany.\u00a0\u00a0The team organises local and national events around cities like Frankfurt and Magdeburg, leveraging their drivers\u2019 regional connections.\u00a0\u00a0Patrick stressed that the product at the track is already strong.\u00a0Events such as Brands Hatch \u2013 part of a large American SpeedFest with 50,000\u201360,000 spectators, historic V8 races, classic NASCARs, paddock activities and live music \u2013 show the potential.\u00a0\u201cFor racing guys, it\u2019s like a dream,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0At Most, the NASCAR Euro Series races together with the European Truck Championship, attracting around 40,000 fans.\u201c The product is good and the events are very nice, but we have to work on our reach so that racing fans notice that NASCAR is available in Europe,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A central topic of the Bizz Talk was Bremotion\u2019s decision to run a sim racer \u2013 Garrett Lowe \u2013 in the NASCAR Euro Series.\u00a0The idea is based on Patrick\u2019s own experience with the power of simulation.\u00a0In 2019, Bremotion put a young kart driver without a road licence straight into GT4 and prepared him using their simulator and iRacing.\u00a0\u201cHe was from the very first beginning able to run in the front of GT4,\u201d Patrick said, calling it his first proof of how strong sim\u2011based preparation can be today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two years ago, Florian Hasper from BS+COMPETITION approached Bremotion with a bold proposal: run Garrett Lowe, a top eNASCAR sim racer, in the NASCAR Euro Series.\u00a0\u201cI was from the first minute happy to be part of this idea,\u201d Brennd\u00f6rfer said.\u00a0\u00a0The proof of concept came quickly.\u00a0Lowe stepped directly into the top\u2011tier PRO division and was immediately competitive.\u00a0\u201cHe was able from the first race to run in the front, and we finished with two podiums in the championship,\u201d Patrick reported. \u201cI\u2019m pretty sure that he is one of the potential race winners for this year,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Interestingly, Patrick\u2019s connection to sim racing goes back much further than today\u2019s iRacing and eNASCAR era. In the late 1990s he was involved in one of the most iconic racing sims ever: Grand Prix Legends. \u201cIt was my sponsor in Formula Ford in 1998,\u201d he explained. Grand Prix Legends was the first serious simulation of the N\u00fcrburgring Nordschleife and quickly earned a reputation for being brutally difficult and extremely realistic. \u201cIt\u2019s nothing for easy racing in the evening,\u201d Patrick joked. \u201cIt\u2019s really hard simulation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Back then he had the chance to build a physical simulator based on a cut\u2011down Formula Ford chassis and present it on the N\u00fcrburgring booth at the Essen Motor Show.\u00a0\u00a0For two weeks, fans \u2013 including drivers who had raced at the Nordschleife in the 1960s \u2013 queued to try it and share stories about reference trees and braking points.\u00a0\u201cIt was a crazy time,\u201d Brennd\u00f6rfer recalled. \u201cAfter the show in the evening, we drove during the whole night Nordschleife.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0He also contributed feedback to the Grand Prix Legends developers before release.\u00a0\u201cMy partner asked me to give some ideas what they have to change, and it was a great experience,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, he still uses simulation \u2013 but in a different way.\u00a0\u201cYes, I have a simulator and sometimes I do, but more for relaxing,\u201d he admitted when asked if he still races virtually.\u00a0\u00a0When he needs to clear his head or look for new ideas, he does a few laps around the Nordschleife at home. \u201cWhen I need some good ideas and I want to cool down a little bit, I go there and drive some laps on Nordschleife,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0Competing at the top level in sim racing is no longer realistic for him, simply because of time. \u201cThe scene is so professional in the meantime and you have to practice every day \u2013 and I have no time for this, unfortunately,\u201d he explained.\u00a0\u00a0But the simulator remains an integral part of the Bremotion ecosystem: \u201cAll our drivers are practising in the simulator.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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