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ZF Race EngineeringZF Race ExperienceThe Company
Sascha Ricanek
Rainer Kirchner
Sandra Rudolf
Stefan Möllmann
Michael Eisenbarth
Adrian Mitcham
Mark Rotary
Sascha Ricanek

Sascha Ricanek

Managing Director

As Vice President of Race Engineering for the ZF Group and Managing Director of ZF Race Engineering GmbH, I am responsible for bringing the performance of our ZF products to our customers worldwide through racing. In addition, we take care of special market segments such as motorcycle or small series niches such as NAC (New Automotive Customers) through our agile business processes with the technology portfolio of the ZF Group.

In my job there is only one goal: to be faster and more efficient compared to our competitors with innovative, high-performance and sustainable solutions! That's what the ZF Group stands for, and that's why I'm here: The Best for the Best!

At ZF Race, you are part of the ZF Group and therefore one of the largest automotive suppliers in the world. This offers many opportunities to develop in the future, be it with assignments abroad or in other functions, as an expert or in management. Working directly for ZF Race Engineering means wanting to experience the world from the top. Where only high performance counts, where the team and emotions play an important role, where fast, agile and yet precise thinking and working are basic requirements. Simply super exciting and future-oriented!

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Rainer Kirchner

Rainer Kirchner

Head of Engineering

I’m the head of product development. Every day we receive new challenges from customers, the market and competitors. We work with in a vast array of fields which are all different: Motorsport, Special Series, Motorbike, Engineering Service, Tradition and sometimes it’s a combination of all of it. That makes life at ZF Race very special! That is my inspiration and motivates me daily.

Our customers benefit from our expertise, and we are best placed to manage this great diversity with all the different products across the ZF Group range. The expert understanding of regulations, industry guidance and sector specific knowledge supports our outstanding track record in special series product development.

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Sandra Rudolf

Sandra Rudolf

Head of Finance

The financial and commercial division of ZF Race Engineering increases transparency on performance drivers to ensure financial profitability and financial independence by taking responsibility of the finance system on its own projects as well as the forecasting strategy and back office tracking. Price and profit calculations, project planning and reporting are included in this - steering and controlling by financial tools and masterdata management are relevant success factors and drivers on business strategy, management and sustainability.

Stefan Möllmann

Stefan Möllmann

Head of Business Development and Operations

Business Development combines the three functions Marketing/Communication, Sales and Project Management. The goal is to provide recent ZF technologies to low volume customer projects. Using tailored and agile processes, we ensure agreed delivery within time and budget.

Michael Eisenbarth

Michael Eisenbarth

Head of Cyber Security

As the leader of the Cyber Security Center of Competence (CyS CoC), we support ZF product lines in fulfilling all regulatory and customer CyS requirements. We are working closely across all divisions of ZF and bring in our competence in Cyber Security.

Cyber Security has become a crucial success factor for all ZF products. With future oriented products like autonomous driving connected vehicles and ai-based systems, our products are more and more vulnerable to attackers and external threats for hacking. Our aim is to protect our products against those threats and to generate trust for our customers in our products.

Within the CyS Center of Competence, we have a wide range of interdisciplinary colleagues and we work cross-divisional. Everyone has the chance to move forward and continuously learn throughout their journey with us and their colleagues.

The CyS CoC combines the highest competence in CyS practical expert knowledge with CyS research. With this, we make sure that we do not only protect our current product, but also the future of our products with state of the art CyS technologies.

By CyS CoC being part of ZF Race Engineering, it has gained an important future success factor for the organization. Cyber Security has become a must have and will be a differentiator for our customers. To be a proven CyS expert will also allow us to generate new products and services to ZF Race Engineering customers.

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Adrian Mitcham

Adrian Mitcham

Director of Engineering Services

Race Engineering is unique in ZF due to our breadth of products and activities. We are growing in scope and deal with a wide range of transport and industry sectors – especially the dynamic niche ones. To achieve this we have our experts with many years of understanding our customer’s special requirements, supported with the resources and expertise of ZF behind us with links to all Divisions. We are responsible for our own customers and are therefore able to find solutions and cross product line applications in a cost effective way.

I am responsible for the UK activities in conjunction with the global ZF Race Engineering management function leads. My scope also includes technical support functions for other divisions present at ZF Hub UK site.

For me it is the diverse nature of our activities and close contact with projects and customers which keeps me enthusiastic about ZF Race Engineering. We continue to adapt to new technologies and situations so I know that what we do in the coming years will evolve and that the opportunities which present themselves will keep life interesting.

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Mark Rotary

Head of Race Engineering for North America

From a young age I read about ZF transmissions in Formula 1 cars and always knew that ZF produces the most competitive products in the world operating in the most extreme racing environments - this is why I work at ZF Race Engineering.

The opportunity to join such a great team was very attractive! While I am in my third year as the Head of ZF Race Engineering in North America, I am on my 21st year with ZF.

Working at Race Engineering is special because there is such a diverse array of customers and projects. We can talk much more publicly about our products than when I was working on OE projects. We have many exciting projects that are confidential and inspire our teams to strive for success.

Any potential employee that has interest in motorsports, motorbikes, tradition, cybersecurity and special series projects should apply as ZF is a dynamic and diverse organization. Customers choose to work with us because they know we can deliver high quality and durable products and that we will be around for the long term.

While the business of motorsports is ever changing, so to is ZF Race Engineering demonstrated by our continuous innovation with Formula E powertrain units. So, the future is wide open and expect us to be there!

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The Best for the Best

That’s the claim of ZF Race Engineering, a developer, manufacturer and distributor of core driveline and chassis products specially for race car applications in motorsports.

From Formula 1, Formula E, WRC and DTM to amateur race series and tuning vehicles, famous motorsports teams from all over the world rely on ZF’s innovative technology and first-class service. Spectacular sports successes underline the technical competence and reliability of ZF products. ZF Race Engineering provides customers in various industries with a full range of engineering services, from product development and testing to small volume production.

Formula 1 clutch and damper

Products and Services

Search the extensive range of products and services available from ZF Race Engineering, from dampers and clutches to heritage transmissions and testing analysis services.
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Vintage champion car

Heritage

ZF components and systems contribute to the success of Formula 1, at Le Mans and in the Paris-Dakar Rally, in Grand Prix cars and heavy-duty racing trucks, and in many more motorsports events.
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Careers

Careers

Looking to be part of the global ZF Race Engineering team? Search our current vacancies that we have on offer across the globe.
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Our business

Each product line within ZF Race Engineering is represented by its own image.

In order to differentiate the product offerings, Motorbike, Motorsport, Tradition and Special Series are all represented. They form part of the overall ZF Race Engineering brand.
Mahindra Formula E car Mahindra Formula E car

Motorsport

Motorsport

Florian Alt BMW M1000 RR IDM Florian Alt BMW M1000 RR IDM

Motorbike

Motorbike

KTM KTM

Special Series

Special Series

Girls Only Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR Girls Only Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR

Sachs Performance

Sachs Performance

Vintage Mercedes cars Vintage Mercedes cars

Tradition

Tradition

Partnerships

ZF is technology partner of renowned motorsports teams and some of the most highly regarded car manufacturers

ZF Race Engineering GmbH is the technology partner of many famous motorsports teams, from Formula 1 and DTM to different one-make cups and the most important premium vehicle manufacturers.

Our Partnerships

Research and Development

Since the company's start, components, dampers and clutches have been used in series production as well as in motorsports

ZF is an innovation-driven company that develops volume production-ready products based on its own research and development efforts and thus invests in the future in a targeted way. This also applies to motorsports.

ZF Race Engineering’s development objectives for all product segments encompass

  • Installation Space Optimization
  • Weight Reduction
  • Performance Enhancement

We differ from our competitors because of OE standards, FMEA, project transfer and process management, and the know-how from ZF Friedrichshafen AG’s volume production.

In the product design process we use FEM, and for verification we use the latest generation of test equipment (including MTS linear pulser, rotational test bench and test machines for determining characteristic curves).

Research and Development at ZF

Technology Domains

ZF is investing in technology fields that are particularly promising for the future, as they each make a major contribution to the mobility of tomorrow.

These fields are automated driving, electromobility, vehicle motion control and integrated safety. ZF consistently relies on digitalization to create new opportunities for its products as well to improve its processes within the company.

Autonomous Driving

From technology and testing through to the future: We provide you with an overview of automated and autonomous driving of cars and other vehicles.

Autonomous driving E-mobility

Autonomous Driving

Autonomous Driving: What is the state of the art? How is testing carried out? What will the future bring? Everything there is to know about cars and other vehicles that operate on an automated or autonomous basis.
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Electric Mobility

Why we need electric mobility and which role plug-in hybrid drives play at the mobility of today and tomorrow. This and more information around electric cars and electrification is answered here.

Electric Mobility

Electric Mobility

Why do we need electromobility? Does e-mobility belong to the future? What are the advantages of plug-in hybrids? Interesting facts about the electric car and the electrification of other vehicles.
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Integrated Safety

Helping to prevent traffic accidents or at least mitigating their severity are goals that ZF is pursuing with the most comprehensive safety technology portfolio in the supplier industry.

Integrated safety

Integrated Safety

Road traffic without severe injuries and fatalities is the goal of Vision Zero. Continuous improvement in vehicle safety can make a significant contribution to the protection of vehicle occupants and other road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.
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Vehicle Motion Control

The chassis plays a major role in ensuring safety, comfort and efficiency of a vehicle.

Vehicle motion control

Vehicle Motion Control

The chassis forms the basis of any mobility on wheels. But how are drive, steering and braking impulses converted? How does a car react to influences from the road? And how are vehicle dynamics, safety and comfort combined?
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Digitalization and Software

Digitalization is all about integrating and interconnecting artificial intelligence into more and more products, and also endowning it with the capacity to learn. ZF is quickly becoming one of the trailblazers that is revolutionizing mobility.

Digitalization

Digitalization and Software

Connectivity and digitalization have become an integral part of our everyday lives. The enormous quantities of information available everywhere and in real time make new functions and business models possible that were unthinkable a few decades ago.
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