Karsten Wolf has already stood atop the podium in the World Endurance Championship at the Bol d'Or and the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans, even though he didn't get into racing until he was over 40 and had never even ridden in a motorcycle race himself. Today, he runs one of the top teams in the IDM. How is that even possible?
“KW,” as he is known to his friends and colleagues, made his racing debut in 2008—more by chance than by design—as a mechanic for Team JOS Motorsport at the German Endurance Cup race at the Lausitzring. After eight hours, his team stood atop the podium, and his passion was ignited.
This was followed by further competitions at the national level, a move to the international stage in 2011 alongside Ronny Schlieder, and, in 2016, the founding of the German Endurance Racing Team—GERT56 for short—marking the team’s debut in the World Endurance Championship. After finishing as runner-up in the Superstock class in the 2018/19 season and third in the 2019/20 EWC season, the team led by the racing-enthusiast from Saxony left the Endurance World Championship and moved to the International German Championship the following year.
In the latest episode of *Slicks and Sunglasses*, Karsten explains why he switched from endurance racing to sprint racing, how he has managed for years to create an environment where his riders can perform at their best, and why trust is more important to him than contracts.