Martin Ragginger

Martin Ragginger is an Austrian racing driver who competes in various GT championships in recent time, mostly with Porsches.

Karting career

Martin Ragginger was born in March 1988 in Salzburg. As a 9-year-old kid, Martin began his career in karting and immediately scored some impressive results in the national championship. In 1999, Ragginger became a member of the Red Bull Junior team and debuted in the Italian ’Bambini’ Kart Championship, driving for Savelli squad. He finished the season in 3rd place, attracting attention with a victory at the Trofeo San Marino.

Martin Ragginger

Raggi, (that's Martin’s nickname) spent most of his karting career with KSN Team, based in Kerpen,  Germany (the location of Michael Schumacher’s home circuit). From 2000 to 2004, Ragginger scored many notable results in karting, including a 3rd place in the highest national karting class - German Formula A – in 2004, his final year before moving to single-seaters.

Short spell in Formula BMW

In 2005, Ragginger opened a new chapter of his career. He raced with Mucke Motorsport in the German Formula BMW and finished 8th overall, as well as 3rd in the rookie standings. During the next season, Martin raced with the Eifelland team and soon he scored two victories and four podium places before finishing 8th. In the 2006 Formula BMW World Final in Valencia, he scored the 9th place.

Martin Ragginger was FIA GT2 champion

The next stop in Martin’s career was a switch to sports cars and once he finished the selection test, he became a member of Porsche Junior Team. Ragginger raced in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany and Porsche Supercup and helped his team to win 2008 Porsche Carrera Cup championship title.

Martin Ragginger at Norisring, Porsche Carrera Cup Germany

In 2009, Ragginger debuted in the FIA GT Championship’s GT2 class driving for Brixia Racing but the results weren’t impressive and he finished 16th in the standings. However, that season was very useful for the young driver who picked some valuable experience.

The following year was one of the best in Raggi’s career so far. He won the European GT2 Championship title but also triumphed in 24 Hours of Spa, driving a Porsche 997 GT3-RSR alongside Romain Dumas, Wolf Henzler, and Jorg Bergmeister. Finally, Martin that year also competed in the Le Mans Series and finished 3rd overall in GT2 standings.

Plenty of duties

In 2011, Ragginger shared his duties between various championships. In the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, he was 7th overall which was a solid achievement despite missing two rounds. He also debuted at Daytona 24 Hours, as well as in 24 Hours of Nurburgring, and also raced in the American Le Mans Series and VLN.

Martin Ragginger after his 2nd place at Zandvoort 2011

The following year was probably a bit better for the Austrian driver. Debut in the ADAC GT Masters with the FACH Auto Tech was probably the highlight after Martin helped his co-driver Swen Dolenc to win the AM-class title. Ragginger in 2012 also finished 4th in Porsche Carrera Cup Asia and 5th at 24 Hours of Dubai.

Ragginger was 4th overall in 2013 ADAC GT Masters standings, while at Lausitzring scored his maiden win in the series, driving alongside Robert Renauer. He was also Porsche Carrera Cup Asia runner-up that year and raced with a relative success in various championships like VLN, Porsche Supercup, and 24h Series. The same year Ragginger also debuted in the Blancpain GT Series as a part-time driver.

Porsche Carrera Cup Asia runner-up

In 2014, Ragginger as a driver of Team Porsche Holding was the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia vice-champion, losing to Earl Bamber by 28 points, while in the next campaign Raggi dropped to the 5th position.

Martin Ragginger, Team Porsche Holding, Porsche Carrera Cup Asia

At the same time, Austrian driver in 2014 was 4th at Nurburgring 24 Hours with Falken Motorsports. With the same team and co-drivers Peter Dumbreck, Alexandre Imperatori, and Wolf Henzler, Martin in 2015 moved up to the 3rd place in one of the most prestigious endurance races in the world.

Racing in the ADAC GT Masters is one of Raggi's main duties

Martin’s main duty in 2016 was racing in ADAC GT Masters. After a couple of years, he returned to the fast-growing series and did very well driving a Herbeth Motorsport’s Porsche alongside Robert Renauer. They scored wins at Lausitzring and Hockenheim, took the 2nd place at Nurburgring and 3rd at Zandvoort before finishing 5th overall.

In 2017, Ragginger was a vice-champion in the Carrera Cup Asia again, after scoring four wins in thirteen races. In 2018, he finished third in the Asian Carrera Cup.

Photo: martinragginger.com, dedeporsche.com, wikimedia.org, 9tro.com, adac-motorsport.de