Ruppert Motorsport joins 2025 ETRC grid
The 2025 Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship welcomes a brand-new team with Ruppert Motorsport – a fresh name in truck racing, but a team with deep roots in motorsport.
Although new to the truck racing scene, Ruppert Motorsport brings over 40 years of motorsport experience. Team founder Christian Ruppert began as a passenger in sidecar motocross before moving into quad racing and competing in the KTM Duke Battle Cup. His journey continued in the IDM Sidecar Championship for over a decade, and most recently, the team took part in the Dakar Classic in 2022 and 2024. That same year, they also entered the Dutch Truck Racing Championship – a stepping stone that sparked their passion for the discipline.
The Road to the ETRC
It was during the Dakar Classic that the team met Marco Klingenhöfer, who invited them to test a race truck in Most. The experience lit the fire, and after just two rounds in the Dutch series, Ruppert Motorsport was all in.
“We're a family-run team through and through,” said Christian's son Matias Ruppert, who brings his own experience into the mix, having ridden motorcycles since the age of 3.5 and joined the team for their second Dakar outing.
Christian Ruppert’s wife is also deeply involved, having started as a sidecar passenger and later as co-driver in both Dakar Classics.
Originally, the team aimed to buy a truck to compete in the Dutch Championship but found the options limited. A conversation with Sascha Lenz changed everything. “Sascha said this truck belonged in the European Championship,” they explained. “We never do things halfway. When we start something, we go straight to the top – just like with the Dakar.”
The team didn’t have a truck secured until November and briefly considered postponing their debut to 2026. “Thanks to Sascha, Stefan Honens and others in the racing community, we were able to make this happen,” Matias said. “We were close to calling it a year and waiting until 2026, but everyone rallied together to help us get on track for 2025.”
While the team’s main goal for their debut season is to learn, they also want to be competitive. “We want to keep pace with the field and avoid big gaps,” said Matias.
Most and the Nürburgring are the circuits the team is most excited about – both due to their proximity to the team’s base in southern Germany and Christian Ruppert’s positive experiences from previous races.
Like many privateer teams, finances and time are the biggest challenges. “We all have full-time jobs, so racing is something we do alongside that,” Matias explained. “Every holiday, every weekend is spent preparing the truck and the service vehicles. It’s tough, but we’re doing it because we love the sport.”
Ruppert Motorsport is ready to take on the European stage and make their mark in the 2025 season.
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