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Last Update: 01-05-2011

        Cyber Formula GPX~~!                          

   TEAM's PROFILE                                            

Stormzender

Sturobrahms / S.G.M. (Silent German Mind) / Sturozech Project / Stormzender
Headquarters: (Sturobrahms) Stuttgart, Germany
Marque First Established: SGM, 2007; Sturozech Project, 2016
World Championships: 2009 (Cleave / SGM), 2010 (Cleave / SGM), 2019 (Gudelhian / Stormzender)

Corporate Profile:
Sturobrahms (my approximation of Shuturoburamusu) is the force behind Cyber Formula's three main German teams, and is headed by Franz Heinel's father--who is also president of affiliates S.G.M. and Sturozech Project. Heinel himself has been the individual most responsible for overseeing the key developments in company racing projects, and his little sister Lisa is also employed at Stormzender. As a private business producing expensive luxury cars, Sturobrahms is one of two top German auto makers. The other one, V, is a state-owned company manufacturing popular vehicles. Sturobrahms' trademark is a strong sense of national identity; most production takes place within the country instead of at overseas plants, and its largest shareholder is a German national bank.

Team Profile:
Set up to develop an experimental car and expand the brand, S.G.M. was the first of the Sturobrahms-backed team/companies. In its early days, it worked alongside Köln, the ubiquitous domestic German company that also had dealings with STAG and Aoi, on developing cyber technologies, and launched its official Cyber Formula effort in 2007. S.G.M.'s first driver was John Cleave, who established his reputation in F3000 and earned himself the Cyber Formula nickname "Miracle Champ" after bringing the team 2 world championships. But when he left racing, so did the team's good fortunes.

Enter Franz Heinel, who was involved in developing the superconductivity system used by S.G.M.'s Silent Screamer B (beta). Following completion of the car, Heinel transferred over to become the S.G.M. driver, then jumped ship the following year and directed his energies towards the formation of a real Sturobrahms team. However, S.G.M. continued to putter along after his departure, and the Silent Screamer series exists to this day--it's currently up to the Silent Screamer y-2 (gamma).

Thanks to Heinel, Sturozech Project was launched in 2016, another product of the union between Sturobrahms and Köln. With Jackie Gudelhian in the cockpit, this team was basically the testing ground for team manager and chief designer Heinel's Stil series. Stormzender was created in 2017, with Heinel in charge as usual; Gudelhian was the Stormzender driver, while Heinel took over driving duties at Sturozech. Although Heinel did a fairly respectable job, Gudelhian was the one bringing home most of the points, peaking with his championship victory in 2019. The dual set-up lasted until 2020, when regulation changes permitted each team to assume a 2-car structure, and Sturozech Project was incorporated into Stormzender.

Heinel retired from driving to concentrate on his other roles as sporting and technical director from the 2022 season onward, hiring Marie Albert Luisa (after an unnecessarily complicated process) to fill the second seat at Stormzender. That year also saw the debut of his latest creation, the Spiegel series. The same driver pairing was kept for the following year.

The Sturo teams can only claim one championship title so far, but they certainly boast some of the most innovative cars in Cyber Formula. True, Clair is a great designer too, but unlike Heinel she's been fiddling with the same basic Asurada since time immemorial. The only problem is that while Heinel's cars look really sexy--the Spiegel in particular resembles an ominous spacecraft more than anything else--they also look really uncomfortable to drive. The Stil series definitely loses coolness points for forcing drivers to zoom around the track with their rump in the air, and the low profile of the Spiegel necessitates assuming a near-luge position. Still, apart from maybe the Ouga, the Spiegel is the CF car I'd want more than any other. As long as it came with a licensed chiropractor, anyway.

Year-By-Year History:
2007:    2nd GPX. S.G.M. enters Cyber Formula. John Cleave is the 

              team's driver; he places 5th in the final standings.
2008:    3rd GPX. Cleave is 5th again. The team is the first to 

              experiment with adding boost capabilities to the car, although 

              CF regulations regarding this feature are in flux for the next few 

              years.
2009:    4th GPX. Cleave wins the world championship.
2010:    5th GPX. Cleave wins the world championship again, hoorah.
2011:    6th GPX. The team fails to make the top six in championship 

              points. Cleave is injured while saving a girl from an oncoming

              car, and retires from CF.
2012:    7th GPX. Tasso replaces Cleave, to little effect. The team 

              begins research on a car with solar-power capacity.
2013:    8th GPX. J.M. Lenz takes over as driver. More mediocrity 

              ensues. S.G.M. announces it will have a solar-powered car in 

              2015.
2014:    9th GPX. Lenz is still driving.
2015:    10th GPX. Heinel drives the new Silent Screamer B and places 

              5th overall. Development of the next new concept car begins.
2016:    11th GPX. S.G.M. debuts the Silent Screamer B/2. The 

              Sturozech Project team enters Cyber Formula, with Jackie 

              Gudelhian piloting the Stil HG-161 to 5th in the championship. 

              Team manager and machine designer Heinel subs for an 

              injured Gudelhian in the last race, tying S.G.M.'s Lenz (who 

              drives for Aoi in rounds 1-4) for 10th in total points.
2017:    12th GPX. The Stil HG-162 is introduced. Gudelhian switches 

              to the new Stormzender team and Heinel drives for Sturozech 

              Project, finishing 2nd and 4th respectively. Lenz is Aoi ZIP 

              Formula's driver for the year, placing 8th. Possible Lisa

              sighting; she may be helping out at the team as early as this 

              year.
2018:    13th GPX. The Stil HG-164 is developed in time for the end of 

              the season. Gudelhian is 5th, Heinel is 3rd, and presumably 

              Lenz is back at S.G.M.
2019:    14th GPX. Gudelhian and the Stil HG-165 win the 

              championship; Heinel places 8th. Somewhere around this 

              point, S.G.M. switches to the Silent Screamer y-2 (which they're 

              definitely using by 2022).
2020:    15th GPX. Thanks to the rules change, Sturozech Project is 

              merged into Stormzender, and Lisa Heinel periodically helps 

              out as team assistant. Gudelhian ends up 3rd, and Heinel 

              finishes 6th. If S.G.M. takes a second driver this season, it may 

              be S. Vitte (who is definitely with the team in 2022).
2021:    16th GPX. Taking a tip from Aoi on obsolescence, 

              Stormzender is still using the Stil HG-165. A displeased 

              Gudelhian finishes in 5th, Heinel in 6th, and at the end of the 

              season Heinel quits racing to become sporting and technical 

              director again.
2022:    17th GPX. Launch of the Spiegel HP022. Lisa is now officially 

              a team assistant, and Marie is driving for the team. Gudelhian 

              is 5th, Marie is 9th. Lenz is being partnered over at S.G.M. by 

              Vitte, and the team manages at least one points finish.
2023:    18th GPX. No changes at Stormzender.

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