Holland's Saker Sportscars Now Exclusively Utilize K&N Filters

5 Oct 2011

Saker Sportscars have been described as a true sports car of the modern era.

Holland's Saker Sportscars aptly derives their name from the large Saker Falcon, an extraordinarily quick and astonishingly maneuverable bird of prey. The Dutch race car manufacturer creates race ready, circuit performance cars, bent on reliability and affordability, and backs them with an equally impressive customer support program. Those that have driven a Saker describe them as a true sports car of the modern era, with design concerns based on outright performance, rather than following trends or automotive fashion. A sports car dedicated to the driver's art.

Saker Sportscars were on full display this year at the 2011 Professional Motorsport World Show Expo in Cologne, Germany, and that's where K&N's Marcel Blom, European Motorsports Sponsorship Coordinator fortuitously crossed paths with Herbert Boender, Managing Director for Saker Sportscars.

Herbert Boender, Managing Director Saker Sportscars, and K&N's Marcel Blom at Saker factory in Holland (left to right).

The two spoke about getting the proper filter on the Saker cars, and Boender was open to the conversation, as he was having a problem with the original fitted filter.

Blom next met with Boender in the south Netherlands, in Eindhoven, where they conducted dynamometer tests of various air filters on Saker cars, and at the end of the day the K&N air filter clearly produced the best test results. The following week the Saker Sportscars team raced in Belgium sporting the K&N filter and Saker finished third in class - a very positive result for all concerned. In short, there is now a very close cooperation between Saker and K&N, the team is already fitted with the filters and so will all cars produced from here out.

"Actually I didn't think it would make any difference," Boender told K&N Race News, referring to fitting his cars with K&N. "Normally I don't believe in horsepower for 'free.' Getting more power out of our engines wasn't even the goal, as we are running a spec series at maximum 275 bhp. However, durability of the engine and affordable maintenance and running costs of the car is one of the most important things for Saker. But having even better output of the engine means being able to give less turbo boost, which saves the turbo, lowers temperatures of basically everything, saves fuel and thus makes the car even more reliable, durable and affordable."

The 24 Hour Race of Barcelona was the first time ever that a standard cup Saker came out in a 24 hour race, and Saker Sportscars won their class.

Saker Sportscars started in 2003, after acquiring rights from a New Zealand company to manufacture and develop the Saker further. "So, as an engineer, that's what I did," said Boender. "Over the years I redesigned the car, set up the production process and part logistics, and since 2009 I have been the Managing Director. We now manufacturer four models (Saker GT, Saker Sprint, Saker Sniper and RapX)."

Saker Sportscars are designed as an affordable racecar completely setup to compete against much more expensive cars. "What we offer is the best performance, fun and cost balance available in racing," explains Boender. "These are very quick, serious sports cars, without any driver assist systems; so it's very pure and fun to race. Part of the fun in racing includes spare parts availability at all times; we have everything in stock, to maximize the available track time."

The Saker Sportscars race team was fitted with K&N filters halfway into the race season, competing in the Dutch Supercar Challenge. "Racing against cars with much more power, we got on the podium in the first race," Boender said. "Last weekend we made our debut in a 24 hour race; the 24 Hour Race of Barcelona. It was the first time ever that a standard cup Saker came out in a 24 hour race, and we won our class! Next we are running a Saker Sportscars challenge in the Netherlands and another challenge in the United Kingdom. After the victory in the 24 hour race in Barcelona, we are planning to compete in the 24 Hours of Dubai in January as well."

Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.

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