Michael Rohnstock

Michael Rohnstock (born October 11th, 1995 in Bremen, Germany) is a Race car driver that is currently part of Blokkmonsta Motorsport. He currently races in the International Pro Car Championship, but he also performs in other closed-wheel categories on a part-time basis.

Early Life

Michael began karting at age 7, winning local races on a frequent basis and earning small sponsorships to keep attending races. He entered the KF3 series of karts in 2008 with mixed results. Rohnstock found more success in closed-wheel cars: He raced regularly in Autocross, and after a couple years in KF3 he shifted to racing Rallycross using an Opel Kaddett C. Rohnstock also raced in the Volkswagen Lupo Cup thanks to sponsorship from Kärcher, who helped fund Michael's forays into different series even to this day. Michael also did a few one-off entries into other series to see what kind of machinery he wanted to race, ranging from Porsche Cup Cars to Caterham Sevens to even the Ferrari Challenge Series.

Blokkmonsta Motorsport and Touring Cars

2015

Michael's driving skills caught the attention of businessman Andrea Schnass, who saw Rohnstock's potential as a driver for the revival of Blokkmonsta Racing in 2016. After negotiations between Schnass, Rohnstock, and Kärcher, Michael came on-board Blokkmonsta to race in the Rejects Touring Car Championship.

In preparation for 2016 Andrea borrowed a Peugeot 405 from Restov Racing for Rohnstock to use in the final round of the season in Austria. Against the more established field in more powerful machinery Rohnstock finished in 6th place, impressing the field of veteran drivers.

2016

Blokkmonsta's first official season in the RTCC partnered Rohnstock with Travis Crabtree, an American driver who would also be debuting alongside the German. Controversially, the team would use BTCC Audis with the original liveries without permission from the German car manufacturer.

The season proved impressive for the team's first foray into closed-wheel cars, with Rohnstock taking 3rd in the first race of the season. The Audi's four-wheel drive gave Rohnstock and Crabtree an advantage on curvier courses, and by season end both drivers finished in the top 10 in the driver's championship. Crabtree took one podium and ended the season 10th, while Rohnstock placed 7th, taking three podiums and almost a win in Germany.

Rohnstock attempted to race with Vic Sunset in the Rejects Rallycross Championship, but too many schedule conflicts forced Blokkmonsta to abandon the series to focus on the RTCC.

At the end of the year Rohnstock and Crabtree would participate in the Super GP round of the GT-Rejects World Championship in the GT2 class. Sharing a Nissan 350Z the duo struggled at the High Speed Ring due to the lack of power and refinement the V6-powered machine had.

2017

Blokkmonsta maintained the same driver lineup for 2017, the touring series becoming AutoReject Super Touring and switching from 90s touring cars to stock cars. The team used customer BMWs in the Championship Class after the team won tough negotiations over the right to field two customer cars in the premiere class.

Rohnstock shocked the crowd at the Round of Bathurst, where, using an underpowered machine, held off all comers to take 2nd, and even attempted to take 1st place away from former Formula One champion Rhys Davies. Rohnstock would then take his first win in the series at the Sprint Round of France, where he outlasted Turki al Faisal, taking the win after the Saudi driver spun off in the closing laps.

Although the BMW proved unreliable and difficult to drive, Michael brought in a steady stream of points, save for a dry spell in the rounds in North America where his teammate shined. The final races of the season had Rohnstock take several top 5 finishes, and by season end he placed 12th in the Drivers Championship, healthily ahead of his teammate.

Rohnstock's performance earn him an invitation to the 2017 Macau Touring Masters. He fielded a privateer Mitsubishi Lancer under the Blokkmonsta name. After a strong qualifying session Rohnstock fought hard to win the first race from the much more experienced Ricardo Llosa driving the factory Chevrolet. Rohnstock would lead from pole the following race to take back-to-back victories at the Guia Circuit.

2018

Rohnstock continued with Blokkmonsta's ARST team for 2018, the team now the works Honda team under the new International Procar Championship. The team would have lackluster start, with Rohnstock only managing some top 20 finishes, and getting into bouts with his teammate Crabtree. This would ultimately leas to the two drivers taking eachother out at the Round of the United Kingdom, and the falling out would lead to Crabtree's sacking from the team.

Rohnstock would have better fortune after that, now partnered with Lasse Tilkesson who took Crabtree's spot at Blokkmonsta. However, the series would fold in mid-August due to bankruptcy, leaving Rohnstock without a drive for the rest of the season.

Rohnstock struggled to find drives elsewhere, mainly juggling between one-make series, mainly racing at the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany for Huber Racing.