AF Racing Holding Group appoints Thomas Mayer as Chief Executive Officer

The AF Racing Holding Group announced that Thomas Mayer will become Chief Executive Officer to lead the Swiss group from May 1st. Mayer has many years’ experience of leading organizations within the transportation and automotive sectors as well as in motorsport.

Thomas Mayer’s career has led him into holding senior positions at Bombardier and Solaris and thereafter into Formula 1. He has held C-suite positions at Lotus F1 Team, Renault Sport F1 and at Manor Racing. His most recent appointments have been the CEO of Ecotive Ltd and Bristol Superlight, both disruptive start-up companies of the Swiss Kamkorp Holding which operated in the field of sustainable mobility with a wide range of taxis, vans and commercial vehicles. Mayer has a strong engineering background and he will bring highly relevant business experience to the group.

The AF Racing Group’s owners Dr. Andreas Baenziger and Dr. Florian Kamelger will step back from the day to day operational duties in order to be able to focus more closely on the strategic development and expansion of the group. As well as retaining the position of Team Principal of R-Motorsport, Dr. Florian Kamelger will also remain in the role of Chairman of the Board.

“I am excited to join AF Racing Holding Group, a company with the capability to make its mark in the automotive sector as well as in international motorsport. I am really looking forward to my new, exciting role as CEO of the group. The AF Racing Holding Group’s success so far is already outstanding, that’s why I accept with joy the challenges of further developing the group and with it the R-Universe.” says Mayer.

“We welcome Thomas Mayer into the R-Universe, and we are very much looking forward to working with him. He comes to us with many years of impressive versatile professional experience. He has an in-depth knowledge of running large operations incorporating production, logistics and organizational structuring,” says Dr. Florian Kamelger.”

“After ten years of rapid development of our R-Universe Florian Kamelger and I believe that the ideal time has come for us to take up more of a strategic role,” Baenziger adds. “We are firmly convinced that Thomas Mayer together with our competent and passionate team of employees will continue to grow and further develop our group ensuring a bright future for us all.”

About AF Racing Holding Group

Emotion, passion, vision – these are the qualities that set the company apart from other brands. The group’s racing division, R-Motorsport is predominantly engaging in international GT competitions where the team successfully runs Aston Martin Vantage race cars. R-Motorsport is one of the four “R” brands of the R-Universe together with R-Experience, R-Reforged and R-Service under the corporate roof of the AF Racing Holding Group. In addition to its ever-growing presence in motorsport, the Swiss company is also involved in automotive manufacturing. Along with Aston Martin Lagonda and Red Bull Advanced Technologies a company of the group is one of the three strategic partners of the prestigious Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar project. Aston Martin St Gallen, the only exclusive Aston Martin dealership in Switzerland is part of the R-Universe and also belongs to the same group of companies.

The four “R” brands encompass the company’s concept of what the luxury automotive sector should represent by always ensuring an extraordinary customer experience. R-Reforged is focusing on the production of exclusive and luxurious sportscars whilst also responding to a customer demand for bespoke, limited production vehicles with a purchase experience unlike any other. The first project ever announced by R- Reforged was the Aston Martin Vantage V12 Zagato Heritage TWINS in 2019. R-Reforged’s second project, the Aston Martin Vanquish 25 by CALLUM, announced shortly after, also enters production this year.

R-Experience puts the customer in the center of all the activities managed by the R-Universe brands. R-Experience’s showcase projects are the exclusive R-Motorsport hospitality experience at race venues around the world and the restaurant 1904 DESIGNED BY LAGONDA which is located in the heart of Zurich. The restaurant’s chef, Thomas Bissegger, was awarded his first Michelin star in early 2020.