Timo Bernhard | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nationality | German | ||||||||||
Born | Homburg, West Germany | 24 February 1981||||||||||
Racing licence | FIA Platinum | ||||||||||
|
Timo Bernhard (born 24 February 1981) is a former racing driver from Germany. He was a sports car driver from Porsche, [1] but was seconded to Audi for selected events in 2009 and 2010. He is the ninth and most recent driver to complete the informal triple crown of endurance racing. On 29 June 2018, he became the first person in 35 years to break the all-time Nürburgring Nordschleife lap record, set by Stefan Bellof in 1983 with a Porsche 956, in a derestricted Porsche 919 Evo with a time of 5:19.546. [2]
Bernhard was born in Homburg, Saarland. He debuted in karting in 1991. He finished 5th at the CIK/FIA Junior World Championship and was crowned German junior champion. The next two years, Bernhard was 6th and 3rd at the German Karting Championship. In 1998 he moved to formula cars as he joined Formula Ford, finishing 6th in both the German series and the Eurocup in 1998. In his last year in open-wheelers, 1999, Bernhard finished 3rd in the German Formula Ford.
For 2000, Bernhard drove in Porsche Supercup as a UPS Porsche Junior driver, finishing 3rd in the championship. In 2001, he made his American Le Mans Series debut at the 12 Hours of Sebring, where he finished 2nd in the GT class with Randy Pobst and Christian Menzel, driving for Alex Job Racing. He also made four other ALMS starts, and won the Porsche Carrera Cup championship.
In 2002 he began the season with a class win in the 24 Hours of Daytona for The Racer's Group. He then finished second overall at the 24 Hours Nürburgring driving for Alzen Motorsport. The crowning achievement of the year was winning the GT class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Kevin Buckler and Lucas Luhr. He also finished 3rd in the Carrera Cup, and won his first ALMS race (with Jörg Bergmeister) and finished 4th in the championship.
Bernhard began the season by winning the 24 Hours of Daytona outright in a Porsche 911 GT3-RS, driving with Buckler, Michael Schrom, and Bergmeister. Bernhard and Bergmeister won 3 ALMS races, including Petit Le Mans, and finished second in the championship. He also finished 3rd at the Nürburgring 24 Hours.
In 2004, Bernhard again partnered with Jörg Bergmeister in the ALMS. The duo took six wins from nine starts and won the GT class driver's championship. Their successes included class wins at Sebring and Petit Le Mans, both time joined by Sascha Maassen. Bernhard also finished 4th overall and 2nd in class in the Spa 24 Hours. He finished on the podium at the Nürburgring 24 Hours for the 3rd straight year, finishing in third in a Manthey Racing Porsche.
Bernhard joined Romain Dumas in the ALMS for 2005. They scored four class wins, and Bernhard won four poles, but finished second in the championship. Dumas also finished 2nd in the GT2 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, driving with Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long.
In 2006, Bernhard moved to Penske Racing who owned and captained by legendary owner Roger Penske and the new Porsche RS Spyder in the LMP2 class of the ALMS, again partnering Dumas. After a frustrating start to the season, Bernhard and Dumas took advantage of the Audi R10's absence from the series to take the overall win at Mid-Ohio. This was the first overall win for an LMP2 class car, and the first win for an under-class car since 2003. Bernhard also won the LMP2 class at Petit Le Mans (with Sascha Maassen and Emmanuel Collard), and took four class victories in total and finished 3rd in the championship. He also won the 24 Hours Nürburgring outright, partnering Lucas Luhr, Marcel Tiemann, and Mike Rockenfeller.
Bernhard and Dumas moved to Joest Racing, in which he ran the new Audi R15 TDI. Along with Alexandre Prémat, the #3 car finished 17th in the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Along with Dumas and Rockenfeller, Bernhard took the overall win in the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans. This was the first win for either driver and set records throughout and after the race, including breaking the 1971 distance record of 5,335.313 km (3,315.210 mi); the car (#9) ran 397 laps and 5,410.713 km (3,362.061 mi). Bernhard's victory made him the eleventh driver to complete the Triple Crown in endurance racing, with Bernhard also winning not only the 2003 24 Hours of Daytona but also the 2008 12 Hours of Sebring with Penske (also with Dumas but also with Collard). Bernhard partnered Klaus Graf in the Muscle Milk Team CytoSport Porsche RS Spyder to second place at Road America, the seventh round of the 2010 ALMS season.
Series/Event | Class | Years | Races | Wins | Podiums | Best season result | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Open Wheel | |||||||
Formula Ford 1800 Germany | 1800 | 1999 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 3rd place (1999) | |
Endurance Racing | |||||||
FIA World Endurance Championship | LMP1 | 2012-2017 | 33 | 12 | 23 | Champion (2015,2017) | |
LMGTE Pro | 2013 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 21st (2012) | ||
Intercontinental Le Mans Cup | LMP1 | 2011 | 7 | 0 | 3 | ||
Le Mans Series | LMP1 | 2010-2011 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 13th (2010) | |
Blancpain Endurance Series | GT3 Pro | 2013 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 28th (2013) | |
American Le Mans Series | LMP | 2006-2011 | 36 | 16 | 30 | Champion (2007, 2008) | |
GT | 2002-2010 | 44 | 13 | 24 | Champion (2004) | ||
Grand American Rolex Series | DP | 2005-2010 | 15 | 0 | 3 | 4th place (2010) | |
GT | 2002-2010 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 23rd place (2003) | ||
VLN Endurance | 2009-2012 | 3+ | 2 | 149th (2010) | |||
24 Hours of Le Mans | LMP1 | 2009-2017 | 7 | 2 | 2 | Winner (2010, 2017) | |
GTE Pro | 2013 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2nd place (2013) | ||
GT | 2002-2005 | 3 | 1 | 2 | Winner (2002) | ||
24 Hours of Nürburgring | SP7 | 2006-2013 | 6 | 6 | 6 | Winner (2006-2010, 2013) | |
A8 | 2003-2004 | 2 | 1 | 2 | Winner (2003) | ||
A7 | 2002 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Winner (2002) | ||
GT | |||||||
FIA GT Championship | GT2 | 2006 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
NGT | 2001-2005 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 13th place (2004) | ||
United SportsCar Championship | GTD | 2014 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 126th place (2014) | |
Porsche Supercup | GT3 | 2001-2002 | 14 | 1 | 8 | 3rd place (2002) | |
Porsche Carrera Cup Germany | GT3 | 1999-2003 | 27 | 6 | 8 | Champion (2001) | |
Karting | |||||||
Andrea Margutti Trophy | ICA | 1996 | 18th place (1996) | ||||
Five Continents Cup | Junior A | 1995 | 5th place (1995) | ||||
German Kart Championship | 1996-1997 | 3rd place (1997) | |||||
German Junior Kart Championship | 1995 | Champion (1995) | |||||
Year | Team | Class | Chassis Engine | Co-drivers | Results | Championship | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Points | Rank | |||||||
2013 | Porsche AG Team Manthey | LMGTE Pro | Porsche 911 RSR 4.0 L Flat-6 | | Jörg Bergmeister Patrick Pilet | SIL 7 | SPA Ret | LMS 2 | SÃO | COA | FUJ | SHA | BHR | 42 | 12th | ||
2014 | Porsche Team | LMP1-H | Porsche 919 Hybrid 2.0 L Turbo V4 (Hybrid) | | Mark Webber Brendon Hartley | SIL 3 | SPA 12 | LMS NC | COA 5 | FUJ 3 | SHA 6 | BHR 3 | SÃO Ret | 64.5 | 9th | ||
2015 | Porsche Team | LMP1 | Porsche 919 Hybrid 2.0 L Turbo V4 (Hybrid) | | Mark Webber Brendon Hartley | SIL Ret | SPA 3 | LMS 2 | NÜR 1 | COA 1 | FUJ 1 | SHA 1 | BHR 5 | 166 | 1st | ||
2016 | Porsche Team | LMP1 | Porsche 919 Hybrid 2.0 L Turbo V4 (Hybrid) | | Mark Webber Brendon Hartley | SIL Ret | SPA 26 | LMS 10 | NÜR 1 | MEX 1 | COA 1 | FUJ 3 | SHA 1 | BHR 3 | 134.5 | 4th | |
2017 | Porsche LMP Team | LMP1 | Porsche 919 Hybrid 2.0 L Turbo V4 (Hybrid) | | Brendon Hartley Earl Bamber | SIL 2 | SPA 3 | LMS 1 | NÜR 1 | MEX 1 | COA 1 | FUJ 4 | SHA 2 | BHR 2 | 208 | 1st | |
* Season still in progress. (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Rank | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | Park Place Motorsports | GTD | Porsche 911 GT America | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | DAY 23† | SEB | LGA | BEL | WGL | MOS | IMS | ELK | VIR | AUS | ATL | 126th | 1 |
2018 | Tequila Patrón ESM | P | Nissan Onroak DPi | Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Turbo V6 | DAY | SEB | LBH | MDO | DET | WGL | MOS | ELK | LGA | PET 6 | 53rd | 25 | |
2019 | Mazda Team Joest | DPi | Mazda RT24-P | Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L Turbo I4 | DAY 11 | SEB 11 | LBH | MDO | DET | WGL 2 | MOS | ELK | LGA | PET 6 | 15th | 97 | |
Source: [3] |
† Bernhard did not complete sufficient laps in order to score full points.
Krohn Racing is a professional sports car racing team based in Houston, Texas. The team competes in the IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Prototype class, and has competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship, Intercontinental Le Mans Cup GTE-Amateur class; the American Le Mans Series GT2 class; and the Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype class.
The RS Spyder is a racing car designed by Porsche in conjunction with Penske to compete in Le Mans Prototype Class 2 (LMP2) racing. The car takes its name from the legendary Porsche 550 Spyder of the 1950s. The car marked Porsche's first return to the top level of sports prototype racing since the firm abandoned its Porsche LMP in 1999.
Guy James Mutlow Smith is a British professional racing driver, who has competed in various levels of motorsport, most notably the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which he won in 2003, and the American Le Mans Series, which he won in 2011.
Jörg Bergmeister is a former racing driver from Germany and an ambassador of Porsche.
Marc Lieb is a former German Porsche factory motor-racing driver. He won the FIA GT Championship in 2003 and 2005, and the European Le Mans Series in 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2010. He won the 24 Hours Nürburgring four times, one time the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016, in the 2008 12 Hours of Sebring, in the 2003 24 hours of Spa and in the 2007 Petit Le Mans. He is also the 2016 FIA World Endurance Champion.
Sascha Maassen is a veteran sports car driver.
Richard Westbrook is a British professional racing driver noted for his success in racing Porsche and International sports cars. As a junior, he attended St Joseph's College, Ipswich. He has won both the Porsche Supercup international championship and the Porsche Carrera Cup in his native Britain (2004). At the end of the 2007 season, Richard signed a factory contract deal with the German marque Porsche, and the British ace proceeded to take on the world's best on the other side of the Atlantic. The next year (2009), Westbrook won the highly coveted FIA GT2 Championship, taking four victories in the process, establishing himself firmly on the World motor sport stage and in the upper echelons of elite sports car drivers.
Dyson Racing is a professional sports car racing team based in Poughkeepsie, New York in the United States. Founded by Rob Dyson in 1974, the team competed successfully in North American sports car racing series, including the IMSA GT Championship and American Le Mans Series.
The Flying Lizard Motorsports group is a motorsport team from Sonoma, California, formed by Seth Neiman in early 2003. The team competed in the full American Le Mans Series season, as well as the 24 Hours of Daytona, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The team went on to win six driver and team championships in the American Le Mans Series, becoming a Porsche factory team and Porsche Motorsport North America's development partner from 2007 to 2012. The team helped develop the first- and second-generation 997 GT3 RSR as well as bring it to victory several times in its six-year run in the series. The team solely raced Porsche cars from 2004 to 2019, becoming a staple in the Porsche racing community.
Alex Job Racing is a former professional sports car racing team based in the United States. The team, which is noted for its long-time association with Porsche, has competed in the American Le Mans Series, the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge series, and the Rolex Sports Car Series, and fields a two-car effort in the Tudor United SportsCar Championship. On November 22, 2017, it was announced that Alex Job Racing will cease its professional racing operations to focus on its historic restoration and competition business.
Johnny Mowlem is a professional British racing driver. During his career Mowlem was ranked amongst the best sports car/GT drivers in the world. Mowlem famously fell off his chair whilst commentating at the 2023 Le Mans 24hr race, having competed in every class of world championship sports car racing.
João Ricardo da Silva Coelho Barbosa is a Portuguese auto racing driver. He currently competes in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Sean Creech Motorsport in the LMP2 class.
The 2009 American Le Mans Series season was the 39th season for the IMSA GT Championship, with it being the eleventh season with the American Le Mans Series moniker. It began on March 21, 2009, and ended on October 10, 2009 after ten events. The series was composed of Le Mans Prototypes (LMP) and Grand Tourer (GT) race cars divided into four classes: LMP1, LMP2, GT1, and GT2. A fifth category, known as the Challenge class, was also added for select races and featured Porsche 997 GT3 Cup cars from the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge. 2009 was also the final year for GT1, with Corvette Racing abandoning the class after Long Beach and switching over to much more competitive GT2 class.
The 2010 American Le Mans Series season was the 40th overall season for the IMSA GT Championship, and the twelfth as the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón. It was also the first season in which the ALMS used a revised structure for its four classes, as well as the first year in a three-year sponsorship deal with Patrón. The season began with the 12 Hours of Sebring on March 20 and ended with the Petit Le Mans on October 2, completing nine total races.
Muscle Milk Pickett Racing was a motorsports group from Indianapolis, Indiana. The team was founded in 2007 by CytoSport co-founder and former IMSA GT Championship driver Greg Pickett. Since 2007, Pickett's team has competed in the United SportsCar Championship, the American Le Mans Series, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge. The team officially closed in 2014.
The 60th Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring was a 12-hour automobile endurance race for teams of three drivers each fielding sports prototype and grand touring cars held on March 17, 2012, at the Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Florida before more than 90,000 spectators. It was the 60th 12 Hours of Sebring and the first round of both the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the 2012 American Le Mans Series (ALMS). Le Mans Prototype 1 (LMP1), Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), Le Mans Prototype Challenge (LMPC), Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance (LMGTE), and Grand Touring Challenge (GTC) cars competed in the race.
Champion Racing was a sports car racing team based in Pompano Beach, Florida, USA. Founded in 1994 by Dave Maraj, a former rally driver from Trinidad, as the motorsport wing of the Champion Motors car dealership, the team has campaigned various Porsches and Audis in North American road racing series. Champion Racing's extensive record includes a win at the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2005, and 5 straight American Le Mans Series LMP1 championships, 2 as a private team and 3 as a factory team under the name Audi Sport North America.
Lucas Luhr is a German racing driver. He is a staple of the American Le Mans Series during the 2000s and early 2010s, winning the GT class with Porsche in 2002, the LMP2 category in 2006, and taking the overall LMP1 championship as part of the Audi Sport North America works outfit in 2008. He also won the P1 title in 2012 and 2013, driving for Honda-fielding Muscle Milk Pickett Racing.
Mike Rockenfeller, nicknamed "Rocky", is a German professional racing driver and was an Audi factory driver competing in the DTM and the FIA World Endurance Championship. He won his first DTM title in 2013, driving for Audi Sport Team Phoenix. He also won the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Romain Dumas is a French racing driver and driver for Glickenhaus in the World Endurance Championship. He first started out in karting and single-seater before becoming an expert driver in endurance racing, GT and sport-prototype. He has won the greatest races of the discipline, such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 24 Hours of Spa, the Nürburgring 24 Hours, and the 12 Hours of Sebring. He has been one of Porsche's factory drivers since 2004. He's also been contracted to Audi from 2009 to 2012, Volkswagen from 2017 to 2019, and Ford Performance since 2022. Adding to this, Dumas is a Chopard ambassador.