Michael Christensen (racing driver)

Michael Klitgaard Christensen (born 28 August 1990) is a Danish racing driver. He is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Porsche in the GTE PRO class.

Michael Christensen
Nationality Danish
Born (1990-08-28) 28 August 1990
Karlslunde, Denmark
FIA World Endurance Championship career
Debut season2015
Current teamPorsche GT Team
Former teamsPorsche Team Manthey, Dempsey-Proton Racing
Starts41
Wins8
Poles5
Fastest laps2
Best finish1st in 2018-19
Previous series
2013
2012
2011
2010-11
200809
Porsche Supercup
Porsche Carrera Cup Germany
ADAC GT Masters
GP3 Series
Formula BMW Europe

Career

Karting

Born in Karlslunde, Christensen had a very successful karting career, winning the 2004 Nordic ICA Junior Championship. The following year he gathered both Nordic and European titles in ICA Junior class. For 2006 Christensen graduated to Formula A and he achieved a second place in the Formula A World Championship and was twice champion in the German Kart Championship Winner of the Macau Int. Kart Grand prix Formula A. In 2007 Michael repeated as German Kart Champion and also won the KF1 South Garda Winter Cup.

Formula BMW Europe

Christensen made his open-wheel racing debut in the 2008 Formula BMW Europe season at Barcelona which supported the 2008 Spanish Grand Prix, where he was involved in a potentially serious incident, flipping his car.[1] He finished the season in sixth place and as the top rookie in the rookie standings.

He moved to Mücke Motorsport for the 2009 season. He started the season as the strongest candidate to win the championship, and a victory in the first race of the season was promising. He finished the season in fourth place, although he lost results from five races including three wins, after his team lost an appeal over a breach of technical regulations[2] was rejected by the FIA.[3]

GP3 Series

In 2010, Christensen became the first driver to join MW Arden for the 2010 GP3 Series season.[4]

Porsche

In 2012, Christensen joined the Porsche young driver program. He resulted 7th in the 2012 Porsche Carrera Cup Germany and 6th in the 2013 Porsche Supercup.

He became a factory driver in 2014, racing in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship joining Patrick Long in the GTLM class, winning 12 Hours of Sebring and North American Endurance Cup. In 2015 he competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship together with Richard Lietz, joining the Manthey Racing team in the GTE-Pro class. Winning the manufactures championship, and finishing 3rd in the drivers championship. In the 2018-2019 FIA World Endurance Championship he in succeeded winning 24 Hours of Le Mans for Porsche.[5]

Personal life

Christensen's hobbies are improving on personal fitness, and training,[6] while his favourite driver is Michael Schumacher,[6] and his favourite circuit is the Nürburgring.

Racing record

Career summary

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles FLaps Podiums Points Position
2008 Formula BMW Europe Räikkönen Robertson Racing 15 0 0 1 1 158 6th
Formula BMW Pacific Motaworld Racing 1 0 0 0 1 0 NC†
Formula BMW World Final Josef Kaufmann Racing 1 0 0 0 1 0 2nd
2009 Formula BMW Europe Mücke Motorsport 16 4 5 4 6 233 4th
2010 GP3 Series MW Arden 16 0 0 0 0 0 31st
2011 GP3 Series RSC Mücke Motorsport 16 0 0 1 2 19 11th
ADAC GT Masters Vulcan Racing - Mintgen Motorsport 6 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2012 Porsche Carrera Cup Germany Konrad Motorsport 16 1 0 1 2 148 7th
Porsche Supercup 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC†
2013 Porsche Supercup DAMS 9 1 1 1 3 95 6th
ADAC GT Masters Tonino powered by Herberth Motorsport 2 0 0 0 0 20 23rd
Team Geyer & Weinig EDV-Unternehmensberatung
Schütz Motorsport
2 0 0 0 0
American Le Mans Series - GT CORE Autosport 1 0 0 0 0 7 29th
Rolex Sports Car Series - GT Konrad Motorsport/Orbit 1 0 0 0 0 16 62nd
Porsche Carrera Cup Germany Team 75 Motorsport GmbH 2 0 0 0 1 0 NC†
2014 United SportsCar Championship - GTLM Porsche North America 10 1 1 0 4 303 6th
2015 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Pro Porsche Team Manthey 7 3 0 1 4 127 3rd
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Pro 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 5th
United SportsCar Championship - GTLM Porsche North America 2 0 0 0 1 56 17th
2016 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Pro Dempsey-Proton Racing 9 0 0 0 0 74 8th
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Pro 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 8th
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship - GTLM Porsche North America 3 0 0 0 2 89 13th
2017 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Pro Porsche GT Team 9 0 1 0 3 67 11th
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Pro 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship - GTD Alegra Motorsports 5 1 0 0 2 131 23rd
Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup KÜS TEAM75 Bernhard 1 0 0 0 0 12 22nd
Intercontinental GT Challenge Porsche 1 0 0 0 0 12 10th
2018 Pirelli World Challenge Alegra Motorsports 19 2 1 1 9 364 3rd
SprintX GT Championship Series 10 1 1 0 6 198 2nd
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Pro Porsche GT Team 1 1 0 0 1 N/A 1st
2018–19 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Pro Porsche GT Team 8 2 1 1 6 155 1st
2019 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup GPX Racing 1 1 0 0 1 25 10th
Intercontinental GT Challenge Porsche 2 1 0 0 2 40 11th
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Pro Porsche GT Team 1 1 0 0 0 N/A 9th
2019-20 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Pro Porsche GT Team 8 2 3 0 6 148 3rd
2020 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup KCMG 1 0 0 0 0 2 33rd
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Pro Porsche GT Team 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 6th
Intercontinental GT Challenge Porsche 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC

 – As Christensen was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

Complete GP3 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 DC Points
2010 MW Arden CAT
FEA

Ret
CAT
SPR

16
IST
FEA

13
IST
SPR

11
VAL
FEA

Ret
VAL
SPR

14
SIL
FEA

Ret
SIL
SPR

15
HOC
FEA

Ret
HOC
SPR

10
HUN
FEA

10
HUN
SPR

Ret
SPA
FEA

10
SPA
SPR

23
MNZ
FEA

15
MNZ
SPR

10
31st 0
2011 RSC Mücke Motorsport IST
FEA

7
IST
SPR

2
CAT
FEA

18
CAT
SPR

12
VAL
FEA

Ret
VAL
SPR

Ret
SIL
FEA

Ret
SIL
SPR

13
NÜR
FEA

26†
NÜR
SPR

12
HUN
FEA

2
HUN
SPR

13
SPA
FEA

15
SPA
SPR

4
MNZ
FEA

12
MNZ
SPR

11
11th 19

Complete Porsche Supercup results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DC Points
2012 Konrad Motorsport BHR BHR MON
20
VAL SIL HOC
8
HUN HUN SPA MNZ NC† 0†
2013 DAMS CAT
5
MON
25
SIL
3
NÜR
1
HUN
10
SPA
3
MNZ
8
YMC
10
YMC
7
6th 95

As Christensen was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

(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 12 Rank Points
2014 Porsche North America GTLM Porsche 911 RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 DAY
9
SEB
1
LBH
5
LGA
8
WGL
8
MOS
9
IMS
3
ELK
5
VIR
8
COA
3
PET
2
6th 303
2015 Porsche North America GTLM Porsche 911 RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 DAY
7
SEB LBH LGA
3
WGL MOS ELK VIR COA PET 17th 56
2016 Porsche North America GTLM Porsche 911 RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 DAY
3
SEB
3
LBH LGA WGL MOS LIM ELK VIR COA PET
5
13th 89
2017 Alegra Motorsports GTD Porsche 911 GT3 R Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 DAY
1
SEB
10
LBH
12
COA DET WGL
7
MOS LIM ELK VIR LGA PET
2
23rd 131

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Rank Points
2015 Porsche Team Manthey LMGTE Pro Porsche 911 RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 SIL
2
SPA LMS
7
NÜR
1
COA
1
FUJ
4
SHA
1
BHR
5
3rd 127
2016 Dempsey-Proton Racing LMGTE Pro Porsche 911 RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 SIL
9
SPA
4
LMS
6
NÜR
6
MEX
6
COA
6
FUJ
7
SHA
6
BHR
7
8th 74
2017 Porsche GT Team LMGTE Pro Porsche 911 RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 SIL
Ret
SPA
6
LMS
Ret
NÜR
3
MEX
5
COA
2
FUJ
3
SHA
Ret
BHR
Ret
11th 67
2018–19 Porsche GT Team LMGTE Pro Porsche 911 RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 SPA
2
LMS
1
SIL
3
FUJ
1
SHA
3
SEB
5
SPA
3
LMS
5
1st 155
2019–20 Porsche GT Team LMGTE Pro Porsche 911 RSR-19 Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6 SIL
2
FUJ
2
SHA
2
BHR
7
COA
2
SPA
1
LMS
11
BHR
1
3rd 148

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2015 Porsche Team Manthey Richard Lietz
Jörg Bergmeister
Porsche 911 RSR GTE
Pro
327 30th 5th
2016 Dempsey-Proton Racing Philipp Eng
Richard Lietz
Porsche 911 RSR GTE
Pro
329 31st 8th
2017 Porsche GT Team Kévin Estre
Dirk Werner
Porsche 911 RSR GTE
Pro
179 DNF DNF
2018 Porsche GT Team Kévin Estre
Laurens Vanthoor
Porsche 911 RSR GTE
Pro
344 15th 1st
2019 Porsche GT Team Kévin Estre
Laurens Vanthoor
Porsche 911 RSR GTE
Pro
337 29th 9th
2020 Porsche GT Team Kévin Estre
Laurens Vanthoor
Porsche 911 RSR-19 GTE
Pro
331 35th 6th

References

  1. Video from the accident
  2. "Mücke Motorsport suspended from Formula BMW Europe races". bmw-motorsport.com. Formula BMW. 2009-08-20. Archived from the original on 2012-05-30. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
  3. "FIA International Court of Appeal ruling confirms judicial decisions". bmw-motorsport.com. Formula BMW. 2009-11-17. Archived from the original on 2012-05-30. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
  4. Beer, Matt (2010-01-08). "MW Arden signs first GP3 driver". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2010-01-08.
  5. Dagys, John (2013-11-27). "Michael Christensen Named Porsche Factory Driver". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 2013-12-14.
  6. "Formula BMW Europe. 2009 Championship Guide" (PDF). bmw-motorsport.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-09-20. Retrieved 2009-10-11.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
James Calado
Alessandro Pier Guidi
World Endurance GT Drivers' Championship
Champion

2018-19
With: Kevin Estre
Succeeded by
Marco Sørensen
Nicki Thiim
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