Timo Bernhard facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Timo Bernhard
Bernhard in 2014
Nationality	German
Born	(1981-02-24) 24 February 1981 (age 44) Homburg, West Germany
Racing licence	FIA Platinum
24 Hours of Le Mans career Years 2002–2003, 2005, 2009–2011, 2013–2018 Teams Porsche LMP Team #2 Porsche GT Team #94 The Racer's Group Peterson Motorsports/White Lightning Racing Audi Sport Team Joest Best finish 1st (2010, 2017) Class wins 3 (2002, 2010, 2017)

Timo Bernhard, born on February 24, 1981, is a famous former racing driver from Germany. He mostly drove for Porsche in sports car racing, but also raced for Audi for a short time. He is one of only nine drivers to achieve the informal Triple Crown of Endurance Racing, which means winning three major long-distance races. On June 29, 2018, he broke a 35-year-old record at the Nürburgring Nordschleife track. He drove a special Porsche 919 Evo and set an amazing lap time of 5 minutes and 19.546 seconds.

Early Racing Days

Timo Bernhard was born in Homburg, Saarland. He started his racing journey in karting in 1991. He quickly showed his talent, finishing 5th in a junior world championship. He also became the German junior karting champion.

In 1998, Timo moved into Formula Ford cars. He finished 6th in both the German series and the Eurocup. In 1999, his last year in these open-wheel cars, he finished 3rd in the German Formula Ford championship.

Sports Car Adventures

In 2000, Timo Bernhard began driving in the Porsche Supercup. He finished 3rd in the championship as a young driver for Porsche. In 2001, he made his first appearance in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) at the 12 Hours of Sebring race. He finished 2nd in his class. That same year, he won the Porsche Carrera Cup championship.

Winning Big in 2002

The year 2002 was a big one for Timo. He started by winning a class title at the 24 Hours of Daytona race. He then finished second overall at the 24 Hours Nürburgring. The biggest win of the year was taking the GT class victory at the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France. He also won his first ALMS race and finished 4th in that championship.

More Victories in 2003

Timo continued his winning streak in 2003. He won the 24 Hours of Daytona race outright, meaning his team was the fastest overall. He and his teammate, Jörg Bergmeister, won three ALMS races, including the challenging Petit Le Mans. They finished second in the ALMS championship.

Dominating in 2004

In 2004, Timo Bernhard and Jörg Bergmeister were a very strong team in the ALMS. They won six out of nine races and became the GT class champions. Their wins included class victories at Sebring and Petit Le Mans. Timo also finished on the podium at the Nürburgring 24 Hours for the third year in a row.

Close Calls in 2005

Timo teamed up with Romain Dumas in the ALMS for 2005. They won four class races, and Timo earned four pole positions (starting first). However, they finished second in the championship. Timo also finished 2nd in his class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race.

Making History in 2006

In 2006, Timo moved to Penske Racing and started driving the new Porsche RS Spyder in the LMP2 class of the ALMS. He and Romain Dumas achieved an overall win at the Mid-Ohio race. This was a special moment because it was the first time an LMP2 car had won an overall ALMS race. Timo also won his class at Petit Le Mans and took four class victories in total. He also won the 24 Hours Nürburgring race outright that year.

Le Mans Glory in 2010

In 2010, Timo Bernhard, along with his teammates Romain Dumas and Mike Rockenfeller, won the overall title at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This was a huge achievement for them. Their car set a new distance record, covering over 5,410 kilometers (about 3,360 miles). This victory also made Timo the eleventh driver to complete the Triple Crown in endurance racing. He had already won the 2003 24 Hours of Daytona and the 2008 12 Hours of Sebring.

Racing Achievements

Bernhard driving an Audi R15 TDI at the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans

• ALMS LMP2 class champion: 2007, 2008
• ALMS GT class champion: 2004
• 24 Hours of Le Mans GT class winner: 2002
• 24 Hours of Le Mans Overall winner: 2010, 2017
• 12 Hours of Sebring GT class winner: 2004
• 12 Hours of Sebring Overall winner: 2008
• Petit Le Mans LMP2 class winner: 2006
• Petit Le Mans GT class winner: 2003, 2004
• 24 Hours of Daytona overall winner: 2003
• 24 Hours of Daytona GT class winner: 2002, 2003
• 24 Hours Nürburgring winner: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011
• Porsche Carrera Cup Germany champion: 2001

Race Results

24 Hours of Le Mans Results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2002	The Racer's Group	Kevin Buckler Lucas Luhr	Porsche 911 GT3-RS	GT	322	16th	1st
2003	The Racer's Group	Kevin Buckler Jörg Bergmeister	Porsche 911 GT3-RS	GT	304	20th	5th
2005	Petersen Motorsports White Lightning Racing	Jörg Bergmeister Patrick Long	Porsche 911 GT3-RSR	GT2	331	11th	2nd
2009	Audi Sport Team Joest	Romain Dumas Alexandre Prémat	Audi R15 TDI	LMP1	333	17th	13th
2010	Audi Sport North America	Romain Dumas Mike Rockenfeller	Audi R15 TDI plus	LMP1	397	1st	1st
2011	Audi Sport Team Joest	Romain Dumas Mike Rockenfeller	Audi R18 TDI	LMP1	116	DNF	DNF
2013	Porsche AG Team Manthey	Patrick Pilet Jörg Bergmeister	Porsche 911 RSR	GTE Pro	315	16th	2nd
2014	Porsche Team	Brendon Hartley Mark Webber	Porsche 919 Hybrid	LMP1-H	346	NC	NC
2015	Porsche Team	Brendon Hartley Mark Webber	Porsche 919 Hybrid	LMP1	394	2nd	2nd
2016	Porsche Team	Brendon Hartley Mark Webber	Porsche 919 Hybrid	LMP1	346	13th	5th
2017	Porsche LMP Team	Brendon Hartley Earl Bamber	Porsche 919 Hybrid	LMP1	367	1st	1st
2018	Porsche GT Team	Romain Dumas Sven Müller	Porsche 911 RSR	GTE Pro	92	DNF	DNF
Sources:

FIA World Endurance Championship Results

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
Sources:

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

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Results

^† Bernhard did not complete enough laps to score full points.

See also

In Spanish: Timo Bernhard para niños