| Marcel Tiemann | |
| Nationality: | Germany |
| Birth Date: | 19 March 1974 |
| Birth Place: | Hamburg, Germany |
| Prev Series: | International GT Open 24 Hours Nürburgring Speedcar Series Rolex Sports Car Series FIA GT Championship American Le Mans Series Le Mans Series Porsche Supercup DTM V8Star Germany FIA GT1 World Championship Formula 3 Germany Formula Renault Germany Formula König |
| Prev Series Years: | 2010 2003-2009 2009 2005-2008 2006 2005-2006 2005 2002 2000-2002 2001 1996-1997 1995-1996 1993-1994 1992 |
| Titles: | 24 Hours Nürburgring 24 Hours Nürburgring 24 Hours Nürburgring 24 Hours Nürburgring 24 Hours Nürburgring Formula Renault Germany |
| Title Years: | 2009 2008 2007 2006 2003 1994 |
Marcel Tiemann (born 19 March 1974) is a former racing driver from Germany. He is best known for being a five-time winner of the 24 Hours Nürburgring race with Opel and Porsche.
Tiemann started his career in Formula König before moving to Formula Renault Germany. In 1994 he won the championship, and graduated to Formula 3. In 1996, Tiemann won the Formula 3 Monaco Grand Prix driving for Opel.[1]
In 1997 Tiemann switched from single seaters to sportscars, and competed in the FIA GT1 Championship season for AMG. He won the round in Suzuka, and secured podiums at four other races. Returning for 1998, his best result was 2nd at Oschersleben.[2] [3] [4]
In 1999, he was entered to race at the Le Mans 24h endurance race. However, the Mercedes-Benz CLR he was driving was involved in two high-profile accidents with Mark Webber driving, and the car was pulled out of the race.[5]
In 2001, he drove for Zakspeed in V8Star Series finishing 2nd in the championship with two wins.[6] [7]
Tiemann began racing in America in 2005, where he joined the American Le Mans Series and Grand American Rolex Series. In 2008, he scored his best finish in GrandAm at Watkins Glen driving for GM.[8] [9]
Tiemann made regular appearances in the Nürburgring Endurance Series during his career, taking 19 overall victories in total.[10]
In 2000, Tiemann joined the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters series with Team Persson driving a Mercedes CLK in Original-Teile livery. Over 16 races, Tiemann scored 53 points and finished 10th in the Championship.[11] In 2001, he switched to Manthey Racing, still driving a Mercedes, and over 3 races he scored his best finish in the series with 3rd at the Norisring.[12] In 2002, Tiemann returned for 1 race at Hockenheim finishing 15th.
Tiemann's greatest successess have come in the 24 Hours Nürburgring. He won his first in 2003 in the E1-XP class with OPC Team Phoenix's Opel Astra V8.[13] He returned with the same team in 2004 and finished in 10th, before switching to the A7 class with Manthey Racing in their Porsche for 2005. He would pilot the car to victory in 2006, the first of 4 back to back victories at the race; driving exclusively Manthey Porsche's.[14] [15] [16]
In 2010, Tiemann joined the International GT Open driving an Audi R8. However, during the race at Imola on May 23, Tiemann collided with another car at the rolling start and was forced into a retaining wall at high speed. He sustained brain trauma, a fractured vertebra and broken ribs in the impact, and was placed in a medically induced coma to assist his recovery.[17] He was moved to Germany, and later regained consciousness and mostly recovered, but has been unable to race due to the resulting neurological damage and other problems from the accident.[18] [19] [20] [21]
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Tiemann lives in Mallorca, Spain with his wife and two children. He previously lived in Monaco. Following retirement from racing, he became a brand ambassador for Mercedes-Benz and also runs a construction company building nursing homes in Germany.[21] [22] Tiemann's father is Hans-Jürgen Tiemann who won the 1997 and 1999 24 Hours of Nürburgring races, the latter with Sabine Schmitz.[23] [24]