| Timo Bernhard | |||||||||
| Nationality: |  German | ||||||||
| Birth Date: | 24 February 1981 | ||||||||
| Birth Place: | Homburg, West Germany | ||||||||
| Racing Licence: | FIA Platinum | ||||||||
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Timo Bernhard (born 24 February 1981) is a former 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 distance record of 5335.313km (3,315.21miles); the car (#9) ran 397 laps and 5410.713km (3,362.061miles). 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 | 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) | ||||
| 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) | |||
| 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 | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The Racer's Group | Kevin Buckler Lucas Luhr | Porsche 911 GT3-RS | GT | 322 | 16th | 1st | ||
| The Racer's Group | Kevin Buckler Jörg Bergmeister | Porsche 911 GT3-RS | GT | 304 | 20th | 5th | ||
| Petersen Motorsports White Lightning Racing | Jörg Bergmeister Patrick Long | Porsche 911 GT3-RSR | GT2 | 331 | 11th | 2nd | ||
| Audi Sport Team Joest |  Romain Dumas Alexandre Prémat | Audi R15 TDI | LMP1 | 333 | 17th | 13th | ||
| Audi Sport North America | Romain Dumas Mike Rockenfeller | Audi R15 TDI plus | LMP1 | 397 | 1st | 1st | ||
| Audi Sport Team Joest | Romain Dumas Mike Rockenfeller | Audi R18 TDI | LMP1 | 116 | DNF | DNF | ||
| Porsche AG Team Manthey | Patrick Pilet Jörg Bergmeister | Porsche 911 RSR | GTE Pro | 315 | 16th | 2nd | ||
| Porsche Team |  Brendon Hartley Mark Webber | Porsche 919 Hybrid | LMP1-H | 346 | NC | NC | ||
| Porsche Team | Brendon Hartley Mark Webber | Porsche 919 Hybrid | LMP1 | 394 | 2nd | 2nd | ||
| Porsche Team | Brendon Hartley Mark Webber | Porsche 919 Hybrid | LMP1 | 346 | 13th | 5th | ||
| Porsche LMP Team | Brendon Hartley Earl Bamber | Porsche 919 Hybrid | LMP1 | 367 | 1st | 1st | ||
| Porsche GT Team | Romain Dumas Sven Müller | Porsche 911 RSR | GTE Pro | 92 | DNF | DNF | ||
| Year | Chassis Engine | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | |||||||||||
| 2013 | align=left style="border-left:0px" | Porsche AG Team Manthey | LMGTE Pro | Porsche 911 RSR 4.0 L Flat-6 | | align=left style="border-left:0px" | Jörg Bergmeister Patrick Pilet | SIL | SPA | LMS | SÃO | COA | FUJ | SHA | BHR | 42 | 12th | ||
| 2014 | align=left style="border-left:0px" | Porsche Team | LMP1-H | Porsche 919 Hybrid 2.0 L Turbo V4 (Hybrid) | | align=left style="border-left:0px" | Mark Webber Brendon Hartley | SIL | SPA | LMS | COA | FUJ | SHA | BHR | SÃO | 64.5 | 9th | ||
| 2015 | align=left style="border-left:0px" | Porsche Team | LMP1 | Porsche 919 Hybrid 2.0 L Turbo V4 (Hybrid) | | align=left style="border-left:0px" | Mark Webber Brendon Hartley | SIL | SPA | LMS | NÜR | COA | FUJ | SHA | BHR | 166 | 1st | ||
| 2016 | align=left style="border-left:0px" | Porsche Team | LMP1 | Porsche 919 Hybrid 2.0 L Turbo V4 (Hybrid) | | align=left style="border-left:0px" | Mark Webber Brendon Hartley | SIL | SPA | LMS | NÜR | MEX | COA | FUJ | SHA | BHR | 134.5 | 4th | |
| 2017 | align=left style="border-left:0px" | Porsche LMP Team | LMP1 | Porsche 919 Hybrid 2.0 L Turbo V4 (Hybrid) | | Brendon Hartley Earl Bamber | SIL | SPA | LMS | NÜR | MEX | COA | FUJ | SHA | BHR | 208 | 1st | ||
(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 | 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 | 53rd | 25 | ||
| 2019 | Mazda Team Joest | DPi | Mazda RT24-P | Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L Turbo I4 | DAY | SEB | LBH | MDO | DET | WGL | MOS | ELK | LGA | PET | 15th | 97 | ||