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Danish Porsche factory racing driver From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 Hypercar class in the #5 Porsche 963.
| Michael Christensen | |
|---|---|
Christensen at the 2024 6 Hours of Fuji | |
| Nationality |  Danish |
| Born | 28 August 1990 Karlslunde, Denmark |
| FIA World Endurance Championship career | |
| Debut season | 2015 |
| Current team | Porsche Penske Motorsport |
| Racing licence |  FIA Platinum |
| Former teams | Porsche Team Manthey, Dempsey-Proton Racing, Porsche GT Team |
| Starts | 66 |
| Wins | 9 |
| Poles | 11 |
| Fastest laps | 2 |
| Best finish | 1st in 2018–19 |
| Previous series | |
| 2013 2012 2011 2010–11 2008–09 | Porsche Supercup Porsche Carrera Cup Germany ADAC GT Masters GP3 Series Formula BMW Europe |
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.
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]
In 2010, Christensen became the first driver to join MW Arden for the 2010 GP3 Series season.[4]
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]
For the 2023 World Endurance Championship season, Christensen was named in the lineup for Porsche Penske Motorsport, partnering Dane Cameron and Frédéric Makowiecki.[6] For the 2024 WEC season, Christensen would again drive the Porsche 963 for Penske, alongside Makowiecki and Matt Campbell.[7]
Christensen's hobbies are improving on personal fitness, and training,[8] while his favourite driver is Michael Schumacher,[8] and his favourite circuit is the Nürburgring.
† – As Christensen was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.
(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 |
| Source:[9] | |||||||||||||||||||
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
† As Christensen was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
(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 | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | [10] | |
| 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 | [11] | ||
| 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 | [12] | |
| 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 | [13] |
| 2021 | WeatherTech Racing | GTLM | Porsche 911 RSR-19 | Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6 | DAY | SEB | DET | WGL | WGL | LIM | ELK | LGA | LBH | VIR | PET 2 |
11th | 348 | [14] | |
| 2023 | Porsche Penske Motorsport | GTP | Porsche 963 | Porsche 9RD 4.6 L V8 | DAY 7 |
SEB 5 |
LBH | LGA | WGL | MOS | ELK | IMS | PET | 18th | 556 | [15] | |||
| 2024 | AO Racing | GTD Pro | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) | Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6 | DAY 2 |
SEB 9 |
LGA | DET | WGL | MOS | ELK | VIR | IMS 1 |
PET 11 |
17th | 1208 | [16] | ||
| Source:[9] | |||||||||||||||||||
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| 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 |
| 2021 | Porsche GT Team |
Kévin Estre Neel Jani |
Porsche 911 RSR-19 | GTE Pro |
344 | 22nd | 3rd |
| 2022 | Porsche GT Team |
Kévin Estre Laurens Vanthoor |
Porsche 911 RSR-19 | GTE Pro |
348 | 31st | 4th |
| 2023 | Porsche Penske Motorsport |
 Dane Cameron Frédéric Makowiecki |
Porsche 963 | Hypercar | 325 | 16th | 9th |
| 2024 | Porsche Penske Motorsport |
 Matt Campbell Frédéric Makowiecki |
Porsche 963 | Hypercar | 311 | 6th | 6th |
| Sources:[9][18] | |||||||
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