Christina Nielsen

Christina Nielsen
Christina Nielsen
	Christina Nielsen, Zandvoort 2012
Nationality	Danish
Born	10 January 1992 (age 29); Hørsholm, Denmark
Related to	Lars-Erik Nielsen (father)
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship career
Debut season	2014
Current team	Team Hardpoint EBM
Car number	88
Former teams	Scuderia Corsa TRG-AMR North America; NGT Motorsport; Wright Motorsport, Grasser Racing Team
Starts	58
Championships	2 (2016, 2017)
Wins	4
Poles	3
Best finish	1st in 2016, 2017
Previous series
2015; ; 2012-2014; 2013; 2012; 2010-2011; 2010; 2007-2009	Pirelli World Challenge; Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA; Porsche GT3 Cup Middle East; ADAC GT Masters; Porsche Carrera Cup Germany; ADAC Formel Masters; Formula Ford Denmark; Karting
Championship titles
2016-2017	WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD

Christina Nielsen (born 10 January 1992 in Hørsholm, Denmark) is a Danish racing driver who is the first female driver to win a WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series title. She is the daughter of racing driver Lars-Erik Nielsen, who raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the 2000s.^[1]

Racing career[]

Karting[]

Nielsen started her karting career in 2007. After karting for a couple of years, she switched to formula racing in 2010.

Formel Ford Denmark & ADAC Formel Masters[]

After karting from 2007 to 2009, Nielsen made her formula racing debut in 2010 in the Danish Formula Ford Championship. Finishing the season in 9th position.

After doing two one-off appearances in the ADAC Formel Masters in 2010, Nielsen went on to do a full season in 2011.

GT Racing[]

For 2012, Nielsen switched to the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany running in the B-class. She ended the season 5th in class.

In 2013, Nielsen switched to the ADAC GT Masters. For 2014, Nielsen raced in the United SportsCar Championship for NGT Motorsport.

In 2015, Nielsen ran the entire IMSA SportsCar Championship in a GTD Aston Martin Vantage V12 under the TRG-AMR banner, partnering with Kuno Wittmer and James Davison.^[2] She claimed four second-place finishes and a third, finishing runner-up two points behind Townsend Bell and Bill Sweedler.

The Dane continued in the IMSA SportsCar Championship in 2016, joining Scuderia Corsa to drive alongside Alessandro Balzan in a GTD-class Ferrari.^[3] She won the 12 Hours of Sebring with Jeff Segal as third driver. With another win at 6 Hours of Watkins Glen and four additional podiums throughout the season, Nielsen and Balzan won the 2016 IMSA SportsCar series Championship, with a 299-point total for the year, and thus Nielsen became the first woman to win a major full-season professional sports car championship in North America.^[4]^[5]^[6]

Racing record[]

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series results[]

Year	Team	Class	Make	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Rank	Points
2014	NGT Motorsport	GTD	Porsche 911 GT America	Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6	DAY 9	SEB 22	LGA	DET	WGL 6	MOS	IMS	ELK	VIR	COA			34th	73
2014	TRG-AMR North America	GTD	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	Aston Martin 6.0 L V12											PET 10		34th	73
2015	TRG-AMR North America	GTD	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	Aston Martin 6.0 L V12	DAY 13	SEB 2	LGA 5	DET 2	WGL 10	LIM 3	ELK 2	VIR 2	COA 8	PET 9			2nd	279
2016	Scuderia Corsa	GTD	Ferrari 488 GT3	Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8	DAY 6	SEB 1	LGA 2	DET 3	WGL 1	MOS 4	LIM 11	ELK 3	VIR 7	COA 3	PET 2		1st	332
2017	Scuderia Corsa	GTD	Ferrari 488 GT3	Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8	DAY 16	SEB 2	LBH 3	COA 2	DET 2	WGL 2	MOS 3	LIM 6	ELK 5	VIR 12	LGA 1	PET 9	1st	340
2018	Wright Motorsports	GTD	Porsche 911 GT3 R	Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6	DAY 19	SEB 6	MDO 7	DET 11	WGL 9	MOS 9	LIM 8	ELK 1	VIR 2	LGA 11	PET 4		7th	263
2019	Heinricher Racing with Meyer Shank Racing	GTD	Acura NSX GT3	Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6	DAY 12	SEB 8	MDO 10	DET 9	WGL 4	MOS	LIM 12	ELK	VIR	LGA 6	PET 7		14th	159
2020	GEAR Racing powered by GRT Grasser	GTD	Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo	Lamborghini 5.2 L V10	DAY 16	DAY	SEB	ELK	VIR	ATL	MDO	CLT	PET	LGA	SEB		57th	15
2021	Team Hardpoint EBM	GTD	Porsche 911 GT3 R	Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6	DAY 10	SEB 5	MDO	DET	WGL	WGL	LIM		LGA	LBH	VIR	PET	34th*	508*

^* Season still in progress.

24 Hours of Le Mans results[]

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2016	Formula Racing	Johnny Laursen Mikkel Mac	Ferrari 458 Italia GTC	GTE Am	319	35th	6th
2017	Scuderia Corsa	Alessandro Balzan Bret Curtis	Ferrari 488 GTE	GTE Am	314	44th	14th
2018	Ebimotors	Fabio Babini Erik Maris	Porsche 911 RSR	GTE Am	332	31st	6th

References[]

^ Sportscar365.com (Oct 1, 2016). "Christina Nielsen, Alessandro Balzan clinch GTD championship". Fox Sports.com. Retrieved Oct 1, 2016.
^ Dagys, John. "TRG-AMR Signs Nielsen for GTD Program with Davison". Sportscar365.com. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
^ DiZinno, Tony. "Scuderia Corsa Confirms GTLM, GTD Programs". SportsCar365. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
^ Marshall Pruett (Oct 1, 2016). "IMSA: Nielsen, Balzan clinch GTD championship". Racer Media. Archived from the original on March 28, 2018. Retrieved Oct 2, 2016.
^ "Weathertech SportsCar Championship standings for 2016". Racing Reference. Oct 1, 2016. Archived from the original on June 12, 2017. Retrieved Oct 2, 2016.
^ Sportscar365.com (2016-08-07). "Christina Nielsen, Alessandro Balzan clinch GTD championship". FOX Sports. Retrieved 2016-10-02.

External links[]

Official website
Christina Nielsen career summary at DriverDB.com

Sporting positions
Preceded by Townsend Bell Bill Sweedler	WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD Champion 2016-2017 With: Alessandro Balzan	Succeeded by Bryan Sellers Madison Snow
Preceded by Cameron Lawrence Al Carter	North American Endurance Cup GTD Champion 2016 With: Alessandro Balzan	Succeeded by Jeroen Bleekemolen Ben Keating Mario Farnbacher

[1] Sportscar365.com (Oct 1, 2016). "Christina Nielsen, Alessandro Balzan clinch GTD championship". Fox Sports.com. Retrieved Oct 1, 2016.

[2] Dagys, John. "TRG-AMR Signs Nielsen for GTD Program with Davison". Sportscar365.com. Retrieved 15 April 2016.

[3] DiZinno, Tony. "Scuderia Corsa Confirms GTLM, GTD Programs". SportsCar365. Retrieved 15 April 2016.

[4] Marshall Pruett (Oct 1, 2016). "IMSA: Nielsen, Balzan clinch GTD championship". Racer Media. Archived from the original on March 28, 2018. Retrieved Oct 2, 2016.

[5] "Weathertech SportsCar Championship standings for 2016". Racing Reference. Oct 1, 2016. Archived from the original on June 12, 2017. Retrieved Oct 2, 2016.

[6] Sportscar365.com (2016-08-07). "Christina Nielsen, Alessandro Balzan clinch GTD championship". FOX Sports. Retrieved 2016-10-02.

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v t Champions of the IMSA SportsCar Championship
Prototype	2014 João Barbosa Christian Fittipaldi 2015 João Barbosa Christian Fittipaldi 2016 Dane Cameron Eric Curran 2017 Jordan Taylor Ricky Taylor 2018 Eric Curran Felipe Nasr 2019 Dane Cameron Juan Pablo Montoya 2020 Hélio Castroneves Ricky Taylor
LMP2	2019 Matt McMurry 2020 Patrick Kelly
Prototype Challenge	2014 Jon Bennett Colin Braun 2015 Jon Bennett Colin Braun 2016 Alex Popow Renger van der Zande 2017 James French Patricio O'Ward
GT Le Mans	2014 Kuno Wittmer 2015 Patrick Pilet 2016 Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner 2017 Antonio García Jan Magnussen 2018 Antonio García Jan Magnussen 2019 Earl Bamber Laurens Vanthoor 2020 Antonio García Jordan Taylor
GT Daytona	2014 Dane Cameron 2015 Townsend Bell Bill Sweedler 2016 Alessandro Balzan Christina Nielsen 2017 Alessandro Balzan Christina Nielsen 2018 Bryan Sellers Madison Snow 2019 Mario Farnbacher Trent Hindman 2020 Mario Farnbacher Matt McMurry