Dirk Müller (racing driver)

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Dirk Müller
Dirk Muller 2006 Curitiba.jpg
NationalityGermany German
Born (1975-11-18) 18 November 1975 (age 46)
Burbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany (now Germany)
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years19992000, 20102011, 2016
TeamsChampion Racing, Dick Barbour Racing, BMW Motorsport
Best finish15th (2011)
Class wins1

Dirk Müller (born 18 November 1975) is a German Ford factory racing driver, driving for Ford Chip Ganassi Racing in the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. His former Schnitzer BMW team-mate Jörg Müller is unrelated, as is French driver Yvan Muller.

Biography[]

Born in Burbach, Müller won a Formula 3 race at the Nürburgring in 1996. In 1998, after a win in the GT1 class of the 24 Hours of Daytona, he scored his first title, the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, to be followed by the ALMS GT title in 2000.

From the 2002 to 2005 season, both Dirk and Jörg were driving BMW 3 Series (E46) touring cars for the Schnitzer-operated works squad Team Deutschland in the FIA European Touring Car Championship (now WTCC). Since 2006, the team uses the new BMW 3 Series (E90) which is based on the BMW 320si limited edition model that has a 4-cyl engine rather than the usual 6-cyl.

The 2004 24 Hours Nürburgring was won by both Müllers (and Hans-Joachim Stuck) with the BMW M3 GTR V8 that had been raced successfully in the 2001 ALMS. In 2005, the Müllers finished 2nd behind their sister car.

After touring cars he joined to Ferrari AF Corse with Toni Vilander and won the FIA GT Championship in GT2 class. In 2008 raced in the American Le Mans Series in Ferrari F430 GTC with Dominik Farnbacher in the GT2 class.

In 2009, Müller rejoined BMW to spearhead its factory program with Rahal Letterman Racing in the American Le Mans Series. He and Joey Hand won the 2011 American Le Mans Series GT driver's championship following wins at the Twelve Hours of Sebring, Grand Prix of Long Beach and Lime Rock Park.

Müller was entered as an international driver in the 2011 Armor All Gold Coast 600 for V8 Supercars, alongside second-generation racer Steven Johnson. The German crashed out of the first race and the pairing finished 12th in the second.

For 2016, Müller joined the Ford factory program for the IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He was reunited with teammate Joey Hand, while Sébastien Bourdais joined the team for the endurance races including Le Mans.

Racing record[]

24 Hours of Le Mans results[]

Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
pos.
1999 United States Champion Racing France Bob Wollek
Germany Bernd Mayländer
Porsche 911 GT3-R GT 292 19th 2nd
2000 United States Dick Barbour Racing Germany Lucas Luhr
France Bob Wollek
Porsche 911 GT3-R GT 319 DSQ DSQ
2010 Germany BMW Motorsport United Kingdom Andy Priaulx
Germany Dirk Werner
BMW M3 GT2 GT2 53 DNF DNF
2011 Germany BMW Motorsport United Kingdom Andy Priaulx
United States Joey Hand
BMW M3 GT2 GTE
Pro
313 15th 3rd
2016 United States Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA France Sébastien Bourdais
United States Joey Hand
Ford GT GTE
Pro
340 18th 1st
2017 United States Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA United States Joey Hand
Brazil Tony Kanaan
Ford GT GTE
Pro
339 22nd 6th
2018 United States Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA United States Joey Hand
France Sébastien Bourdais
Ford GT GTE
Pro
343 17th 3rd
2019 United States Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA United States Joey Hand
France Sébastien Bourdais
Ford GT GTE
Pro
342 DSQ DSQ

Complete World Touring Car Championship results[]

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

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points
2005 BMW Team Deutschland BMW 320i ITA
1

1
ITA
2

2
FRA
1

6
FRA
2

2
GBR
1

10
GBR
2

6
SMR
1

4
SMR
2

1
MEX
1

18
MEX
2

16
BEL
1

1
BEL
2

5
GER
1

4
GER
2

6
TUR
1

9
TUR
2

5
ESP
1

2
ESP
2

4
MAC
1

10
MAC
2

Ret
2nd 86
2006 BMW Team Deutschland BMW 320si ITA
1

4
ITA
2

Ret
FRA
1

1
FRA
2

DNS
GBR
1

9
GBR
2

6
GER
1

2
GER
2

3
BRA
1

20
BRA
2

15
MEX
1

6
MEX
2

4
CZE
1

9
CZE
2

5
TUR
1

4
TUR
2

7
ESP
1

11
ESP
2

7
MAC
1

14
MAC
2

8
6th 54

External links[]

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Wolfgang Land
Porsche Carrera Cup Germany champion
1998
Succeeded by
Retrieved from ""