Jörg Bergmeister

Jörg Bergmeister at the Petit Le Mans 2008

Father Willi Bergmeister 1975

Mountain champion in Laguna Seca 2006

Mountain Champion 2007 in Laguna Seca

Jörg Bergmeister (born February 13, 1976 in Leverkusen ) is a German racing car driver and a Porsche factory driver since 2002 . He is married and lives in Langenfeld . Bergmeister is a qualified business economist . His hobbies include mountain biking and snowboarding .

Career

Beginnings in motorsport

Since his father Willi (1949–2013) was already active in motorsport, he started racing in kart racing at the age of 11 . After four years Bergmeister switched to Formula König , finished his first season in third place and left the series as champion the following year. He then got a cockpit in Formula Renault and the German Formula Opel , which he left as runner-up in 1995.

Porsche brand cups

Unlike his older brother Tim , Jörg turned to GT racing and got a driver's seat in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany . With an interruption in 1996, when he drove for one season in Formula Opel, he stayed in the series until 2001. He continued to improve in the years, drove to third place overall in 1999 and ended the 2000 season with the championship title of the series. Bergmeister then expanded his commitment to the Porsche Supercup , which he won in the first year. In his last season in the German Carrera Cup, however, he was only beaten by Timo Bernhard . Thanks to his good performance in the one-make series, Bergmeister was awarded a contract as a Porsche works driver in 2002.

Porsche works driver

His first outing in the Porsche Group took place at the Daytona 24-hour race with his former Cup opponent Timo Bernhard. The team finished the championship run for the Grand-Am Sports Car Series in seventh place overall and as class winner in the GT category. The Bernhard / Bergmeister team then switched to the American Le Mans Series to drive a Porsche 996 GT3 RS . The first championship run at the Sebring 12-hour race had to be stopped after a technical defect. Over the course of the year, the two works drivers rose and finished the 500 miles of Road America as class winners in the GT class . However, they lagged behind their team and brand colleagues Lucas Luhr and Sascha Maassen over the course of the season . Already in his first year as a works driver he was given the opportunity at Freisinger Motorsport at the 24-hour race at Le Mans participate. Together with Maassen and Romain Dumas , he finished the race on the podium in the GT category.

In 2003 it was used again in the Daytona 24-hour race. He, Bernhard and the two Americans Kevin Buckler and Michael Schrom took overall victory in the race with their GT-Porsches. The Daytona prototypes introduced in 2003 were uniquely superior to the Porsche 996 GT3 RS, the team only started the race in 16th place. However, the new vehicles lacked reliability and the car from The Racers Group won the season opener of the Grand-Am Sports Car Series. Then Bergmeister and Bernhard turned back to their main engagement in the American Le Mans Series. The duo has now won three championship races in their class, including the Petit Le Mans endurance race with Romain Dumas. At the end of the year, the two works drivers finished third in the GT category, but lagged behind their team-mates Luhr and Maassen, who won the season. Apart from his appearances in America, he was also registered at Le Mans in 2003, but was unable to match his results at Daytona at the beginning of the year in the Porsche from The Racers Group .

At the beginning of 2004, Bergmeister's third appearance in Daytona followed, which he only finished in midfield. Despite several class wins in the ALMS, his team-mate Bernhard decided the championship alone in his favor. Bergmeister only came in third because he couldn't drive at the first race in Sebring due to illness. Bernhard and Sascha Maassen therefore had to contest the 12h Sebring alone. Bergmeister was also active in Europe this year. At Freisinger Yukos Motorsport , he drove both the Spa-Francorchamps 24-hour race and another round of the FIA GT Championship in Imola. He finished both championship races on the podium and thus helped the German team to the championship title of the series. Bergmeister also won his class with Sascha Maassen and Patrick Long at the championship-independent 24-hour race at Le Mans . The end of the season was the 6-hour race in Vallelunga , which he finished in fourth place overall for Autolando Motorsport and as class winner in the N-GT.

Break

In 2005, Bergmeister was no longer active for the Porsche works team. He took the opportunity and expanded his involvement to the Grand-Am Sports Car Series. The Racers Group , with whom he had already competed in the Daytona 24-hour race for several years, implemented a joint project with Krohn Racing with a Daytona prototype powered by Pontiac . Bergmeister was initially named on the vehicle alongside Max Papis . In the course of the season, however, his teammate switched between Papis and Christian Fittipaldi . With both drivers he finished several races on the podium, with Fittipaldi he also won the 250-mile race at Watkins Glen International and was fourth in the drivers' championship at the end of the year. Despite his contract in the Grand-Am, Bergmeister stayed in the American Le Mans Series. Together with Porsche works driver Patrick Long, he won six of the ten championship races in his class. Also the two significantly longer races, the Petit Le Mans and the 12 Hours of Sebring. Bergmeister contested his only European race in 2005 at Le Mans. Again with Long and Bernhard at his side, he finished on the podium in the GT2 category and was only beaten by Mike Rockenfeller , Marc Lieb and Leo Hindery .

In 2006, The Racers Group completed the prototype project and switched to the GT class of the Grand-Am Sports Car Series. Bergmeister, however, stayed with Tracy Krohn and continued to drive a Riley Mk XI . If the vehicle was initially equipped with a Pontiac engine, the team switched to Ford after the 24-hour race from Daytona , and he had to adapt to various teammates again. In addition to Colin Braun and Niclas Jönsson , Krohn relied on Boris Said as well as the regular driver Bergmeister . At the end of the season, Bergmeister finished three races as overall winner and as champions of the series. He was also able to defend his GT2 title in the American Le Mans Series, and he and Patrick Long finished three championship races as class winners. At Le Mans, Bergmeister did not form a team with his ALMS team-mate Long, as he had before, but instead took the wheel of the 996 GT3 RSR alongside Tracy Krohn and Niclas Jönsson. At dawn, Bergmeister was lying on the track after an accident.

Back at Porsche

At the end of the year Bergmeister also tested the Daytona prototype Crawford DP03 with a Porsche engine from his former American Le Mans team, Alex Job Racing . Bergmeister was once again included in the works driver squad during the winter break and has now contested another season in the Grand-Am. Patrick Long was put at his side. With the new car, however, he was unable to build on his performance in the previous year. Except for their victory in Laguna Seca , the duo drove in the midfield of the prototype class. In the American Le Mans Series, Bergmeister switched to Flying Lizard Motorsports and got a new team-mate in Johannes van Overbeek and a new vehicle in the form of the Porsche 997 GT3 RSR . Despite good results, including a class win at Petit Le Mans reinforced by Marc Lieb, Overbeek and Bergmeister were beaten by Mika Salo and Jaime Melo . At Le Mans he, van Overbeek and team owner of Flying Lizard Seith Neiman retired with a gearbox damage.

For the 2008 season, Bergmeister concentrated more on the American Le Mans Series. In the Grand-Am Sportscar Series, he only contested the Daytona 24-hour race in a Porsche 997 GT3 Cup for Farnbacher Loles . After technical problems, he finished the run in the lower midfield. At the following 12-hour race in Sebring of the ALMS, he won the GT2 category with Marc Lieb and his new team-mate Wolf Henzler . With three more class victories, the driver duo won both the driver and team title in the GT2 category. In Le Mans, however, the Flying Lizard team fell far behind after an accident with a subsequent pit repair and played no role in the battle for the GT2 podium. He also supported his brother Tim in the ADAC GT Masters whenever possible . The brothers won both races at the Lausitzring and thus opened Tim Bergmeister's title in the German GT series.

In 2009, Bergmeister was assigned to the Grand Am vehicle category The Racers Group for the eponymous race . He, Justin Marks , Andy Lally , Richard Valentine and Patrick Long finished the 24-hour race in the Cup Porsche as winners in the GT category. Then he formed the team for the American Le Mans Series again with Long, with which he finished six of the ten championship races as class winners and at the end of the year won a title in a GT category of the ALMS for the fourth time. In addition, he supported the British racing team Trackspeed in three championship races of the FIA ​​GT , but with his changing teammates did not get beyond midfield positions. Bergmeister had to end his remaining European assignment at Flying Lizard in Le Mans prematurely. After several technical problems during the night and a collision in the morning, Temeigner Seith Neiman withdrew the car from the race.

In 2010, Flying Lizard Motorsport partnered with The Racers Group in the Daytona 24-hour race. Bergmeister finished on the podium in the GT category with Patrick Long, Seith Neiman and Johannes van Overbeek. In addition, he will try to defend his GT2 title in the American Le Mans Series for Neiman's team with team mate Long.

statistics

Success list (excerpt)

• 1993: 1st place Formula König
• 2000: 1st place in the Porsche Carrera Cup
• 2001: 1st place in the Porsche Pirelli Supercup
• 2002, 2003, 2009: 1st place 24h Daytona (GT class); also overall victory in 2003
• 2004: 1st place in the 24 Hours of Le Mans (GT class)
• 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010: 1st place ALMS (GT / GT2 class)
• 2006: 1st place Grand-Am (DP class)
• 2010: 1st place 24h Spa overall victory

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
2002	Freising Motorsport	Porsche 996 GT3 RS	Romain Dumas	Sascha Maassen	Rank 17
2003	K. Buckler / The Racers Group	Porsche 996 GT3 RS	Kevin Buckler	Timo Bernhard	Rank 20
2004	Dale White / White Lightning Racing	Porsche 996 GT3 RSR	Patrick Long	Sascha Maassen	Rank 10 and class win
2005	White Lightning Racing	Porsche 996 GT3 RSR	Patrick Long	Timo Bernhard	Rank 11
2006	White Lightning Racing	Porsche 996 GT3 RSR	Tracy Krohn	Niclas Jönsson	failure	accident
2007	Flying Lizard Motorsports	Porsche 997 GT3 RSR	Johannes van Overbeek	Seth Neiman	failure	transmission
2008	Flying Lizard Motorsports	Porsche 997 GT3 RSR	Johannes van Overbeek	Seth Neiman	Rank 32
2009	Flying Lizard Motorsports	Porsche 997 GT3 RSR	Darren Law	Seth Neiman	failure	accident
2010	Flying Lizard Motorsports	Porsche 997 GT3 RSR	Darren Law	Seth Neiman	failure	cooler
2011	Flying Lizard Motorsports	Porsche 997 GT3 RSR	Patrick Long	Lucas Luhr	Rank 18
2012	Flying Lizard Motorsports	Porsche 997 GT3 RSR	Patrick Long	Marco Holzer	failure	accident
2013	Porsche AG Team Manthey	Porsche 911 RSR	Patrick Pilet	Timo Bernhard	Rank 16
2014	Porsche AG Team Manthey	Porsche 911 RSR	Patrick Pilet	Nick Tandy	Rank 34
2015	Porsche Team Manthey	Porsche 911 RSR	Richard Lietz	Michael Christensen	Rank 30
2016	Porsche Motorsport North America	Porsche 911 RSR	Frédéric Makowiecki	Earl Bamber	failure
2018	Project 1	Porsche 911 RSR	Patrick Lindsey	Egidio Perfetti	Rank 35
2019	Project 1	Porsche 911 RSR	Patrick Lindsey	Egidio Perfetti	Rank 31 and class win

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
2002	Alex Job Racing	Porsche 911 GT3-RS	Timo Bernhard	Marc Lieb		failure	Electrics
2003	Alex Job Racing	Porsche 911 GT3-RS	Timo Bernhard			Rank 17
2005	Petersen White Lightning	Porsche 996 GT3-RSR	Patrick Long	Lucas Luhr		Rank 7 and class win
2006	Petersen White Lightning	Porsche 996 GT3-RSR	Niclas Jönsson	Tim Bergmeister		Rank 16
2007	Flying Lizard Motorsports	Porsche 996 GT3-RSR	Johannes van Overbeek	Marc Lieb		Rank 13
2008	Flying Lizard Motorsports	Porsche 997 GT3 RSR	Wolf Henzler	Marc Lieb		Rank 12 and class win
2009	Flying Lizard Motorsports	Porsche 997 GT3 RSR	Patrick Long	Marc Lieb		Rank 10
2010	Flying Lizard Motorsports	Porsche 997 GT3 RSR	Patrick Long	Marc Lieb		Rank 9
2011	Flying Lizard Motorsports	Porsche 997 GT3 RSR	Patrick Long	Marc Lieb		Rank 16
2012	Flying Lizard Motorsports	Porsche 997 GT3 RSR	Patrick Long	Marco Holzer		Rank 50
2014	Porsche North America	Porsche 911 RSR	Patrick Long	Michael Christensen		Rank 12 and class win
2015	Porsche North America	Porsche 911 RSR	Frédéric Makowiecki	Nick Tandy	Earl Bamber	Rank 21
2016	Park Place Motorsports	Porsche 911 GT3 R.	Patrick Lindsey	Matt McMurry		failure	accident
2017	Park Place Motorsports	Porsche 911 GT3 R.	Patrick Lindsey	Matt McMurry	Jan Heylen	Rank 21
2018	Park Place Motorsports	Porsche 911 GT3 R.	Patrick Lindsey	Tim Pappas		Rank 25

Web links

Commons : Jörg Bergmeister  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Profile at Porsche Motorsport