Kurt Thiim

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Rover by Kurt Thiim
Kurt Thiim at the DTM race in Donington Park in 1994

Kurt Thiim (born August 3, 1958 in Vojens ) is a Danish racing car driver .

Career

After initial success in karting, Thiim switched to automobile racing in 1978. Via Formula Ford , he quickly rose to Formula Super Vau and Formula 3 . After the title of German Formula 3 champion in 1984, however, he did not succeed in making the leap into higher formula classes such as Formula 3000 or Formula 1 .

Touring car

Thiim therefore switched to touring car racing . In 1986 he won the German Touring Car Championship at the wheel of a Rover Vitesse . At that time, the DTM was mainly the field of activity of private tuners. The large works teams from Mercedes , BMW , Opel or Alfa Romeo , which many associate with the DTM, were mostly not yet active in the DTM at that time. In the following years, however, the DTM rapidly developed into a pure works championship. Kurt Thiim remained active as a driver during this development and was part of the Mercedes driver squad from 1988 to 1996.

After the DTM / ITC ended in 1996, Thiim first switched to the Super Touring Car Cup , where he drove an Opel Vectra . He finished the season in 18th place. This was followed by a year in the German Touring Car Challenge for Brinkmann Motorsport . Thiim finished one of the championship runs on the podium while his teammate Thomas Winkelhock won the championship. Thiim also drove a BMW 320i in 1998 , but switched to Schirmer Motorsport , where he was unable to match the results of the previous year. He started in the V8-Star and took part - partly as a works driver - in various championships in his Danish homeland.

Endurance championship

To this day, Thiim regularly competes in the BFGoodrich endurance championship at the Nürburgring . In 2007 he contested the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring for Nissan Europe in a Nissan 350Z . The Nissan was built in a joint project between RJN and Autozeitung / Powercar magazine. His colleagues in the 24-hour race were Tim Schrick , Holger Eckhardt and Nicole Lüttecke . In 2007 Kurt Thiim was again represented in international racing. Kurt Thiim started with the Markland Racing team in a Corvette C6 in the GT2 class of the Le Mans Series . However, the Le Mans Series season with the newly developed Corvette was not very successful. At the side of constantly changing drivers, he finished two of five championship races outside the points. In addition, he occasionally drove a BMW 320si E90 from the Poulsen Motorsport team in the Danish Touringcar Championship and looked after his son Nicki . He is also a racing driver and competed in the 2007 Seat Leon Supercopa Cup in Germany and in the BFGoodrich endurance championship. Thiim is currently driving in the Porsche Sports Cup Endurance together with Lars Kern for the Vogelgesang Motorsport team .

In addition to his racing activities, Thiim also acted as a presenter of various motorsport programs. In 1997 and 1998 he supported German sports television broadcasting the German Kart Championship. In 2005 he also hosted the Le Mans 24-hour race for Danish television.

statistics

Career stations

  • 1974 kart racing
  • 1975 Danish kart champion
  • 1978 Formula Ford 1600 : 3rd place in the Danish championship
  • 1979 Formula Super Vau: Scandinavian Champion / European Formula 3 Championship : 7th place
  • 1981 British Formula 3 Championship / European Formula 3 Championship
  • 1982 Formula 3
  • 1984 European Formula 3 Championship with Alfa Romeo
  • 1986 German touring car champion with Rover Vitesse, European Touring Car Championship ( Toyota ), Porsche 944 Turbo Cup
  • 1987 German Touring Car Championship in an Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo
  • 1988 Withdrawal from Nickel and Alfa Romeo, offer from MK-Motorsport, comeback at the Eifel race in a BMW M3, straight away victory, from mid-season switch to AMG-Mercedes in the German Touring Car Championship with a Mercedes 190E 2.3-16
  • 1989 DTM in the AMG Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 Evolution : 4th place; (Team mate Klaus Ludwig)
  • 1990 DTM in the AMG Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 Evolution 2: 3rd place; (Team mate Klaus Ludwig)
  • 1991 DTM in the AMG Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 Evolution 2: 8th place; (Team colleague Ellen Lohr)
  • 1992 DTM in the Diebels -Zakspeed-Team Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 Evolution 2: 2nd place; (Team colleague Roland Asch)
  • 1993 DTM in the Diebels Zakspeed Team Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 Evolution 2: 6th place; (Team colleague Jörg van Ommen)
  • 1994 DTM in the Promarkt-Zakspeed-Team Mercedes C-Class: 5th place; (Team colleague Jörg van Ommen)
  • 1995 DTM in the Promarkt-Zakspeed-Team Mercedes C-Class : 4th place International Touring Car Series (ITC): 8th place; (Team mate Alexander Grau)
  • 1996 DTM and ITC in the AMG Mercedes C-Class: 18th place; (Team colleague Jörg van Ommen)
  • 1997 competitions in the FIA-GT1-Cup with Lotus Elise in the MVR-Lotus-Team
  • 1998 Various appearances at the German Veedol Endurance Cup Nürburgring / 24-hour race Nürburgring in the VW Golf 4 Kit Car of RSG Wolfsburg
  • 1999 Veedol long-distance cup in a BMW 325i from MK-Motorsport / 24-hour race Nürburgring in a VW Golf 4 Kit Car , used by New Yorker Racing by RSG Braunschweig
  • 2000 Veedol long-distance cup in Scheid-Motorsport BMW M3 GTRS / 24-hour race Nürburgring in a VW Golf 4 Kit Car, used by New Yorker Racing by RSG Braunschweig / Special Touring Car Trophy in the Mich-Team in a Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 Evolution 2: STT Champion Division II and overall victory; (Team mate Jonas Nielsen)
  • 2001 V8-Star series in the SST-Engineering team; (Teammate Tom Schwister): 6th place in the overall classification / Special Touring Car Trophy (STT) in the Mich-Team in a Mercedes 190E 2.5 Evolution 2/24-hour race Nürburgring in the Porsche 996 GT3 of Gerhard Müller's GM Racing Team
  • 2002 V8 Star Series in the SST Engineering team; (Team colleague Steffen Widmann): 9th place in the overall standings / Danish Touring Car Championship in the Toyota Castrol Racing Team; (Team colleague Henrik Lundgaard): 2nd place in the overall standings / 24-hour race on the Nürburgring in the Porsche 996 GT3 of Edgar Dören's "Besaplast Gate Keeper" team
  • 2003 Danish touring car championship in the Renault Megane from Renault Motorsport Denmark: 7th place in the overall standings / V8 Star Series in the MRS-Molitor-Racing Team: 13th place in the overall standings / appearances in the BF-Goodrich endurance championship on the Nürburgring / 4 Appearances in the Porsche Carrera Cup with the MRS-PZM Team: 20th place in the overall ranking
  • 2004 Danish touring car championship in Renault Motorsport's Renault Megane: 8th place in the overall standings / BF-Goodrich long-distance championship on the Nürburgring in the Porsche 996 GT3 and in the Mühlner Team's Volvo S60 / 24-hour race on the Nürburgring and 24-hour race in Spa (B) in the Porsche 911 GT3 of the Mühlner team
  • 2005 Danish Group N Championship (Yokohama Cup) in the Peugeot 206 : 5th place in the overall standings / BF-Goodrich long-distance championship at the Nürburgring in the BMW M3 V8 of the Doltate Motorsport Team and in the Mercedes 190E 2.5 Evolution 2 of the MD Sportwagen Mainz team / missions in of the Dutch BRL-V6 series in the Ford of the GAG ​​Racing Team: 8th place in the overall ranking and 11th place in the Dutch championship ranking / 24-hour race on the Nürburgring in the V8 STAR Omega of the Irmscher team / Mini Challenge with the Wiesmann / Luxemburger team Championship on a Porsche 911 GT3
  • 2006 Danish Touring Car Challenge in the BMW of the Klostermann Racing Team; 15th place / BF-Goodrich long-distance championship on the Nürburgring in Porsche , BMW , Audi and Lamborghini / rhino's GT Series in the V8 STAR of the Swissracing Team, EGT2 class; 1st place
  • 2007 24-hour race at the Dubai Autodrome (UAE) in Martin Tschornia Motorsport's Renault Clio RS
  • 2008 24-hour race on the Dubai Autodrome (UAE) in the Nissan 350z GT4 of the RJN Motorsport Team / 24-hour race on the Nürburgring Nordschleife in the Nissan 350Z of the RJN Motorsport Team / BF-Goodrich Endurance Championship on the Nürburgring in a Nissan 350 Z for Nissan Europe / Danish Endurance Challenge in the BMW of the Klostermann Racing Team (DK); 1st place / work as a technical advisor to the Poulsen Motorsport Team (DK) in the WTCC and ETCC
  • 2009 24-hour race at the Dubai Autodrome (UAE) in the Porsche 997 GT3 Cup of the Besaplast Racing Team; place 3

Le Mans results

year team vehicle Teammate Teammate placement Failure reason
1991 SwitzerlandSwitzerland Team Sauber Mercedes Mercedes-Benz C11 SwedenSweden Stanley Dickens United KingdomUnited Kingdom Jonathan Palmer failure Engine failure

Web links

Commons : Kurt Thiim  - collection of images, videos and audio files