Michael Krumm

Michael Krumm 2010

Krumm's 2007 Formula Nippon racing car

Michael Krumm (born March 19, 1970 in Reutlingen ) is a former German racing driver and winner of the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship .

Career

Krumm began his motorsport career in karting in 1984 , where he was active until 1987. In 1988 he moved into the single-seater racing and entered the German Formula Ford to. After finishing fifth in his debut season, he won the championship in 1989. He also made his debut in the German Formula 3 championship , in which he took part in a race. In 1990 he switched to the German Formula Opel Lotus and secured another championship title. In 1991 he started in the Formula Opel Lotus Euroseries and finished seventh overall with a podium finish.

In 1992 he switched to the German Formula 3 championship for the Beru Zündtechnik Racing Team. As a team-mate of the eventual runner-up Marco Werner , Krumm won a race and finished sixth overall at the end of the season. The following season he played his second full season in the German Formula 3 championship for G + M Escom Motorsport. The German achieved four wins and was fourth in the drivers' standings. Only Jos Verstappen , who won the championship, could win more races. In addition, he took part as a guest driver in two races of the Italian Formula 3 championship and won both races.

In 1994, Krumm left Europe and moved to Japan, where he competed in the Japanese Formula 3 championship. He won six out of ten races and won the championship. He also took the Japanese Touring Car Championship and in some races Japanese Formula 3000 part. In 1995 he competed in the Japanese touring car championship and finished eighth in the drivers' championship with one victory. He also took part in the Japanese Formula 3000 races again. In 1996, the German improved to third place in the Japanese touring car championship. In the Japanese Formula 3000, which was called Formula Nippon from this season , he was 14th. In the following season, Krumm stayed in both series and was tenth in the Japanese touring car championship and 16th in Formula Nippon. He was most successful in the All Japan GT Championship , in which he won the championship title.

In 1998 he moved back to Germany for a year and competed in the German super touring car championship. With a podium placement, he finished ninth overall. He also competed in the Le Mans 24-hour race , where he finished fifth in the GT1 class. In 1999 he competed in the LMP class for the Le Mans 24-hour race, but did not reach the finish line. He also returned to Japan and was fifth in Formula Nippon and sixth in the All-Japan GT Championship. He remained without a win in either series. In 2000, although he again failed to win a race, he was runner-up in Formula Nippon behind Toranosuke Takagi . He finished eighth overall in the All-Japan GT Championship.

In 2001, Krumm started at two races in the North American CART series. He then returned to Japan and finished seventh in Formula Nippon and ninth with a win in the All-Japan GT Championship. In 2002 he concentrated on his involvement in the All-Japan GT Championship and classified himself in twelfth place overall. He also competed in two Formula Nippon races and finished third in the Le Mans 24-hour race in a team with Marco Werner and Philipp Peter , starting for Audi . In 2003 he competed exclusively in the All-Japan GT Championship and won the championship title together with Satoshi Motoyama , although he did not achieve a victory .

In the next two seasons, Krumm was unable to build on winning the title and was ninth in the drivers' championship in both seasons. In 2004 he won another race. He also competed in the LMP1 class in the Le Mans 24-hour race in 2005. In 2006 he competed again in the GT championship, which had already been renamed Super GT in 2005 , and finished fourth overall at the end of the season. In 2007 he started again in the Super GT and was fifth in the overall standings this season. He also took part in the Formula Nippon again and finished tenth overall in this series. In 2008 he concentrated again on his involvement in the Super GT and finished seventh in the overall classification.

In 2009, Krumm only competed in a total of six races. He competed four times in the FIA GT Championship and once each in the Super GT and in the Le Mans Series . In 2010 and 2011 he drove in the newly founded FIA GT1 World Championship , which he won in 2011 as a team with Lucas Luhr .

Krumm has been driving the Super GT again since 2012. In 2012, he finished 8th in the team with Satoshi Motoyama. He also took part in the newly designed Nissan DeltaWing in the 24-hour race of Le Mans , where he retired after 75 laps after an accident of his teammate Satoshi Motoyama that was not his fault.

In 2013, Krumm drove in the GT500 class of the Super GT for Masahiko Kondo's racing team Kondo Racing alongside Hironobu Yasuda in a Nissan GT-R . The team finished 13th out of 15 places. In Le Mans , Krumm started in a team with Jann Mardenborough and Lucas Ordoñez for Greaves Motorsport on a Zytek Z11SN and finished in 9th place.

In 2014 and 2015, Krumm took 10th place in the Super GT together with Daiki Sasaki. 2015 was Krumms last season in the Super GT; In 2016, he still took part in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring with the GT3 version of the Nissan GT-R, finishing 11th in a team with Lucas Ordoñez , Kazuki Hoshino and Alex Buncombe.

Krumm has been a consultant for Nissan Motorsports International (Nismo) since the 2016 season .

Personal

From December 2001 to September 2016, Krumm was married to the Japanese tennis player Kimiko Date , who competed under the name Date-Krumm at that time .

statistics

Career stations

• 1984–1987: karting
• 1988: German Formula Ford (5th place)
• 1989: German Formula Ford (champion)
• 1990: German Formula Opel Lotus (champion)
• 1991: Formula Opel Lotus Euroseries (7th place)
• 1992: German Formula 3 Championship (6th place)
• 1993: German Formula 3 Championship (4th place)
• 1994: Japanese Formula 3 Championship (champions)
• 1995: Japanese Touring Car Championship (8th place), Japanese Formula 3000
• 1996: Japanese Touring Car Championship (3rd place), Formula Nippon (14th place)
• 1997: All Japan GT Championship (champions), Japanese Touring Car Championship (10th place), Formula Nippon (16th place)
• 1998: German Super Touring Car Championship (9th place)
• 1999: Formula Nippon (5th place), All Japan GT Championship (6th place)
• 2000: Formula Nippon (2nd place), All Japan GT Championship (8th place)
• 2001: Formula Nippon (7th place), All Japan GT Championship (9th place), CART (31st place)
• 2002: All Japan GT Championship (12th place), Formula Nippon
• 2003: All Japan GT Championship (champions)
• 2004: All Japan GT Championship (9th place)
• 2005: Super GT (9th place)
• 2006: Super GT (4th place)
• 2007: Super GT (5th place), Formula Nippon (10th place)
• 2008: Super GT (7th place)
• 2009: FIA GT Championship
• 2010 : FIA GT1 World Championship (9th place)
• 2011 : FIA GT1 World Championship (champions)
• 2012: Super GT (8th place)
• 2013: Super GT (13th place)
• 2014: Super GT (10th place)
• 2015: Super GT (10th place)

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1998	Nissan Motorsports International	Nissan R390 GT1	Franck Lagorce	John Nielsen	Rank 5
1999	Nissan Motorsport	Nissan R391	Érik Comas	Satoshi Motoyama	failure	Engine failure
2002	Audi Sport Team Joest	Audi R8	Philipp Peter	Marco Werner	Rank 3
2005	Rollcentre Racing	Dallara SP1	Robert Verdoen-Roe	Harold Primate	failure	Engine failure
2012	Highcroft Racing	Nissan DeltaWing	Marino Franchitti	Satoshi Motoyama	failure	accident
2013	Greaves Motorsport	Zytek Z11SN	Jann Mardenborough	Lucas Ordoñez	Rank 9
2015	Nissan Motorsports	Nissan GT-R LM Nismo	Alex Buncombe	Harry Tincknell	not classified

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
2005	Rollcentre Racing	Dallara LMP	João Barbosa	Didier Theys	failure	Gearbox damage

Web links

Commons : Michael Krumm  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Michael Krumm's website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Kimiko Date Krumm: “Tennis Grandma” inspires Paris. , Märkische Oderzeitung from May 26, 2010.
2. ↑ Kimiko Date Krumm divorces from her husband Michael , tennisworldusa.org from September 27, 2016, accessed on February 10, 2017