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JOHN NIELSEN
COMPETITION CAREER John’s record in sports car racing is surely second to none. He has won the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Daytona 24 Hours in a career that started in go-karts back in 1972. However, his successes have not been confined to this form of racing, as he has a string of Championships to his name in single-seater racing. 1972 Raced in and was runner-up in the Danish Go-Kart Championship 1974 Raced in Danish Formula Ford Championship and was runner-up in the series in team he set up himself 1975 Raced in and won the Danish Formula Ford Championship 1976 Still running his own team he moved up to Formula 3 and did a variety of races all over Europe 1977 The team competed in the European Formula 3 championship with the best result being a second at Zandvoort in Holland 1978 The Formula 3 team struggled through this year with a low budget, but things got better for the following years 1979 – 1981 Still running as John Nielsen racing competed in and won the European Formula Super V Championship all three years, and received help from Ron Tauranac of Ralt Cars and John Judd of Engine Developments – He was Danish Sportsman of the Year in 1979 1982 Raced in and won the German Formula 3 Championship with VW 1983 Raced in European Formula 3 Championship with VW and finished second 1984 Raced again for VW factory team in the European Formula 3 Championship, but had an accident during the Monaco Grand Prix support race that interrupted his career. John made a superb come-back winning and setting the lap record at the French Nogaro track. He then finished second in Jarama in Spain and won the Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix 1985 Raced in the European Formula 3000 Championship with Ralt, this being the first season for him when he had nothing to do with the running of the car. Finished fourth in the series and won the race in Curacao. At this time be also became a tire development driver for Bridgestone, he continued doing this until the end of 1991 – He helped develop the Swiss Sauber team’s Group C Sports Car with a Mercedes engine and made his Le Mans debut 1986 Raced in the European Formula 3000 Championship with Ralt-Honda, with his results including two second places, one pole position and a lap record. His Sports Car career really took off this year and he was to become the first Danish driver to win a World Championship race, let alone the Championship itself 1987 Raced in the World Championship winning TWR Jaguar World Sports Car team 1988 Raced in the World Championship winning TWR Jaguar World Sports Car team – that year won the Daytona 24 Hours race and came second with Jaguar in the American IMSA Championship 1989 Raced again with the TWR Jaguar team coming second in the Daytona 24 Hours and fourth in the IMSA Championship 1990 Won the Le Mans 24 Hours race with the TWR Jaguar team and came second in the Daytona 24 Hours. 1991 Again raced with the TWR Jaguar team and came fourth in the Le Mans 24 Hours race. 1992 Continued racing sports cars with results including winner of the Maserati Grand Trophao do Barchetta, notching up six wins and six lap records in the six races. Finished seventh in a Kremer Porsche 962 at the Le Mans 24 Hours
1993 Won the Maseratti Grand Trophao do Barchetta again and won the GT class with a TWR Jaguar XK220 at the Le Mans 24 Hour race. Competed in the German GT Championship in a Honda NSX 1994 Raced in the BPR-Global Endurance Championship in a Porsche 968 Turbo RS 1995 Raced in and won both the BPR-Global Endurance Championship and the BPR-European Endurance Championship in a McLaren F1 GTR 1996 Won the All Japan GT Championship, came third in the BPR-Global Endurance Championship and fourth in the Le Mans 24 Hour race all in a McLaren F1 GTR 1997 Raced in the FIA GT Championship, winning the Monza 1000 KM race and also the Challenge Endurance Italia in a McLaren F1 GTR. Came third in Hockenheim and Helsinki 1998 Competed in the Le Mans 24 Hour race for the 14th time. He finished fifth in the Nissan R390 GT1. Raced in three rounds of the British GT Championship in a Porsche GT-1 and won at Croft 1999 Racing in Japan. Entering the first round of the American Le Mans Series, the 12 Hours of Sebring, with Panoz Motor Sports. 2000 Kørte Le Mans for team den blå avis
kilde:
John Nielsen Født 7. februar 1956 Som 16-årig blev John Nielsen vice-Danmarksmester i karting og derefter fortsatte han op igennem klasserne og han kan i dag fremvise en af de største, danske karrierer inden for motorsporten. Han fik først i 1980´erne tilnavnet "Super-John" pga. sin totale dominans i Formel Super VW, og selvom han også var blandt de hurtigste i formel 3 fik han aldrig en chance i formel 1: Dengang som nu skulle der penge på bordet for at få chancen i motorsportens fornemste klasse, og de krav kunne John Nielsen på trods af et konkret tilbud fra Tyrrell-teamet ikke indfri. Da formel 1-drømmen var begravet udviklede John Nielsen sig til en af sportens bedste all-roundere, der specielt har brilleret i langdistance-racing. John Nielsen vandt i 1988 24-timers løbet i Daytona (USA), og i 1990 vandt han Danmarks første sejr i det legendariske 24-timers løb i Le Mans. Danskeren kørte i denne periode for Jaguar, som han også scorede endnu en Le Mans-triumf for i 1993 da han sammen med den senere formel 1-stjerne David Coulthard vandt GT-klassen; en sejr der dog senere blev frataget Jaguar-holdet på grund af en teknisk spidsfindighed. I 1995 var John Nielsen med til at udvikle McLarens super-sportsvogn F1 til racing, og sammen med sin tyske co-driver Thomas Bscher vandt danskeren de uofficielle VM- og EM-titler. Året efter triumferede Super-John sammen med David Brabham i det japanske GT-mesterskab og i 1998 var han ankermand på en af Nissans fabriksbiler i Le Mans. John Nielsen, der som professionel racerkører altid har insisteret på at få betaling for sit job, var i 1999 for første gang siden 1986 ikke med i Le Mans, men midt på sommeren gjorde han et stærkt comeback i den nye World Cup-serie for prototyper. Her beviste John Nielsen i en Kremer-Lola at han stadig er en af verdens bedste langdistance-kørere. KARRIERE: PETER NYGAARDS KOMMENTAR: John Nielsen er en fantastisk langdistance-kører, der også ville have kunnet gøre sig gældende i formel 1 - synd han aldrig fik chancen ! |
