Christopher Mies (born 24 May 1989) is a professional

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

racing driver who currently competes for Audi Sport in GT3 series such as ADAC GT Masters and

GT World Challenge Europe GT World Challenge Europe (known as the Blancpain GT Series between 2014 and 2019) is a sports car racing series organised by SRO Motorsports Group. It features grand tourer racing cars modified from production road cars complying with the FIA's GT ...

Career

Mies began his career in 2006 in the

Toyota Yaris The is a supermini/ subcompact car sold by Toyota since 1999, replacing the Starlet and Tercel. Up to 2019, Toyota had used the Yaris nameplate on export versions of various Japanese-market models, with some markets receiving the same vehicl ...

Cup Germany, followed in 2007 by the

Ford Fiesta The Ford Fiesta is a supermini car marketed by Ford since 1976 over seven generations. Over the years, the Fiesta has mainly been developed and manufactured by Ford's European operations, and has been positioned below the Escort (later the ...

Cup Germany. While racing a

Ford Fiesta ST The Ford Fiesta is a supermini car marketed by Ford since 1976 over seven generations. Over the years, the Fiesta has mainly been developed and manufactured by Ford's European operations, and has been positioned below the Escort (later the ...

he won Division 2 of the

ADAC Procar Series The Deutsche Tourenwagen Cup (DTC, formerly known as ADAC Procar Series) was a yearly motorsport series in Germany and some surrounding countries. The series has been running since 1995 and was folded in 2017. Current status Currently the DTC is ...

in 2008. In the same year he also moved into

GT Racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is ...

for the first time, entering two races of the ADAC GT Masters in an

Audi R8 LMS The Audi R8 is a mid-engine, 2-seater sports car, which uses Audi's trademark quattro permanent all-wheel drive system. It was introduced by the German car manufacturer Audi AG in 2006. The car is exclusively designed, developed, and manufact ...

, thus beginning a long connection with the

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. Th ...

brand. In 2009, he won his first major championship title, winning the

FIA GT3 European Championship The FIA GT3 European Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It was a championship derived from the international FIA ...

for Phoenix Racing with

Christopher Haase Christopher Haase (born 26 September 1987 in Kulmbach) is a German professional racing driver. He became the FIA GT3 European Champion in 2009, racing for Lamborghini and Reiter Engineering, and raced in GT1 for the first time in 2010. He achi ...

, once again in an Audi R8 LMS. He moved to Abt Sportsline for the 2010 ADAC GT Masters season, finishing second in the championship. In 2011 he won the

Bathurst 12 Hour The Bathurst 12 Hour, currently known as the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour for sponsorship reasons, is an annual endurance race for GT and production cars held at the Mount Panorama Circuit, in Bathurst, Australia. The race was first held in ...

for

Joest Racing Joest Racing is a sports car racing team that was established in 1978 by former Porsche works racer Reinhold Joest. Their headquarters are in Wald-Michelbach, Germany. Early years As a combined driver/team owner, Reinhold Joest first began to ...

alongside

Marc Basseng Marc Basseng (born 12 December 1978 in Engelskirchen) is a German racing driver. Career Basseng began his career in karting. In 1997 he began competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany for the UPS Porsche Junior Team, finishing third in the 19 ...

and

Darryl O'Young Darryl Hayden O'Young () is a Canadian-born Hong Kong racing driver. Career Early career O'Young began racing in 1988 at the age of eight. Trained by his father he honed his driving skills in karting winning numerous championships. The highlight ...

. He repeated the achievement in 2012 with O'Young and Christer Jöns, this time for Phoenix Racing. Mies went on to cement his rising reputation within GT3 ranks with a victory in the 2012 Blancpain Endurance Series. In 2013 and 2014, Mies raced in a diverse range of series and events, including largely unsuccessful returns to Bathurst and the Blancpain Endurance Series as well as appearances in the

24 Hours Nürburgring 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

Sepang 12 Hours The Sepang 12 Hours (formerly known as the Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race and Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race), was a 12 Hours endurance racing event held annually between 2000 and 2016 at the Sepang International Circuit on December in Mal ...

and

United SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...

. 2015 became Mies' most successful year to date, most notably winning the 24 Hours Nürburgring with

Nico Müller Nico Müller (born 25 February 1992 in Thun) is a Swiss professional racing driver. He is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Peugeot Sport. Career Karting Müller began his karting career in 2004 and the followi ...

, Edward Sandström and

Laurens Vanthoor Laurens Vanthoor (; born 8 May 1991) is a Belgium, Belgian professional racing driver currently racing for Porsche in motorsport, Porsche Motorsport as a Factory-backed, factory driver in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. He currently ...

in the new

for

Team WRT W Racing Team (WRT) is a Belgian auto racing team founded in 2009 by engineer and former head of Volkswagen Motorsport René Verbist, racing driver Vincent Vosse, and entrepreneur Yves Weerts. Since 2010 the team campaigns Audi R8 LMSs in severa ...

. He also continued his association with Australia through winning the

Australian GT Championship The Australian GT Championship is a CAMS-sanctioned national title for drivers of GT cars, held annually from 1960 to 1963, from 1982 to 1985 and from 2005. Each championship up to and including the 1963 title was contested over a single race a ...

, as well as the

Australian Tourist Trophy The Australian Tourist Trophy is a Confederation of Australian Motor Sport-sanctioned national motor racing title, contested between 1956 and 1979 by Sports Cars and, since 2007, by GT cars. The trophy is currently awarded to the outright winner ...

, for Jamec Pem Racing and also finished second in the Highlands 101 for the team. In 2016 he continued in the Australian GT Championship as defending champion, once again with Jamec Pem Racing. He also continued in the

Blancpain GT Series GT World Challenge Europe (known as the Blancpain GT Series between 2014 and 2019) is a sports car racing series organised by SRO Motorsports Group. It features grand tourer racing cars modified from production road cars complying with the FIA's G ...

with Team WRT, finishing second in the series. With

Connor De Phillippi Connor De Phillippi (born December 25, 1992) is an American professional racing driver and gold rated BMW Motorsport works driver. Racing career Early career De Phillippi began karting at the age of 5 years old and by the time he was 14 years ol ...

, Mies won the 2016 ADAC GT Masters series. In 2017 he won the 24 Hours Nürburgring for a second time with

Kelvin van der Linde Kelvin van der Linde (born 20 June 1996) is a South African racing driver currently competing as a substitute driver in Formula E with the ABT Team. He made his GT Masters debut in 2014, also winning the championship that year, a feat he rep ...

, Connor de Phillippi and

Markus Winkelhock Markus Winkelhock (born 13 June 1980) is a German professional racing driver. He is the son of Manfred Winkelhock and nephew of Joachim Winkelhock, both of whom were Formula One drivers in the 1980s. During his brief Formula One career he led the ...

in a Land Motorsport Audi R8 LMS.

References

External links

Official site
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mies, Christopher 1989 births Living people People from Mettmann (district) Sportspeople from Düsseldorf (region) Racing drivers from North Rhine-Westphalia German racing drivers Blancpain Endurance Series drivers ADAC GT Masters drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers 24H Series drivers Audi Sport drivers Abt Sportsline drivers Team Joest drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers W Racing Team drivers Australian Endurance Championship drivers DragonSpeed drivers Phoenix Racing drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers Saintéloc Racing drivers