Marcel Tiemann (born 19 March 1974) is a retired racing driver from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He is best known for being a five-time winner of 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 smalle ...

race with Opel and Porsche.

Career

Early series

Tiemann started his career in Formula König before moving to Formula Renault Germany. In 1994 he won the championship, and graduated to Formula 3. In 1996, Tiemann won the Formula 3 Monaco Grand Prix driving for Opel.

Sportscars

In 1997 Tiemann switched from single seaters to sportscars, and competed in the FIA GT1 Championship season for AMG. He won the round in Suzuka, and secured podiums at four other races. Returning for 1998, his best result was 2nd at

Oschersleben Oschersleben () is a town in the Börde district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The population in 1905 was 13,271, in 2020 about 19,000. History On November 23, 994 Oschersleben was first mentioned in a document by the Emperor Otto III. In 1235 ...

. In 1999, he was entered to race at the Le Mans 24h endurance race. However, the

Mercedes-Benz CLR The Mercedes-Benz CLR was a set of racing cars developed for Mercedes-Benz through a collaboration with in-house tuning division Mercedes-AMG and motorsports specialists HWA GmbH. Designed to meet Le Mans Grand Touring Prototype (LMGTP) regu ...

he was driving was involved in two high profile accidents with Mark Webber driving, and the car was pulled out of the race. In 2001, he drove for Zakspeed in V8Star Series finishing 2nd in the championship with two wins. Tiemann began racing in America in 2005, where he joined the

American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The American Le Mans' hea ...

and Grand American Rolex Series. In 2008, he scored his best finish in GrandAm at Watkins Glen driving for GM.

DTM

In 2000, Tiemann joined the

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM, German Touring Car Masters) is a grand touring car series sanctioned by ITR e.V. who have been affiliated to the DMSB- FIA since 1984. The series is based in Germany, with rounds elsewhere in Europe. The s ...

series with Team Persson driving a

Mercedes CLK The Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class is a former series of mid-size or entry-level luxury coupés and convertibles produced by Mercedes-Benz between 1997 and 2010. Although its design and styling was derived from the E-Class, the mechanical underpinnings ...

in Original-Teile livery. Over 16 races, Tiemann scored 53 points and finished 10th in the Championship. In 2001, he switched to Manthey Racing, still driving a Mercedes, and over 3 races he scored his best finish in the series with 3rd at the

Norisring The Norisring is a street circuit in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as a motorcycle racing venue in 1947 and named in a 1950 competition to win a light motorcycle, the track became known as a sports car racing venue in the ...

. In 2002, Tiemann returned for 1 race at Hockenheim finishing 15th.

24 Hours Nürburgring

Tiemann's greatest successess have come in the

. He won his first in 2003 in the E1-XP class with OPC Team Phoenix's

Opel Astra The Opel Astra is a compact car/small family car (C-segment) developed and produced by the German automaker Opel since 1991, currently at its sixth generation. It was first launched in September 1991 as a direct replacement to the Opel Kadett. ...

V8. He returned with the same team in 2004 and finished in 10th, before switching to the A7 class with Manthey Racing in their Porsche for 2005. He would pilot the car to victory in 2006, the first of 4 back to back victories at the race; driving exclusively Manthey Porsche's.

Accident at Imola

In 2010, Tiemann joined the

International GT Open The International GT Open is a grand tourer-style sports car racing series founded in 2006 by the Spanish GT Sport Organización. It was a spin-off of the now-defunct Spanish GT Championship, but is now a distinct series featuring FIA GT3-spec ca ...

driving an

Audi R8 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 manufac ...

. However, during the race at

Imola Imola (; rgn, Jômla or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical ...

on May 23, Tiemann collided with another car at the rolling start and was forced into a retaining wall at high speed. He sustained brain trauma, a fractured vertebra and broken ribs in the impact, and was placed in a medically

induced coma An induced comaalso known as a medically induced coma (MIC), barbiturate-induced coma, or drug-induced comais a temporary coma (a deep state of unconsciousness) brought on by a controlled dose of an anesthetic drug, often a barbiturate such as pe ...

to assist his recovery. He was moved to Germany, and later regained consciousness and mostly recovered, but has been unable to race due to the resulting neurological damage and other problems from the accident.

Racing record

Career Summary

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) *† — Retired, but was classified as he completed 90% of the winner's race distance.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Personal life

Tiemann lives in Mallorca,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

with his wife and two children. He previously lived in

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

. Following retirement from racing, he is a brand ambassador for Mercedes Benz and also runs a construction company building nursing homes in Germany. Tiemann's father is Hans-Jürgen Tiemann who won the 1997 and 1999 24 Hours Nürburgring races, the latter with Sabine Schmitz.

References

External links

* http://www.marceltiemann.com/ * http://www.marceltiemann.de/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Tiemann, Marcel 1974 births Living people Sportspeople from Hamburg German racing drivers German Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers Nürburgring_24_Hours_drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Speedcar Series drivers American Le Mans Series drivers European Le Mans Series drivers Porsche Supercup drivers International GT Open drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers Opel Team BSR drivers Mercedes-AMG Motorsport drivers Phoenix Racing drivers Porsche Motorsports drivers