Michael Klitgaard Christensen (born 28 August 1990) is a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

racing driver. He is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Porsche in the GTE PRO class.

Career

Karting

Born in

Karlslunde Karlslunde is a suburb 25 km (16 mi) south-west of central Copenhagen, Denmark. The suburb is a part of Greve municipality. Karlslunde is generally divided into Karlslunde Landsby and Karlslunde Strand split by Karlslunde Landevej (Taastru ...

, Christensen had a very successful karting career, winning the 2004 Nordic ICA Junior Championship. The following year he gathered both Nordic and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

an titles in ICA Junior class. For 2006 Christensen graduated to

Formula A Formula 5000 (or F5000) was an open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars tha ...

and he achieved a second place in the

World Championship and was twice champion in the German Kart Championship Winner of the Macau Int. Kart Grand prix

. In 2007 Michael repeated as German Kart Champion and also won the

KF1 KF1 is the top level of karting. It is open to drivers aged 15 and up. This class used to be called Formula A and has changed since January 2007 when CIK-FIA decided to replace the 100 cc water-cooled two-stroke engines with 125 cc Touch-an ...

South Garda Winter Cup.

Formula BMW Europe

Christensen made his

open-wheel racing Formula racing (known as open-wheel racing in North America) is any of several forms of open-wheeled single-seater motorsport. The origin of the term lies in the nomenclature that was adopted by the FIA for all of its post-World War II single- ...

debut in the 2008 Formula BMW Europe season at

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

which supported the 2008 Spanish Grand Prix, where he was involved in a potentially serious incident, flipping his car. He finished the season in sixth place and as the top

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

in the rookie standings. He moved to

Mücke Motorsport Mücke Motorsport is an auto racing team based in Germany, which is also known as ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg. History Single-seaters Mücke Motorsport was formed by Peter Mücke in 1998 to run his son Stefan Mücke in the German Formula BMW ADAC ...

for the 2009 season. He started the season as the strongest candidate to win the championship, and a victory in the first race of the season was promising. He finished the season in fourth place, although he lost results from five races including three wins, after his team lost an appeal over a breach of technical regulations was rejected by the

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backs ...

GP3 Series

In 2010, Christensen became the first driver to join MW Arden for the 2010 GP3 Series season.

Porsche

In 2012, Christensen joined the Porsche young driver program. He resulted 7th in the 2012

Porsche Carrera Cup Germany The Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, also known as Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, between 1986-1989 as Porsche 944 Turbo Cup; is a one-make racing series by Porsche based in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, ...

and 6th in the 2013

Porsche Supercup The Porsche Supercup (officially known as Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, known as Porsche Michelin Supercup prior to 2007) is an international one-make sports car racing series supporting the FIA Formula One World Championship organized by Porsche ...

. He became a factory driver in 2014, racing in the

WeatherTech 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 ...

joining

Patrick Long __NOTOC__ Patrick Long (born July 28, 1981) is a professional racing driver, one of 18 Porsche factory racing drivers, and the only American to hold that distinction. Racing career Sports car racing Following a successful career in karts and th ...

in the GTLM class, winning 12 Hours of Sebring and North American Endurance Cup. In 2015 he competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship together with

Richard Lietz Richard Lietz (born 17 December 1983 in Waidhofen an der Ybbs) is an Austrian professional racing driver and a Porsche Factory driver. He has competed in such series as American Le Mans Series, Formula 3 Euro Series and the Rolex Sports Car Seri ...

, joining the Manthey Racing team in the GTE-Pro class. Winning the manufactures championship, and finishing 3rd in the drivers championship. In the 2018-2019 FIA World Endurance Championship he in succeeded winning

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

for Porsche.

Personal life

Christensen's hobbies are improving on personal fitness, and

training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...

, while his favourite driver is

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...

, and his favourite circuit is the Nürburgring.

Racing record

Career summary

† – As Christensen was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points. ^* Season still in progress.

Complete GP3 Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Porsche Supercup results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† As Christensen was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Christensen, Michael 1990 births Living people Danish racing drivers Formula BMW Europe drivers GP3 Series drivers FIA Institute Young Driver Excellence Academy drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Rolex Sports Car Series drivers Porsche Supercup drivers ADAC GT Masters drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers People from Greve Municipality Arden International drivers Porsche Motorsports drivers Sportspeople from Region Zealand ART Grand Prix drivers Formula BMW Pacific drivers American Le Mans Series drivers Blancpain Endurance Series drivers Double R Racing drivers Josef Kaufmann Racing drivers Mücke Motorsport drivers DAMS drivers KCMG drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers Motaworld Racing drivers Karting World Championship drivers Team Penske drivers Porsche Carrera Cup Germany drivers