Dion von Moltke (born July 27, 1990 in

The Woodlands, Texas The Woodlands is a special-purpose district and census-designated place (CDP) in the U.S. state of Texas in the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan statistical area. The Woodlands is primarily located in Montgomery County, with p ...

) is an American-born race car driver who has participated under a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

n racing license for the majority of his career. Von Moltke currently competes in the IMSA WeatherTech Championship GTD class with Paul Miller Racing in the #48 Audi R8 LMS with co-driver Christopher Haase. His early career involved an upbringing in

kart Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on ...

s and the Skip Barber National Championship.

Early life

Von Moltke was born on July 27, 1990 in

. His parents are both from South Africa, and he has lived in Sydney, Australia,

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, and

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

, before moving to

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. While enrolled in a laptop-based school following their move to Miami in 2003, von Moltke's father offered him a choice of a

gaming computer A gaming computer or gaming PC is a personal computer specifically designed for playing video games at very high graphic and gameplay configurations. Gaming PCs typically differ from mainstream personal computers by using high-performance video ...

or a

go kart A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performance racing ...

to make up for the relocation, which led to the start of von Moltke's racing career. He later went on to attend

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florid ...

and began his professional career in 2008.

Racing career

Karts

Von Moltke's karting career began in 2004, when he finished second in the EasyKart 100 cc Summer Championship Series. His first victory came at the Cope DeLas America's karting championship in San Carlos, Venezuela. In 2005, von Moltke won the EasyKart 100 cc Winter Championship Series and the WKA Florida State Regional Championship.

Skip Barber

Von Moltke moved to the Skip Barber National Championship in 2007 after completing formula car schooling at the

Skip Barber Racing School The Skip Barber Racing School is an American racing and driving school. Skip Barber founded the school in 1975. History In 1975, Skip Barber started the Skip Barber School of High Performance Driving at Riverside International Raceway. In 1976, ...

. He earned several podium finishes over the course of the season, and was named the most improved driver at the school in 2007. In 2008 von Moltke won the inaugural Skip Barber Mazda Speed Challenge at

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca) is a paved road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, built in 1957 near both Salinas and ...

Sports Car Racing

Von Moltke signed with APR Motorsports to drive a Volkswagen GTI in the

Grand-Am Grand-Am Road Racing or Grand-Am was an auto racing sanctioning body that was established in 1999 to organize road racing competitions in North America. Its primary focus was the Rolex Sports Car Series, an endurance racing championship series. ...

Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge The Michelin Pilot Challenge is a grand touring and touring car racing series run by the International Motor Sports Association. Originating from the Canadian Motorola Cup, the series was taken over by Grand-Am in 2001 to become the Grand-Am Cu ...

in 2008. He also made his Grand-Am

Rolex Sports Car Series The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...

debut at

New Jersey Motorsports Park New Jersey Motorsports Park is a Road racing, road course "Motorsports Entertainment Complex" located in Millville, New Jersey, Millville, Cumberland County, New Jersey, Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States. It has hosted races since openi ...

with Racers Edge Motorsports. In 2009, von Moltke remained with APR in the Challenge Series, while also competing in Rolex with MCM Racing Porsche. He earned his first victory in Challenge at

Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen International, nicknamed "The Glen", is an automobile race track located in the town of Dix just southwest of the village of Watkins Glen, New York, at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. It was long known around the world as the hom ...

co-driving with Mike Sweeney, followed by victories at

Mid-Ohio Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington. Mid-Ohio has also colloquially become a term for the entire north-central regi ...

and

Miller Motorsports Park Utah Motorsports Campus is a race track facility located in Grantsville near Tooele, Utah, United States. It operated under the name of Miller Motorsports Park from 2006 until October 2015. The course has hosted auto, motorcycle, bicycle and ka ...

. In 2010, von Moltke participated in the

Daytona Prototype A Daytona Prototype is a type of sports prototype racing car developed specifically for the Grand American Road Racing Association's Rolex Sports Car Series as their top class of car, which replaced their main prototype racing class, specificall ...

class of the Rolex Series with Doran Racing for the full season and earned the Rookie of the Year title. Von Moltke returned to the GT category in 2011, driving for the German

Mühlner Motorsport Mühlner Motorsport is a Belgian auto racing team competing in the FIA GT1 World Championship.

Porsche team at the

Rolex 24 at Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layout ...

, backed by PR Newswire and South African Airways. He also began racing in 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 ...

' GTC category for Porsches with

The Racer's Group The Racer's Group, or TRG, is a WeatherTech SportsCar Championship racing team located in Petaluma, California, owned by Kevin Buckler and his wife Debra. TRG has competed professionally in road racing since 1995. The team formerly competed in N ...

. He completed the American Le Mans Series season with a win at

Lime Rock Park Lime Rock Park is a natural-terrain motorsport road racing venue located in Lakeville, Connecticut, United States, a hamlet in the town of Salisbury, in the state's northwest corner. Built in 1956, it is the nation's third oldest continuously op ...

and was fifth in the championship standings. For 2012, von Moltke returned to APR Motorsport as the team moved into the Rolex GT category with 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 ...

, partnered with Jim Norman. A switch to the

Alex Job Racing Alex Job Racing is a former professional sports car racing team based in the United States. The team, which is noted for its long-time association with Porsche, has competed in the American Le Mans Series, the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge series, and th ...

team in the American Le Mans GTC category earned von Moltke a class victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring with co-drivers

Townsend Bell Townsend Bell (born April 19, 1975) is an American professional motor racing driver competing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and also as a motorsports commentator for NBC Sports’ IndyCar Series coverage. Early career He spent ...

and

Bill Sweedler Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

In 2013, Dion von Moltke took the GT-class win at the

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layo ...

then a GTC class win at Sebring and followed it up with another GTC class win at the

Grand Prix of Baltimore The Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by SRT was an IndyCar Series and American Le Mans Series race for 3 years held on a street circuit in Baltimore, Maryland. The inaugural race was held September 4, 2011. ESPN said it was the best inaugural ...

. In 2014, Dion von Moltke signed with the Flying Lizard Motorsports team for the full 2014 TUDOR

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 ...

season behind the wheel of the No. 35

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 ...

LMS. Although the #35 kicked off the season with three top five finishes, bad luck and Balance of Performance issues plagued the team, finishing 9th in the GTD championship standings. 2015 Paul Miller Racing Audi

In January 2015, it was announced von Molkte would join Paul Miller Racing for the entirety of the race season, again competing in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship's GTD class. Von Moltke earned his first career TUDOR United SportsCar Championship pole position at the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix, where he and co-driver Christopher Haase finished 3rd in the GTD class. He earned his second pole position three races later at Lime Rock Park. Von Moltke led his entire stint, but the car was later taken out by another competitor, ending their race. The Paul Miller Racing duo finished 3rd in the GTD class championship, with von Moltke earning a total of four pole positions.

Personal life

Von Moltke currently attends

while participating in motorsport. He is a member of one of the university's fraternities. Von Moltke is also involved in a training program for new drivers in motorsport. He is also involved with the Best Buddies International charity. In November 2014, von Moltke spoke at a

TEDx Talk TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...

night of Fearless Journeys at Florida International University.

Results

Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge The Michelin Pilot Challenge is a grand touring and touring car racing series run by the International Motor Sports Association. Originating from the Canadian Motorola Cup, the series was taken over by Grand-Am in 2001 to become the Grand-Am Cu ...

Rolex SportsCar Series

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 ...

TUDOR 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 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:von Moltke, Dion 1990 births American people of South African descent Florida International University people Living people South African racing drivers American Le Mans Series drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers Rolex Sports Car Series drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers Starworks Motorsport drivers Audi Sport drivers Michelin Pilot Challenge drivers People from The Woodlands, Texas