Markus Niemelä (born 20 March 1984 in

Rauma Rauma may refer to: Places * Rauma, Finland, a town and municipality in the Satakunta region of western Finland * Rauma Municipality, a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway * Rauma (river), a river in the Romsdalen valley in Møre og Ro ...

) is a Finnish former race car driver. He was the 2008 series champion after winning the final round at

Road Atlanta Road Atlanta (known for sponsorship reasons as Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta) is a road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, United States. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur spo ...

. His international racing career has been volatile due to a number of injuries he has sustained during his career.

Career

Karting

In 1998, Niemelä won the Finnish junior karting championship with maximum points. In 2001, injury of left arm in a snowboarding accident before the start of season prevented participation in the Formula A European/World Championship. He won the one race where he participated, driving practically one-handed against top Finnish karters (ICA). The following year, Niemelä was the Finnish champion in Formula A. He set the fastest laptime in at least one heat of every European Championship round. He also qualified in World Cup final but technical problems caused a retirement in pre-final and final. In 2003, because of an accident in a European championship race, Niemelä could not drive for three months. He returned for the World Championships to finish fifth.

Single-seaters

2004

Markus became the Finnish and Swedish Champion and the winner of STCC Formula Ford championship. Led Scandinavian Championship before the last round but finished 2nd overall because did not participate on the last round. Nominated as a ”Young Champion” by Finnish ASN. Tested for

Formula BMW Formula BMW was a junior racing formula for single seater cars. It was positioned at the bottom of the motorsport career ladder alongside the longer established Formula Ford category. Like Formula Ford, it was intended to function as the young ...

and was fastest at several unofficial tests.

2005

Markus finished 7th in championship points with one victory and one pole position. Many crashes resulting to damaged car during the season (12 out of 20 races). He was also 5th in UK Formula Renault Winter Championship, 3rd best qualifier of the championship (3rd, 4th, 9th and 3rd in qualifyings). Markus drove Formula Renault first time ever in free practice of first race meeting.

2006

One victory, fastest lap and pole position. Multiple Driver Of The Day Awards - awarded by Renault Sport. Markus finished 7th in the final standings with best positions 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 2x4th.

2007

In Formula Renault Eurocup, he did 6 starts with best result of second at

Hungaroring The Hungaroring is a motorsport racetrack in Mogyoród, Pest County, Hungary where the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix is held. In 1986, it became the location of the first Formula One Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix behind the Iron Curtai ...

, while in the Asian series, he did 4 starts with 2 wins and one second place. His 3rd win of the 4 races was later penalized from jumping the start. He joined BCN Competicion in the

GP2 Series The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Ecc ...

to replace

Sakon Yamamoto is a Japanese former racing driver and politician, who competed in Formula One between and . Yamamoto was a member of the House of Representatives of Japan from 2021 to 2024, representing Tōkai PR for the Liberal Democratic Party. Before ...

who moved to F1 during the season. During his first race, also at the Hungaroring, he was forced to retire when his left shoulder unexpectedly dislocated after 11 laps, which also prevented him from taking part in the second race of the meeting.

2008

In the 2008 season, Niemelä won the

Atlantic Championship The Atlantic Championship Series is an American open-wheel racing series with races throughout North America. It has previously been called Champ Car Atlantics, Toyota Atlantics (after its then engine supplier for sponsorship reasons), or just ...

with Brooks Associates team, after winning the last two rounds of the season.

2009

Niemelä returned to the series to defend his Atlantic Championship title, this time driving for

Newman Wachs Racing Newman Wachs Racing (also referred to as NWR) is an auto racing team owned by Eddie Wachs and, until his death, Paul Newman. NWR was based outside of Chicago in Mundelein, Illinois. Newman and Wachs met when they both competed in Can-Am series in t ...

. He struggled through the first five races failing to score a podium finish. He switched teams to

Jensen MotorSport Jensen MotorSport is an auto racing team that competes in the Formula Regional Americas Championship. It formerly competed in the Firestone Indy Lights series, Champ Car Atlantic Championship, the Formula BMW Americas Championship, and fielded ...

for the remainder of the season, but failed to find any more success and finished 6th in points.

2010

Niemelä started racing Sprint Cars on dirt ovals. The best result of his depute season was 2nd in a VRA race at Ventura Raceway.

2011

Niemelä raced in selected races in different Sprint Car Championships (USAC West Coast, USAC CRA, VRA, USAC Midget) with an average A Main finish of 4.5 over the season. He also scored his first Sprint Car win.

2014

In November 2014, Niemela suffered a severe accident at

Perris Auto Speedway Perris Auto Speedway, also known as the PAS, is a 1/2 mile clay oval track located at 18700 Lake Perris Drive on the Lake Perris Fairgrounds in Perris, California. The track features a raised backstretch offering fans a better view over the infi ...

in a

sprint car Sprint cars are open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval, circular dirt or paved tracks. Historically known simply as "big cars," distinguishing them from "midget cars," sprint car racing is popular primar ...

, flipping end over end into the

catch fence The following is a glossary of terminology used in motorsport, along with explanations of their meanings. 0–9 ;1–2 finish: When two vehicles from the same team finish first and second in a race. Can be extended to 1–2–3 or 1–2–3– ...

after an axle broke on his car. While he initially was believed to have suffered only a concussion, he later revealed he had suffered severe brain injuries in the accident, resulting in the end of his career.

Racing record

Career summary

Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results

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

Complete GP2 Series results

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

American open–wheel racing results

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

Atlantic Championship

References

External links

Markus Niemelä's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Niemela, Markus Finnish racing drivers 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Rauma, Finland GP2 Series drivers Atlantic Championship drivers Asian Formula Renault Challenge drivers British Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Formula Renault Eurocup drivers Formula BMW ADAC drivers Karting World Championship drivers Mark Burdett Motorsport drivers Team Rosberg drivers Manor Motorsport drivers Newman Wachs Racing drivers BVM Racing drivers