Bernd Schneider (racing driver)

Bernd Schneider

Born	(1964-07-20) 20 July 1964 St. Ingbert, West Germany
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	German
Active years	1988–1990
Teams	Zakspeed, Arrows
Entries	34 (9 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1988 Brazilian Grand Prix
Last entry	1990 Spanish Grand Prix
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
Years active	2000–2008
Former teams	HWA Team
Starts	119
Championships	4 (2000, 2001, 2003, 2006)
Wins	22
Podiums	66
Poles	19
Fastest laps	30
FIA GT Championship
Years active	1997–1998
Former teams	AMG Mercedes
Starts	21
Championships	1 (1997)
Wins	10
Podiums	15
Poles	9
Fastest laps	8
International Touring Car Championship
Years active	1995–1996
Former teams	D2 Privat-Team AMG Mercedes
Starts	36
Championships	1 (1995)
Wins	10
Podiums	17
Poles	8
Fastest laps	8
Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft
Years active	1986–1989, 1991–1995
Former teams	AMG-Mercedes AMG Motorenbau Zakspeed Racing Ford Motorsport Eggenberger Ford-Grab Motorsport
Starts	102
Championships	1 (1995)
Wins	14
Podiums	29
Poles	13
Fastest laps	24
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years	1991, 1998–1999
Teams	AMG-Mercedes Joest Porsche Racing
Best finish	DNF (1991, 1998, 1999)
Class wins	0

Bernd Schneider (born 20 July 1964 in St. Ingbert) is a racing driver from Germany. He is a four-time Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters champion, and a Mercedes Brand Ambassador.

Career

Early years

Schneider was named after legendary driver Bernd Rosemeyer, winner of the 1936 European Drivers Championship. Introduced to karting at an early age, he displayed an obvious talent for racing. After several years in the junior kart series, Schneider won the 1980 German Kart championship. Two years later, he would win the 1982 European Kart championship with the national team. In 1983, he won the African kart championship.

Single seater racing

The next few years, Schneider would race in the various Formula Ford series in Germany and elsewhere in Europe. In 1986, he joined the German Formula Three circuit, winning the title the following year in 1987. This brought him to the attention of Erich Zakowski, who signed Schneider to drive for his Formula One team Zakspeed in 1988 and 1989. However, the small German-based squad did little to make an impression on the F1 circuit and Schneider only able to qualify for nine races out of the 32 he entered with the team (7 out of 16 with the turbo powered car in 1988 and only twice out of 16 attempts did he pre-qualify and actually qualify for a race in 1989). Schneider also briefly drove for Arrows, before leaving single seaters and racing Porsche sports cars in the early 1990s for Joest Racing, in the World Sportscar Championship and races such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

DTM championships

Schneider won his fifth DTM championship in 2006.

In 1992, Schneider moved to the DTM (German Touring Car Championship), driving for AMG-Mercedes. Finishing third his first season, he has since been a regular Mercedes driver. In 1995, he won his first DTM championship, piloting an AMG C-Class.

In the years of the DTM's absence, Schneider raced the works Mercedes CLK GTR cars in the FIA GT Championship, winning the title in 1997 after winning six races. In 1998, now with the CLK-LM variant, although winning five races with teammate Mark Webber, he lost the title to teammates Klaus Ludwig and Ricardo Zonta. He was also a Mercedes works driver in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1998 and 1999.

Bernd Schneider at the Sachsenring in 2002

The DTM returned in 2000 with silhouette bodies and V8 engines, and Schneider took the championship crown three of the first four years (2000, 2001, and 2003) in an AMG CLK-Class; he was runner up in 2002. Still driving for AMG, Schneider has won a record four championships; in 2005, he was teammates with (among others) former F1 champion Mika Häkkinen, and in 2006 won his fifth championship title.

It was announced on 21 October 2008 that Schneider will retire from racing at the conclusion of the 2008 season.^[1]

Post-DTM

In recent years, Schneider has returned from retirement to take part in several endurance races. In 2013 he raced in and won the 24 Hours of Dubai, the Bathurst 12 Hour, the 24 Hours Nürburgring and the Spa 24 Hours in a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG.

Schneider currently races in the Pro-Am class of the Blancpain Sprint Series in the #70 GT Russian Team Viatti Mercedes.^[2]

Personal life

Schneider lives in Monte Carlo with his girlfriend Svenja and their daughter Lilly-Sophie. He also has children Lisa-Marie and Luca Maximilian with his ex-wife Nicole. Schneider still enjoys karting.

Racing record

Complete Formula One results

(key)

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

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

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	DC	Points
1987	Ford Texaco Racing Team / Rousesport	Ford Sierra RS500	MNZ	JAR	DIJ	NUR	SPA	BNO	SIL	BAT	CLD	WEL	FJI* ovr:17 cls:10	43rd	16

* Overall race position shown. Registered WTCC points paying position may differ.

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft/Masters results

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

^‡ - Shanghai was a non-championship round.

• † — Retired, but was classified as he completed 90% of the winner's race distance.

Complete International Touring Car Championship results

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

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1991	Joest Porsche Racing	Henri Pescarolo Louis Krages	Porsche 962C	C2	197	DNF	DNF
1998	AMG-Mercedes	Klaus Ludwig Mark Webber	Mercedes-Benz CLK-LM	GT1	19	DNF	DNF
1999	AMG-Mercedes	Franck Lagorce Pedro Lamy	Mercedes-Benz CLR	LMGTP	76	DNF	DNF

Complete FIA GT Championship results

Complete Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup results

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bernd Schneider (racecar driver).

• Bernd Schneider homepage

Zakspeed
Founder	Erich Zakowski
Personnel	Peter Zakowski Paul Brown Chris Murphy Heinz Zollner Gustav Brunner
Drivers	Jonathan Palmer  Christian Danner  Huub Rothengatter  Martin Brundle  Piercarlo Ghinzani  Bernd Schneider  Aguri Suzuki
Formula One cars	841 861 871 881 891