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Porsche and sportscar racing legend Timo Bernhard has called time on his illustrious driving career which includes winning the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2010 and 2017 as well as double-WEC Champion with the great German manufacturer.
Bernhard, the longest-serving Porsche race driver, announced earlier this month, “My professional racing career comes to an and the next chapter in my life is about to begin. I look forward to continue working with Porsche as a brand ambassador.
“I will now increasingly focus on my Team75 project and through my new role as team principal, I will now also be involved in the day-to-day business, which will help further strengthen the team. However, as I am a racer through and through, I will still take part in a few selected events.”
“In my professional career, I’ve achieved far more than I could ever have hoped for. It was an amazing time with many memorable moments during which I’ve met some incredible people.
"I would like to say a heartfelt thank you to a number of people, especially at Porsche: the employees, mechanics, engineers and my great teammates, who have all been part of my journey.
“A special thanks goes to my family, my wife, my parents and my sister who shared my fears and gave me confidence. They’ve been through everything with me - the lows and the highs - and have helped make me who I am today. Thank you.”
The 38-year-old started karting in 1991 and progressed to Formula Ford where he finished third in the German Championship. On 19 May, 1999, he signed a Porsche Junior contract and has remained part of their racing programme ever since.
Timo's name will forever be synonymous with the German auto giant with whom he enjoyed so much success and incredible experiences at the highest level of sportscar and GT racing over the past 20 years.
He said of the 'lifetime' partnership, “I owe so much to the brand and the people at Porsche. They made me a professional racing driver and I’ve celebrated many successes in lots of different categories. Porsche is my brand and close to my heart. It’s an honour and something special to drive for Porsche.
“When I started at Porsche as a junior in 1999, I wouldn’t have dared dream that someday I might get the opportunity to fight it out for the overall victory in Le Mans, and be good enough to actually pull it off.
"[Two decades] on, we achieved it together. Winning the two World Endurance Championship titles and taking the overall victory in Le Mans has been a dream come true for me. The absolute high point of my career at Porsche.”
Long-time Porsche teammate Romain Dumas wrote a message to Timo on his Facebook page: We almost won everything together. Le Mans, the Nürburgring, Sebring, the American Le Mans Series. We had incredible moments! With you, I had the chance to have a great teammate, a very applied driver and I learned a lot by your side.
“People often said that we were inseparable: same size, same weight, same seat… there was truth in this and, among all the memories, there is this Long Beach pit stop that is one of the many stories we could tell..." added Dumas.
When the Porsche LMP1 programme came to an end in 2017, Timo divided his time between his commitments as a globe-trotting Porsche works driver and running his own racing team, which he manages with his father Rüdiger.
KÜS Team75 Bernhard also uses Porsche racing cars and is long established as a professional and successful team. (Report by Roy Franco; Photo by Porsche)
Timo Bernhard's Major Racing Achievements