Christopher Mies (born 24 May 1989) is a professional

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

racing driver, and

Ford Performance Ford Performance (formerly Ford Racing) is the high-performance division of the Ford Motor Company and the multinational name used for its motorsport and racing activity. History * 1896 – Henry Ford reached a top speed of 20 mph in his ...

factory driver. He was an

Audi Sport {{Commons category, World Rally Championship teams Teams A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson (academic), Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of ...

factory driver for 14 years from 2009 to 2023, competed in GT3 series such as

ADAC GT Masters The ADAC GT Masters is a grand tourer-based auto racing series founded by the international Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) and supported by the German ADAC automotive club. Similar to an earlier ADAC GT Cup series in the 1990s, the new GT ...

, GT World Challenge Europe,

Intercontinental GT Challenge The Intercontinental GT Challenge is a sports car racing series developed by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation, SRO Group in 2016. It consists of international Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance races for grand tourer racing cars complying w ...

, and

Australian GT Championship The GT World Challenge Australia, formerly known as the Australian GT Championship, is a Motorsport Australia-sanctioned national title for drivers of GT cars, held annually from 1960 to 1963, from 1982 to 1985 and from 2005. Each championship ...

Career

Mies began his career in 2006 in the

Toyota Yaris The is a supermini/subcompact car sold by Toyota since 1999, replacing the Starlet and Tercel. Up to 2019, Toyota had used the Yaris nameplate on export versions of various Japanese-market models, with some markets receiving the same vehicl ...

Cup Germany, followed in 2007 by the

Ford Fiesta The Ford Fiesta is a supermini car that was marketed by Ford from 1976 to 2023 over seven generations. Over the years, the Fiesta has mainly been developed and manufactured by Ford's European operations, and had been positioned below the ...

Cup Germany. While racing a Ford Fiesta ST he won Division 2 of the ADAC Procar Series in 2008. In the same year he also moved into GT Racing for the first time, entering two races of the

in 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. Production ended in the first quarter of 2024. The car i ...

, thus beginning a long connection with the

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. A subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The origins of the compa ...

brand. In 2009, he won his first major championship title, winning the FIA GT3 European Championship for Phoenix Racing with

Christopher Haase Christopher Haase (born 26 September 1987 in Kulmbach) is a German professional racing driver. He currently competes in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup with Audi customer team Tresor Attempto Racing. Among his most notable successes a ...

, once again in an Audi R8 LMS. He moved to

Abt Sportsline Abt Sportsline is an auto racing and auto tuning company based in Kempten im Allgäu, Germany. Abt mainly deals with Audi and the related primary Volkswagen Group brands—Volkswagen, Škoda, and SEAT—modifying them by using sports-type su ...

for the 2010 ADAC GT Masters season, finishing second in the championship. In 2011 he won the

Bathurst 12 Hour The Bathurst 12 Hour, currently known as the Meguiar's Bathurst 12 Hour for sponsorship reasons, is an annual endurance race for Group GT3, GT and Production car racing, production cars held at the Mount Panorama Circuit, in Bathurst, New South ...

for

Joest Racing Joest Racing is a German sports car racing team that was established in 1978 by former Porsche works racer Reinhold Joest. Their headquarters are in Wald-Michelbach, Germany. Between 1998 and 2016, Joest Racing were strongly linked with ...

alongside Marc Basseng and

Darryl O'Young Darryl Hayden O'Young () is a Canadian-born Hong Kong racing driver. Career Early career O'Young began racing in 1988 at the age of eight. Trained by his father he honed his driving skills in karting winning numerous championships. The highlight ...

. He repeated the achievement in 2012 with O'Young and Christer Jöns, this time for Phoenix Racing. Mies went on to cement his rising reputation within GT3 ranks with a victory in the 2012 Blancpain Endurance Series. In 2013 and 2014, Mies raced in a diverse range of series and events, including largely unsuccessful returns to Bathurst and the Blancpain Endurance Series as well as appearances in the

24 Hours Nürburgring 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the H ...

, Sepang 12 Hours and

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 ( ...

. 2015 became Mies' most successful year to date, most notably winning the 24 Hours Nürburgring with

Nico Müller Nico Sebastian Müller (born 25 February 1992) is a Swiss people, Swiss professional Auto racing, racing driver currently competing in Formula E for Andretti Global, Andretti Formula E. Career Karting Müller began his karting career in 2004 a ...

Edward Sandström Edward Göran Carl Christian Sandström (born 4 January 1979) is a Swedish racing driver. He has competed in a variety of disciplines including rallycross, sports cars and touring cars. Career Early career Sandström raced karts in the early 1990 ...

and

Laurens Vanthoor Laurens Vanthoor (; born 8 May 1991) is a Belgium, Belgian professional racing driver currently racing for Porsche in motorsport, Porsche Motorsport as a Factory-backed, factory driver in the FIA World Endurance Championship. He currently reside ...

in the new

for

Team WRT W Racing Team (known as Team WRT) is a Belgium, Belgian auto racing team founded in 2009 by engineer and former head of Volkswagen Motorsport René Verbist, racing driver Vincent Vosse, and entrepreneur Yves Weerts. Between 2010 and 2022 the team ...

. He also continued his association with Australia through winning the

, as well as the Australian Tourist Trophy, for Jamec Pem Racing and also finished second in the Highlands 101 for the team. In 2016 he continued in the Australian GT Championship as defending champion, once again with Jamec Pem Racing. He also continued in the

Blancpain GT Series GT World Challenge Europe (known as the Blancpain GT Series between 2014 and 2019) is a sports car racing series organised by SRO Motorsports Group. It features grand tourer racing cars modified from production road cars complying with the FIA's ...

with Team WRT, finishing second in the series. With

Connor De Phillippi Connor De Phillippi (born December 25, 1992) is an American professional racing driver and gold rated BMW Motorsport works driver. Racing career Early career De Phillippi began karting at the age of 5 years old and by the time he was 14 years o ...

, Mies won the 2016 ADAC GT Masters. In 2017 he won the 24 Hours Nürburgring for a second time with Kelvin van der Linde, Connor de Phillippi and

Markus Winkelhock Markus Winkelhock (; born 13 June 1980) is a German professional racing driver. He is the son of Manfred Winkelhock and nephew of Joachim Winkelhock, both of whom were Formula One drivers in the 1980s. During his brief Formula One career he led th ...

in a Land Motorsport Audi R8 LMS. In 2021, Mies won his second

title with Ricardo Feller. Mies returned to the GT World Challenge Europe in 2023, joining fellow factory drivers Simon Gachet and Patric Niederhauser in an Endurance Cup Pro class entry for

Saintéloc Racing Saintéloc Racing is a French motorsport team. It mainly operates in rallying and sports car racing series. Current series include the European Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2 and the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup. The ...

, as well as a Sprint Cup entry alongside Grégoire Demoustier. In November 2023, Mies announced his departure from Audi, and joined Ford later. He made his Ford debut at 2024 24 Hours of Daytona, finished 6th in GTD Pro class.

Racing record

Racing career summary

^* Season still in progress.

Complete FIA GT3 European Championship Results

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

Complete ADAC GT Masters Results

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

Complete GT World Challenge Europe Results

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

Complete GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup Results

Complete GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup Results

Complete 24 Hours of Nürburgring results

Complete Bathurst 12 Hour results

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship Results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^* Season still in progress.

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

External links

Official site
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mies, Christopher 1989 births Living people People from Mettmann (district) Racing drivers from Düsseldorf (region) German racing drivers GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers ADAC GT Masters drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers 24H Series drivers Audi Sport drivers Abt Sportsline drivers Team Joest drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers W Racing Team drivers Australian Endurance Championship drivers DragonSpeed drivers Phoenix Racing drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers Saintéloc Racing drivers Porsche Carrera Cup Germany drivers Porsche Carrera Cup Australia drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers TCR Australia Touring Car Series drivers Proton Competition drivers Multimatic Motorsports drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers