Nils-Kristian "Kris" Nissen (born 20 July 1960 in Arnum) is a retired Danish

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

driver. For several years he was

Volkswagen Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...

's motorsport director. Since the summer of 2013 he has had a career change and is currently owner and temporary manager of a Danish campingsite called Enderupskov in Southern Jutland.

Single seater and sports car racing

Nissen started racing in

karting Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using 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 full-size motor ...

, and was twice Danish Champion in 1976 and 1977. He was Danish

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single-seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world have historically been an important step for many prospective Formula One dri ...

2000 Champion in 1982 and German Formula Three Champion in 1986. in 1987 and 1988 he drove in Japan with a

Porsche 962 The Porsche 962 is a sports prototype racing car designed and built by Porsche. Created to replace the Porsche 956, 962 was introduced at the end of 1984 and replaced the 956 in the International Motor Sports Association, IMSA's IMSA GT Champio ...

in the

All Japan Sports Prototype Championship The , abbreviated as JSPC, formed by the Japan Automobile Federation, was a domestic championship which took place in Japan for Group C and IMSA GTP Sports prototype, prototype cars and also featured cars that were eligible for touring car racin ...

. During his time there he was involved in an accident at Fuji in

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

in which he suffered serious burns to his body and face. He was removed from the wrecked car by fellow driver

Paolo Barilla Paolo Barilla (born 20 April 1961) is a businessman and a former Formula One driver who raced for the Minardi team. He is now the Deputy Chairman of the Barilla Group and, as of January 2017, had a net worth of US$1.39 billion. Racing career Bar ...

and he spent two weeks in a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...

Touring car racing

Between 1989 and 1992 he drove in the

DTM DTM may refer to: Sport * Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, a motor-racing series staged annually in Germany since 2000 * Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, a motor-racing championship staged in Germany from 1984 to 1995 Computing * Data Transfer ...

for various teams in a works supported

BMW M3 The BMW M3 is a high-performance version of the BMW 3 Series, developed by BMW's in-house motorsport division, BMW M GmbH. M3 models have been produced for every generation of 3 Series since the E30 M3 was introduced in 1986. The initial mod ...

. In 1991 he won the

24 Hours of Nürburgring 4 (four) is a number, numeral (linguistics), numeral and numerical digit, digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is tetraphobia, considered unlucky i ...

with the

Schnitzer Motorsport Schnitzer Motorsport was a motorsport team based in Freilassing near Munich, Germany. From the early days of its establishment, the team mostly operated an auto racing, automobile racing squad for BMW, and had remarkable results in touring car rac ...

BMW. In 1992 he won the Nordic Touring Car Cup and for the second half of the year he replaced the injured

Alain Menu Alain Menu (born 9 August 1963) is a Swiss racing driver who is currently working for Team BMR as a driving coach. He was one of the most successful touring car drivers of the 1990s, winning the prestigious British Touring Car Championship twic ...

in the

British Touring Car Championship The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), officially known as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by ...

for BMW. He finished as runner-up in the 1993 ADAC GT Cup, followed by a return to the DTM in 1994 in a privateer

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian carmaker known for its sports-oriented vehicles, strong auto racing heritage, and iconic design. Headquartered in Turin, Italy, it is a subsidiary of Stellantis Europe and one of 14 brands of mu ...

. In this year he won his only DTM race. He continued to race in Germany, when he competed in the German STW Super Touring Cup with a

Ford Mondeo The Ford Mondeo is a Mid-size/large family car, large (D-segment) car manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company, Ford since 1993 across five generations for model years 1993-2022. As Ford self-declared world car, the Mondeo was intended to ...

in 1995, and

Audi A4 The Audi A4 is a line of luxury compact executive cars produced from 1994 to 2025 by the German car manufacturer Audi, a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group. The A4 has been built in five generations and is based on the Volkswagen Group B platfor ...

in 1996, 1997 and 1999. He spent a brief time in the 1999 inaugural

Danish Touring Car Championship The Danish Touringcar Championship (abbreviated as the DTC) was a touring car racing series in Denmark. The inaugural year for the DTC was 1999, after the huge success in Scandinavia of the British Touring Car Championship The British Touring ...

in a

Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle, officially the Volkswagen Type 1, is a small family car produced by the German company Volkswagen from 1938 to 2003. One of the most iconic cars in automotive history, the Beetle is noted for its distinctive shape. Its pr ...

. In 2000 he returned once more to the resurrected

, with the

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 ...

-run

Audi TT The Audi TT is a production front-engine, 2-door, 2+2 sports coupé and roadster, manufactured and marketed by Audi from 1998 to 2023 across three generations. For each of its three generations, the TT has been based on consecutive generations ...

. For his final two years in racing he competed in the

V8Star Series The V8Star Series was a touring car racing series based in Germany that ran for three seasons between 2001 and 2003. The series featured privateers racing identical cars that were covered in different silhouette designs to create visual diversi ...

in 2001 and 2002.

Racing record

Complete International Formula 3000 results

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

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft/Masters results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) *† — Retired, but was classified as he completed 90% of the winner's race distance.

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

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

Complete Super Tourenwagen Cup results

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

References

External links

BTCC Pages Profile.
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nissen, Kris 1960 births Living people British Touring Car Championship drivers Danish racing drivers Danish Touring Car Championship drivers German Formula Three Championship drivers British Formula 3000 Championship drivers Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers BMW M drivers Abt Sportsline drivers Team Joest drivers Schnitzer Motorsport drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers Volkswagen Motorsport drivers Racing drivers from Lower Saxony