Timo Scheider (born 10 November 1978 in

Lahnstein Lahnstein () is a ''verband''-free town of Rhein-Lahn-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated at the confluence of the Lahn with the Rhine, approximately south of Koblenz. Lahnstein was created in 1969 by the merger of the previ ...

) is a German racing driver who competes in the

FIA World Rallycross Championship The FIA World Rallycross Championship (official abbreviation is World RX) is a rallycross series organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA in conjunction with series promoter Rallycross Promoter GmbH (founded by Red Bull G ...

for Münnich Motorsport. He won the DTM title in 2008 and 2009.

Career

Karting

Like most other drivers, Scheider started his racing career 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 ...

in 1989. In 1992, he went on to win the Kerpen Winter Cup and earned seventh place in the German Junior Kart NRW-Cup a year later. His seventh place disappointment led to success the next year when he won the cup.

Formula Renault

In 1995, Scheider joined the German

Formula Renault Formula Renault are classes of formula racing popular in Europe and elsewhere. Regarded as an entry-level series to auto racing, motor racing, it was founded in 1971, and was a respected series where drivers can learn advanced racecraft before mov ...

1800 championship and won it in his first year. The next year, he jumped to the 2000 championship and earned fourth place.

Formula Three

After only two years in Formula Renault, the German moved to

Formula Three Formula Three (F3) is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. History Formula Three (adop ...

in 1997, in the German series. He clinched second place behind Nick Heidfeld in 1997 with three wins but his performance deteriorated the next year when he finished seventh, despite three victories. In 1999 he finished sixth, bringing an end to his rise through the single-seater ranks.

DTM

Scheider spent the next five years of his racing career in DTM for

Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Gr ...

. In his first year in 2000, he finished twelfth followed by a disappointing 19th the next year. He improved to finish eighth in 2002. The following year he finished eighth again and scored a pole position. He also finished in first place at 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 ...

. In 2004, Scheider retained his eighth place in DTM and was tenth in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring.

GTs

Scheider left the DTM in 2005, which became a busy year for Scheider. He joined

Vitaphone Racing Vitaphone Racing, or Vita4One, was a German racing team who participated in the FIA GT Championship. The team was actually Bartels Motor & Sport GmbH, but operated under the title of its main sponsor, Vitaphone GmbH. They have successfully raced ...

in the

FIA GT Championship The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...

, where he finished second. He won the

Spa 24 Hours The 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by CrowdStrike. History The Spa 24 Hours was conceived by Jules de Their and ...

and also at Istanbul. He was 13th overall and class winner in the Nürburgring 24 Hours. He was also selected for

A1 Team Germany A1 Team Germany was the German team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. The team were the A1 Grand Prix champions for the second season, 2006-07. They were run by the English Super Nova Racing team until the end of 2007-08. GU- ...

that year. Timo Scheider 2006 DTM

Return to DTM

After one year away, Scheider returned to the DTM in 2006 with Audi Sport Team Rosberg, finishing the season in 10th place. In 2007 he joined the works Audi team,

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 ...

, finally taking his first podium finish as he finished seventh overall. 2008 showed great improvement from Scheider winning three races as he won the 2008 DTM Championship, finishing four points ahead of Paul di Resta of Mercedes-Benz. In 2009 he repeated his title success for Audi, beating closest rival Gary Paffett by five points over the ten rounds, taking two victories. He therefore become the only second DTM driver after Bernd Schneider to defend his title.

Retirement from DTM

As of October 2016, Scheider announced his retirement from DTM, effective at the end of the season.

Rallycross

After making sporadic appearances in the

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

and

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

for Münnich Motorsport, Scheider signed with MJP Racing Team Austria for a full

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

campaign. He finished second in the opening round in Barcelona.

Extreme E

Scheider will make his Extreme E debut in the 2023 season for Carl Cox Motorsport with Christine GZ as his teammate. Scheider will be the team principal and driver for a new team called SUN Minimeal XE Team in the 2024 season alongside Klara Andersson.

Racing record

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ¹ - Shanghai was a non-championship round.

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

( key)

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete FIA World Rallycross Championship results

Supercar/RX1/RX1e

Complete World Touring Car Cup results

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

References

External links

Timo Scheider official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scheider, Timo 1978 births Living people People from Rhein-Lahn-Kreis Racing drivers from Rhineland-Palatinate A1 Team Germany drivers FIA GT Championship drivers German Formula Three Championship drivers German racing drivers Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters champions GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers Motorsport team owners World Touring Car Cup drivers Extreme E drivers World Rallycross Championship drivers Abt Sportsline drivers Audi Sport drivers Josef Kaufmann Racing drivers A1 Grand Prix drivers Super Nova Racing drivers Team Rosberg drivers Phoenix Racing drivers Schnitzer Motorsport drivers AF Corse drivers W Racing Team drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers