Bernd Schneider (racing driver)

Bernd Schneider

Born	20 July 1964
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

Bernd Schneider (born 20 July 1964 in St. Ingbert) is a racing driver from Germany. He is a five-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 team mate 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

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)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	WDC	Points
1988	West Zakspeed Racing	Zakspeed 881	Zakspeed Straight-4	BRA DNQ	SMR DNQ	MON DNQ	MEX Ret	CAN DNQ	DET DNQ	FRA Ret	GBR DNQ	GER 12	HUN DNQ	BEL 13	ITA Ret	POR DNQ	ESP DNQ	JPN Ret	AUS DNQ	NC	0
1989	West Zakspeed Racing	Zakspeed 891	Yamaha V8	BRA Ret	SMR DNPQ	MON DNPQ	MEX DNPQ	USA DNPQ	CAN DNPQ	FRA DNPQ	GBR DNPQ	GER DNPQ	HUN DNPQ	BEL DNPQ	ITA DNPQ	POR DNPQ	ESP DNPQ	JPN Ret	AUS DNPQ	NC	0
1990	Footwork Arrows Racing	Arrows A11	Cosworth V8	USA 12	BRA	SMR	MON	CAN	MEX	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR				NC	0
		Arrows A11B															ESP DNQ	JPN	AUS

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft/Masters 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	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	Pos.	Pts
1992	AMG-Mercedes	Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 Evo2	ZOL 1 5	ZOL 2 Ret	NÜR 1 10	NÜR 2 Ret	WUN 1 7	WUN 2 4	AVU 1 3	AVU 2 1	HOC 1 2	HOC 2 Ret	NÜR 1 4	NÜR 2 4	NOR 1 Ret	NOR 2 4	BRN 1 7	BRN 2 Ret	DIE 1 2	DIE 2 Ret	ALE 1 1	ALE 2 1	NÜR 1 1	NÜR 2 3	HOC 1 Ret	HOC 2 Ret	3rd	191
1993	AMG-Mercedes	Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 Evo2	ZOL 1 Ret	ZOL 2 9	HOC 1 1	HOC 2 1	NÜR 1 2	NÜR 2 2	WUN 1 7	WUN 2 6	NÜR 1 5	NÜR 2 5	NOR 1 Ret	NOR 2 Ret	DIE 1 2	DIE 2 6	ALE 1 2	ALE 2 1	AVU 1 3	AVU 2 23	HOC 1 Ret	HOC 2 6					3rd	172
1994	AMG-Mercedes	Mercedes C-Class V6	ZOL 1 19	ZOL 2 DNS	HOC 1 Ret	HOC 2 Ret	NÜR 1 Ret	NÜR 2 16	NÜR 1 3	NÜR 2 18	NOR 1 Ret	NOR 2 Ret	DIE 1 Ret	DIE 2 1	NÜR 1 3	NÜR 2 18	AVU 1 Ret	AVU 2 DNS	ALE 1 9	ALE 2 5	HOC 1 3	HOC 2 1					10th	86
1995	D2 AMG-Mercedes	Mercedes C-Class V6	HOC 1 1	HOC 2 1	AVU 1 Ret	AVU 2 11	NOR 1 4	NOR 2 1	DIE 1 7	DIE 2 6	NÜR 1 1	NÜR 2 1	ALE 1 6	ALE 2 3	HOC 1 Ret	HOC 2 13											1st	138
2000	HWA Team	AMG-Mercedes CLK-DTM	HOC 1 1	HOC 2 1	OSC 1 3	OSC 2 12	NOR 1 4	NOR 2 1	SAC 1 3	SAC 2 3	NÜR 1 1	NÜR 2 1	LAU 1 C	LAU 2 C	OSC 1 2	OSC 2 1	NÜR 1 2	NÜR 2 4	HOC 1 2	HOC 2 NC							1st	221
2001	HWA Team	AMG-Mercedes CLK-DTM	HOC QR 1	HOC CR 1	NÜR QR 6	NÜR CR 2	OSC QR 3	OSC CR 2	SAC QR 4	SAC CR 1	NOR QR 1	NOR CR 2	LAU QR 3	LAU CR 2	NÜR QR 4	NÜR CR 6	A1R QR 1	A1R CR 1	ZAN QR 10	ZAN CR 3	HOC QR Ret	HOC CR 3					1st	161
2002	HWA Team	AMG-Mercedes CLK-DTM	HOC QR 11	HOC CR 4	ZOL QR 6	ZOL CR 3	DON QR 8	DON CR 12	SAC QR 3	SAC CR 2	NOR QR 3	NOR CR 2	LAU QR 2	LAU CR 1	NÜR QR 3	NÜR CR 3	A1R QR 2	A1R CR 2	ZAN QR 6	ZAN CR 2	HOC QR 2	HOC CR 1					2nd	64
2003	HWA Team	AMG-Mercedes CLK 2003	HOC 1	ADR 5	NÜR 4	LAU 1	NOR 3	DON 2	NÜR 3	A1R 2	ZAN 2	HOC 6															1st	68
2004	HWA Team	AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2004	HOC 17†	EST 5	ADR 11	LAU 3	NOR 3	SHA^1 2	NÜR 3	OSC Ret	ZAN 5	BRN 10	HOC 1														6th	36
2005	HWA Team	AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2005	HOC 3	LAU 17†	SPA 17†	BRN Ret	OSC 4	NOR 10	NÜR 5	ZAN 8	LAU Ret	IST 3	HOC 1														4th	32
2006	HWA Team	AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2006	HOC 1	LAU 1	OSC 5	BRH 3	NOR 2	NÜR 2	ZAN 2	CAT 2	BUG 5	HOC 4															1st	71
2007	HWA Team	AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2007	HOC 7	OSC 6	LAU 4	BRH 1	NOR 2	MUG 11	ZAN 12	NÜR 7	CAT Ret	HOC 5															6th	31.5
2008	HWA Team	AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2008	HOC 8	OSC 12	MUG 4	LAU 7	NOR 6	ZAN 9	NÜR 1	BRH 9	CAT 3	BUG 5	HOC 6														6th	34

¹ - 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)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	Pos.	Pts
1995	D2 AMG-Mercedes	Mercedes C-Class V6	MUG 1 1	MUG 2 3	HEL 1 5	HEL 2 Ret	DON 1 1	DON 2 1	EST 1 1	EST 2 2	MAG 1 1	MAG 2 1																	1st	138
1996	D2 AMG-Mercedes	Mercedes C-Class V6	HOC 1 4	HOC 2 2	NÜR 1 4	NÜR 2 6	EST 1 11	EST 2 12	HEL 1 16	HEL 2 Ret	NOR 1 9	NOR 2 6	DIE 1 1	DIE 2 1	SIL 1 16	SIL 2 5	NÜR 1 2	NÜR 2 2	MAG 1 Ret	MAG 2 8	MUG 1 2	MUG 2 1	HOC 1 14†	HOC 2 Ret	INT 1 5	INT 2 14	SUZ 1 3	SUZ 2 1	2nd	205

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 FIA GT Championship results

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Pos.	Pts
1997	AMG Mercedes	GT1	Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR	Mercedes-Benz LS600 6.0L V12	HOC Ret	SIL 2	HEL 8	NÜR 1	SPA 2	A1R 4	SUZ 1‡	DON 1	MUG Ret	SEB 1	LAG 1	1st	72
1998	AMG Mercedes	GT1	Mercedes-Benz CLK LM	Mercedes-Benz M120 6.0L V12	OSC 3	SIL 1	HOC 1	DIJ 11	HUN 1	SUZ 1	DON 1	A1R 2	HMS 4	LAG 2		3rd	69

Complete Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup results

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Pos.	Pts
2015	GT Russian Team	Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3	Pro-Am	NOG QR 5	NOG CR 11	BRH QR 14	BRH CR 10	ZOL QR 12	ZOL CR 13	MOS QR	MOS CR	ALG QR	ALG CR	MIS QR	MIS CR	ZAN QR	ZAN CR	5th	92
2016	HTP Motorsport	Mercedes-AMG GT3	Pro	MIS QR Ret	MIS CR 7	BRH QR 1	BRH CR 2	NÜR QR 8	NÜR CR 3	HUN QR 5	HUN CR 5	CAT QR 10	CAT CR 31					4th	59

References

1. "Schneider to retire after Hockenheim". autosport.com. 2008-10-21. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
2. "GT Russian Team Viatti". Blancpain GT Series. Retrieved 10 May 2015.

External links

• Bernd Schneider homepage