Bernd Schneider

Bernd Robert Schneider (born 20 July 1964) is a German racing driver. He is a five-time Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters champion, FIA GT champion and Mercedes brand ambassador. He also competed in Formula One.

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 as well as finishing third in the 1987 Macau Grand Prix. This brought him to the attention of Erich Zakowski, who signed Schneider to drive for his Formula One team Zakspeed in and . However, the small German-based squad did little to make an impression on the F1 circuit and Schneider was only able to qualify for nine races out of the 32 he entered with the team (seven 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 Kremer Racing and Joest Racing, in the World Sportscar Championship and the Interserie and races such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Schneider won the , an annual award presented by Porsche AG to recognize the world's most successful privateer racing driver competing with Porsche machinery in a customer racing team, in 1990.

DTM championships Bernd Schneider - AMG-Mercedes Tabac Original Sonax Team - AMG-Mercedes C- Klasse, 1994 DTM Donington Park.

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 teammate 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.

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.

On 21 October 2008, it was announced that Schneider would retire from racing at the conclusion of the 2008 season.

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 No. 70 GT Russian Team Viatti Mercedes.

Personal life 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, Oliver Bierhoff's older sister. Schneider still enjoys karting.

Racing record Career summary

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 West Zakspeed Racing Zakspeed 881 Zakspeed 1500/4 Straight-4 t/c BRA SMR MON MEX CAN DET FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR ESP JPN AUS NC 0 West Zakspeed Racing Zakspeed 891 Yamaha OX88 V8 BRA SMR MON MEX USA CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR ESP JPN AUS NC 0 Footwork Arrows Racing Arrows A11 Ford Cosworth DFR V8 USA BRA SMR MON CAN MEX FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR NC 0 Arrows A11B ESP JPN AUS

Complete World 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 DC Points 1987 Ford Texaco Racing TeamRousesport Ford Sierra RS500 MNZ JAR DIJ NUR SPA BNO SIL BAT CLD WEL FJI*ovr:17cls:10 43rd 16 Overall race position shown. Registered WTCC points paying position may differ.

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft/Masters results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) - 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 Pts 1995 D2 Privat-Team AMG Mercedes Mercedes C-Class V6 MUG1 MUG2 HEL1 HEL2 DON1 DON2 EST1 EST2 MAG1 MAG2 1st 155 1996 D2 Privat-Team AMG Mercedes Mercedes C-Class V6 HOC1 HOC2 NÜR1 NÜR2 EST1 EST2 HEL1 HEL2 NOR1 NOR2 DIE1 DIE2 SIL1 SIL2 NÜR1 NÜR2 MAG1 MAG2 MUG1 MUG2 HOC114† HOC2 INT1 INT2 SUZ1 SUZ2 2nd 205

Complete FIA GT Championship results