Michael Christensen

Michael Klitgaard Christensen (born 28 August 1990) is a Danish racing driver. He is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Porsche in the Hypercar class in the #5 Porsche 963.

Early career

Karting Born in Karlslunde, Christensen had a very successful karting career, winning the 2004 Nordic ICA Junior Championship . The following year he gathered both Nordic and European titles in ICA Junior class. For 2006, Christensen graduated to Formula A and he achieved a second place in the Formula A World Championship and was twice champion in the German Kart Championship Winner of the Macau Int. Kart Grand prix Formula A. In 2007, he repeated as German Kart Champion He finished the season in sixth place and as the top rookie in the rookie standings.

Christensen moved to Mücke Motorsport for the 2009 season. He started the season as the strongest candidate to win the championship, and a victory in the first race of the season was promising. He finished the season in fourth place, although he lost results from five races including three wins, after his team lost an appeal over a breach of technical regulations was rejected by the FIA.

GP3 Series In 2010, Christensen became the first driver to join MW Arden for the 2010 GP3 Series season.

Sportscar career

Porsche

In 2012, Christensen joined the Porsche young driver program. He resulted seventh in the 2012 Porsche Carrera Cup Germany and sixth in the 2013 Porsche Supercup.

Christensen became a factory driver in 2014, racing in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship joining Patrick Long in the GTLM class, winning 12 Hours of Sebring and North American Endurance Cup. In 2015, he competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship together with Richard Lietz, joining the Manthey Racing team in the GTE-Pro class. Winning the manufactures championship, and finishing fourth in the drivers championship. In the 2018–2019 FIA World Endurance Championship, he in succeeded winning 24 Hours of Le Mans for Porsche.

Hypercar career

For the 2023 World Endurance Championship season, Christensen was named in the lineup for Porsche Penske Motorsport, partnering Dane Cameron and Frédéric Makowiecki. For the 2024 WEC season, Christensen would again drive the Porsche 963 for Penske, alongside Makowiecki and Matt Campbell.

Personal life Christensen's hobbies are improving on personal fitness, and training, while his favourite driver is Michael Schumacher,

Complete Porsche Supercup results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DC Points 2012 Konrad Motorsport BHR BHR MON VAL SIL HOC HUN HUN SPA MNZ NC† 0† 2013 DAMS CAT MON SIL NÜR HUN SPA MNZ YMC YMC 6th 95 † As Christensen was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

Complete 24 Hours of Nürburgring results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2013 Pinta Team Manthey Klaus Bachler Michael Illbruck Robert RenauerPorsche 911 GT3 R (997) SP9 ? DNF DNF 2015 Wochenspiegel Team Manthey Oliver Kainz Jochen Krumbach Georg WeissPorsche 911 GT3 RSR SP-Pro 23 DNF DNF 2016 Manthey Racing Jörg Bergmeister Richard Lietz Frédéric Makowiecki Porsche 911 GT3 R (991) SP9 100 DNF DNF 2017 Frikadelli Racing Team Klaus Bachler Norbert Siedler Lucas Luhr Porsche 911 GT3 R (991) SP9 157 6th 6th 2018 KÜS Team75 Bernhard Jörg Bergmeister Matteo Cairoli André Lotterer Porsche 911 GT3 R (991) SP9 128 21st 19th 2019 Manthey Racing Earl Bamber Kévin Estre Laurens Vanthoor Porsche 911 GT3 R (991.2) SP9 156 DSQ DSQ 2021 Manthey Racing Matteo Cairoli Kévin Estre Porsche 911 GT3 R (991.2) SP9 59 1st 1st 2022 Manthey Racing Kévin Estre Frédéric Makowiecki Laurens Vanthoor Porsche 911 GT3 R (991.2) SP9 22 DNF DNF 2023 Manthey EMA Kévin Estre Frédéric Makowiecki Thomas Preining Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) SP9 62 DNF DNF 2026 Dinamic GT Bastian Buus Loek Hartog Joel Sturm Porsche 911 GT3 R (992.2) SP9 155 6th 5th

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank PointsRef 2014 Porsche North America GTLM Porsche 911 RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 DAY SEB LBH LGA WGL MOS IMS ELK VIR COA PET 6th 303 2015 Porsche North America GTLM Porsche 911 RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 DAY SEB LBH LGA WGL MOS ELK VIR COA PET 17th 56 2016 Porsche North America GTLM Porsche 911 RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 DAY SEB LBH LGA WGL MOS LIM ELK VIR COA PET 13th 89 2017 Alegra Motorsports GTD Porsche 911 GT3 R Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 DAY SEB LBH COA DET WGL MOS LIM ELK VIR LGA PET 23rd 131 2021 WeatherTech Racing GTLM Porsche 911 RSR-19 Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6 DAY SEB DET WGL WGL LIM ELK LGA LBH VIR PET 11th 348 2023 Porsche Penske Motorsport GTP Porsche 963 Porsche 9RD 4.6 L V8 DAY SEB LBH LGA WGL MOS ELK IMS PET 18th 556 2024 AO Racing GTD Pro Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6 DAY SEB LGA DET WGL MOS ELK VIR IMS PET 17th 1208 2025 AO Racing GTD Pro Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6 DAY SEB LGA DET WGL MOS ELK VIR IMS PET 32nd 256 2026 Manthey Racing GTD Pro Porsche 911 GT3 R (992.2) Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6 DAY SEB LGA DET WGL MOS ELK VIR IMS PET 38th* 210*Source:

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2015 Porsche Team Manthey Richard Lietz Jörg Bergmeister Porsche 911 RSR GTEPro 327 30th 5th 2016 Dempsey-Proton Racing Philipp Eng Richard Lietz Porsche 911 RSR GTEPro 329 31st 8th 2017 Porsche GT Team Kévin Estre Dirk Werner Porsche 911 RSR GTEPro 179 DNF DNF 2018 Porsche GT Team Kévin Estre Laurens Vanthoor Porsche 911 RSR GTEPro 344 15th 1st 2019 Porsche GT Team Kévin Estre Laurens Vanthoor Porsche 911 RSR GTEPro 337 29th 9th 2020 Porsche GT Team Kévin Estre Laurens Vanthoor Porsche 911 RSR-19 GTEPro 331 35th 6th 2021 Porsche GT Team Kévin Estre Neel Jani Porsche 911 RSR-19 GTEPro 344 22nd 3rd 2022 Porsche GT Team Kévin Estre Laurens Vanthoor Porsche 911 RSR-19 GTEPro 348 31st 4th 2023 Porsche Penske Motorsport Dane Cameron Frédéric Makowiecki Porsche 963 Hypercar 325 16th 9th 2024 Porsche Penske Motorsport Matt Campbell Frédéric Makowiecki Porsche 963 Hypercar 311 6th 6th 2025 Porsche Penske Motorsport Julien Andlauer Mathieu Jaminet Porsche 963 Hypercar 386 6th 6thSources:

Complete 24 Hours of Spa results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2017 KÜS Team75 Bernhard Kévin Estre Laurens Vanthoor Porsche 911 GT3 R (991) Pro 546 4th 4th 2019 GPX Racing Kévin Estre Richard Lietz Porsche 911 GT3 R (991.2) Pro 363 1st 1st 2020 KCMG Kévin Estre Richard Lietz Porsche 911 GT3 R (991.2) Pro 522 13th 13th 2021 Schnabl Engineering Frédéric Makowiecki Dennis Olsen Porsche 911 GT3 R (991.2) Pro 254 DNF DNF 2022 GPX Martini Racing Kévin Estre Richard Lietz Porsche 911 GT3 R (991.2) Pro 221 DNF DNF