Niclas Kentenich

Niclas Kentenich (born 16 July 1988) is a German businessman and former racing driver. He won the Dubai 24 Hour overall in 2009, as well as multiple ADAC GT Masters races from 2010 to 2012, having risen up through the PCCD ranks. He retired in 2015 after suffering serious injuries in a VLN crash.

Career Kentenich began his career in 2004, competing in the ADAC Volkswagen Polo Cup. Racing in the series until 2006, Kentenich most notably finished third in the 2006 standings with four podiums to his name. In 2007, Kentenich joined Ahlden Motorsport to compete in Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, and returned the following year with Farnbacher RT, taking a best result of tenth at the Norisring to end the year 16th overall.

Kentenich competing in Porsche Carrera Cup Germany at Hockenheim in 2009.

In 2009, Kentenich switched to tolimit/Seyffarth Motorsport for his third season in Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, scoring a best result of seventh at Zandvoort to end the season 15th in the overall standings. During 2009, Kentenich also won the Dubai 24 Hour for Land Motorsport, and made his debut in the VLN Series for Mühlner Motorsport. Moving to GT3 competition on a full-time basis in 2010, Kentenich joined Porsche-fielding a-workx/Wieth Racing to graduate to ADAC GT Masters. After winning on debut at Oschersleben alongside Sebastian Asch, Kentenich took three other podiums en route to a seventh-place points finish. During 2010, Kentenich also scored his first PCCD podium for Farnbacher Racing, as well as racing in VLN on a part-time basis for Frikadelli Racing.

Kentenich's Farnbacher ESET Ferrari at the Sachsenring in 2011.

The following year, Kentenich moved to Farnbacher ESET Racing to continue in ADAC GT Masters, driving a Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 alongside a revolving door of drivers. In his second season in the series, Kentenich took a lone win at Assen alongside Dominik Farnbacher and two other podiums to take tenth in points. During 2011, Kentenich also took his maiden VLN podium for MSC Adenau e. V. im ADAC, as well as making his 24 Hours of Nürburgring debut, finishing ninth overall. In 2012, Kentenich partnered Mario Farnbacher, younger brother of Dominik, in ADAC GT Masters, only finding success after a mid-season switch to the Porsche 911 GT3 R, taking a win at the Red Bull Ring en route to 14th in points. During 2012, Kentenich took his first VLN class win at the 6h ADAC Ruhr-Pokal-Rennen, in Cup 2 for PZ Aschaffenburg.

At the beginning of 2013, Kentenich raced the season-opening Nogaro round of the FIA GT Series, sharing a Dörr Motorsport McLaren MP4-12C GT3 with Daniel Keilwitz. For the rest of 2013, Kentenich took two overall VLN podiums with H&R Spezialfedern, as well as racing in ADAC GT Masters with Corvette-aligned Callaway Competition and BMW-fielding Vita4One Racing Team but failing to score points. Returning to Porsche Carrera Cup Germany with Aust Motorsport in 2014, Kentenich took a best result of seventh at the Nürburgring, as he ended the season 24th overall. Kentenich then began 2015 competing for MSC Adenau e.V. im ADAC in VLN, but a crash during qualifying for VLN1 left him with serious injuries and on the sidelines for much of the year. Later in the year, Kentenich competed with Aust for select rounds of Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, but after taking a best result of 11th at Oschersleben, he retired from motorsport at the age of 27 due to long-term consequences of his VLN1 crash.

Personal life Kentenich is the younger brother of Patrick Kentenich, who raced alongside him in the ADAC Volkswagen Polo Cup.

Following his retirement from motorsport, Kentenich began working full-time at his family-run landscaping business, KE Kentenich GmbH, as its managing director.

Racing record Racing career summary

Complete Porsche Carrera Cup Germany results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete ADAC GT Masters results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA GT Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos. Points 2013 Dörr Motorsport McLaren MP4-12C GT3 Pro NOGQR NOGCR ZOLQR ZOLCR ZANQR ZANQR SVKQR SVKCR NAVQR NAVCR BAKQR BAKCR 21st 1