Nicklas Nielsen

Nicklas Nielsen
Nielsen in 2023
Nationality	Danish
Born	(1997-02-06) 6 February 1997 (age 27) Hørning, Midtjylland, Denmark
FIA World Endurance Championship career
Debut season	2019–20
Current team	Ferrari AF Corse
Racing licence	FIA Platinum
Car number	50
Wins	7
Podiums	15
Poles	1
Fastest laps	3
Best finish	1st (LMGTE Am) in 2021
Championship titles
2021 2021 2019 2018	GTWC Europe Endurance Cup FIA WEC - LMGTE Am ELMS - LMGTE Ferrari Challenge Europe

Nicklas Nielsen (born 6 February 1997) is a Danish racing driver who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Ferrari AF Corse, driving a Ferrari 499P in the Hypercar class. He won the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans together with Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina, becoming the third Dane to win the contest. ^{[1] [2]}

Early career

Karting

Nielsen began karting when he was four years old, back in 2001. He competed in many international events and championships, winning ten major titles. ^[3]

Lower formula

In 2016, Nielsen made his single-seater debut in the ADAC Formula 4 Championship in Germany, finishing 8th and winning the Rookie's championship while racing for the Austrian Neuhauser Racing team, scoring three podiums and two fastest laps.

In 2017, Nielsen returned to the ADAC championship, this time with the US Racing team. Although he did win a race ^[4] and scored three podiums, a team disqualification at the Lausitzring event and a major accident induced by a competitor which caused irreparable damage to his car for the rest of the event at the Nürburgring deprived him of a proper chance to fight for the title.^{[ according to whom? ]}

Sportscar career

GT

Nielsen at the 2019 4 Hours of Silverstone

At the end of 2017, not having the budget to continue in single-seater competitions, Nielsen was given a chance to race in the final round of the Ferrari Challenge Europe by gentleman driver and Formula Racing team owner Johnny Laursen, whose son Conrad Nielsen had coached in karting. ^[5] Nielsen took the opportunity and won both races at Mugello, leading to him contesting the Ferrari Challenge season in 2018. There, the Dane dominated, winning the title with Formula Racing after taking ten victories from 14 races, never finishing off the podium. ^[6] He also ended up taking home the Finali Mondiali trophy at Monza to conclude his season. ^[7]

In 2019, Nielsen stepped into the LMGTE category, driving for Luzich Racing in the European Le Mans Series and partaking in the 2019–20 FIA World Endurance Championship campaign at AF Corse. ^{[8] [9]} In the former championship, the Dane would help Ferrari factory driver Alessandro Pier Guidi and amateur Fabien Lavergne to win four races, which allowed the trio to clinch the title with a race to spare. He was awarded the accolade of ELMS Rookie of the Year as a result. ^[10] During the WEC campaign, one that Nielsen contested alongside François Perrodo and Emmanuel Collard, he finished third in class at the Le Mans 24 Hours, on his way to win the title with two victories and five podiums to their name. ^[11]

Having been promoted to FIA Gold ranking ahead of 2021, Nielsen returned to the WEC's LMGTE Am class with AF Corse, partnering youngster Alessio Rovera and gentleman driver Perrodo. ^[12] The trio dominated, winning early at Spa and then Monza, with Nielsen setting the fastest lap in both races. ^{[13] [14]} They subsequently performed well at Le Mans, winning the race in their class and putting themselves into a controlling championship lead. ^{[15] [16]} With another win at Bahrain, Nielsen and his teammates became champions, with the Dane and Perrodo defending their title. ^[17] The same season also saw Nielsen triumph at the 24 Hours of Spa, in a performance which helped him, Alessandro Pier Guidi, and Côme Ledogar to take home the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup championship. ^{[18] [19]}

Prototypes

For the 2022 season, Nielsen moved into prototype racing, competing in the LMP2 category of the WEC and ELMS respectively, remaining with AF Corse, Rovera, and Perrodo in the series's Pro-Am subclasses. ^[20] Their campaign in the WEC proved to be successful, as four subclass wins, as well as a pole at Sebring scored by Nielsen, earned them the Pro-Am title. ^{[21] [22] [23]} In the ELMS meanwhile, the Dane and his teammates lost out on the title to Racing Team Turkey, winning just one race in their class at Barcelona. ^{[24] [25]}

Nielsen was one of the six drivers chosen to debut for Ferrari in the burgeoning Hypercar category in 2023, driving its 499P #50 entry alongside Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina in the WEC. ^[26] Though the team showed bursts of pace, as proven by Fuoco's two poles, they ended up third in the championship behind both Toyota entries, having scored podiums in four events. Nielsen, Fuoco, and Molina managed to beat their sister car in the standings, despite the latter winning the Centenary Le Mans, a race in which the #50's hopes of victory were dashed due to a radiator leak during the night. ^[27] At the end of the season, Nielsen committed to Ferrari by signing a contract extension. ^[28]

In 2024, Nielsen remained with Ferrari in the WEC. ^[29] The season began with points finishes in Qatar and Imola, though the team missed out on the win in the latter due to a strategic error in changing weather conditions. ^[30] The podium came at Spa, where the #50 crew completed a comeback from being disqualified in qualifying to finish third in a red flag-interrupted event. ^[31] Nielsen's highlight performance came at Le Mans: having already taken the lead once during the opening lap, Nielsen re-entered the car for the final stints on Sunday. ^{[32] [33]} A pit stop to fix the right-front door, which would not close, put the #50 entry onto an alternate strategy relative to its competitors, with Nielsen being tasked to save fuel to remain in the lead once his rivals had pitted. Having managed his car's so-called virtual energy tank during the final thirty minutes, Nielsen crossed the line in first place, earning him, Fuoco, and Molina their first ever overall victories at the Sarthe, as well as defending Ferrari's Le Mans crown from the previous year. ^{[34] [35]}

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2016	ADAC Formula 4 Championship	Neuhauser Racing	24	0	0	2	3	106	8th
	Audi Sport TT Cup	—	14	1	1	1	7	238	3rd
2017	ADAC Formula 4 Championship	US Racing	19	1	1	1	4	128	6th
	Ferrari Challenge Europe – Trofeo Pirelli (Pro)	Formula Racing	2	2	2	1	2	34	8th
2018	Ferrari Challenge Europe – Trofeo Pirelli (Pro)	Formula Racing	14	10	8	10	14	282	1st
	Finali Mondiali – Trofeo Pirelli (Pro)		1	1	0	0	1	N/A	1st
	FIA GT Nations Cup	Team Denmark	3	0	0	0	1	N/A	3rd
	International GT Open	Luzich Racing	2	0	0	0	0	6	31st
2019	European Le Mans Series - LMGTE	Luzich Racing	6	4	0	2	5	127	1st
2019–20	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Am	AF Corse	8	2	0	0	5	167	1st
2020	24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am	AF Corse	1	0	0	0	1	N/A	3rd
	GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup		3	0	0	0	0	46	6th
	Intercontinental GT Challenge		1	0	0	0	0	12	15th
	European Le Mans Series - LMGTE	Iron Lynx	1	0	0	0	0	10	16th
	Le Mans Cup - GT3		1	0	0	1	1	15	12th
2021	Asian Le Mans Series - GT	Formula Racing	4	0	0	0	1	23.5	9th
	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Am	AF Corse	6	4	0	3	4	150	1st
	24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am		1	1	0	0	1	N/A	1st
	IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD		2	0	1	0	0	246	55th
	GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup	Iron Lynx	5	1	0	0	1	83	1st
	Intercontinental GT Challenge	Iron Lynx Motorsport Lab	1	1	0	0	1	37	6th
		AF Corse - Francorchamps Motors	2	0	1	1	0
2022	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2	AF Corse	6	0	1	0	0	12	18th
	European Le Mans Series - LMP2		6	0	1	0	0	25	12th
	IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD		1	0	0	0	0	294	53rd
	24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	19th
	GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup	Iron Lynx	5	0	0	0	1	37	10th
	Intercontinental GT Challenge	Iron Lynx	1	0	0	0	0	26	10th
		AF Corse - Francorchamps	1	0	0	0	1
2023	Asian Le Mans Series - GT	Formula Racing	3	0	0	0	0	4	17th
	European Le Mans Series - GTE		5	0	0	0	1	24	12th
	FIA World Endurance Championship - Hypercar	Ferrari AF Corse	7	0	0	0	4	120	3rd
	24 Hours of Le Mans - Hypercar		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	5th
	GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup	AF Corse	5	1	1	0	1	36	8th
	IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2		2	0	0	0	1	250	29th
2024	FIA World Endurance Championship - Hypercar	Ferrari AF Corse	4	1	0	0	2	90*	3rd*
	24 Hours of Le Mans - Hypercar		1	1	0	0	1	N/A	1st
	IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2	Richard Mille AF Corse	2	0	0	0	0	414*	13th*
	European Le Mans Series - LMGT3	Formula Racing	2	1	0	0	1	27*	4th*

Complete ADAC Formula 4 Championship 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	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	Pos	Points
2016	Neuhauser Racing	OSC1 1 10	OSC1 2 9	OSC1 3 8	SAC 1 7	SAC 2 5	SAC 3 3	LAU 1 Ret	LAU 2 15	LAU 3 17	OSC2 1 Ret	OSC2 2 15	OSC2 3 25	RBR 1 5	RBR 2 3	RBR 3 4	NÜR 1 4	NÜR 2 3	NÜR 3 17	ZAN 1 16	ZAN 2 11	ZAN 3 15	HOC 1 16	HOC 2 27	HOC 3 8	8th	106
2017	US Racing	OSC1 1 2	OSC1 2 1	OSC1 3 9	LAU 1 DSQ	LAU 2 DSQ	LAU 3 DSQ	RBR 1 3	RBR 2 8	RBR 3 2	OSC2 1 15	OSC2 2 5	OSC2 3 12	NÜR 1 Ret	NÜR 2 DNS	NÜR 3 DNS	SAC 1 4	SAC 2 4	SAC 3 9	HOC 1 5	HOC 2 Ret	HOC 3 Ret				6th	128

Complete Ferrari Challenge results

Complete Ferrari Challenge Europe results

(Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Rank	Points
2018	Formula Racing	Pro	MUG 1 1	MUG 2 1	SIL 1 2	SIL 2 1	SPA 1 3	SPA 2 1	MIS 1 1	MIS 2 2	BRN 1 1	BRN 2 1	BAR 1 1	BAR 2 1	MNZ 1 1	MNZ 2 2	1st	282

Ferrari Challenge Finali Mondiali results

Year	Class	Team	Car	Circuit	Pos.
2018	Trofeo Pirelli Pro	Formula Racing	Ferrari 488 Challenge	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza	1st

Complete European Le Mans Series results

(Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	Rank	Points
2019	Luzich Racing	LMGTE	Ferrari 488 GTE	Ferrari F154CB	LEC 1	MNZ 3					1st	127
			Ferrari 488 GTE Evo				CAT 1	SIL 4	SPA 1	ALG 1
2020	Iron Lynx	LMGTE	Ferrari 488 GTE Evo	Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8	LEC	SPA	LEC 5	MNZ	ALG		16th	10
2022	AF Corse	LMP2	Oreca 07	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8	LEC 8	IMO 14	MNZ 12	CAT 5	SPA 7	ALG 8	12th	25
		Pro-Am Cup			2	5	4	1	2	2	3rd	101
2023	Formula Racing	LMGTE	Ferrari 488 GTE Evo	Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8	CAT	LEC 8	ARA Ret	SPA 2	PRT 12	ALG 9	12th	24
2024	Formula Racing	LMGT3	Ferrari 296 GT3	Ferrari F163 3.0 L Turbo V6	CAT 1	LEC 9	IMO 9	SPA	MUG	ALG	6th*	29*
Source: [36]

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Year	Entrant	Class	Car	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Rank	Points
2019-20	AF Corse	LMGTE Am	Ferrari 488 GTE Evo	Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8	SIL 1	FUJ 2	SHA 4	BHR 4	COA 4	SPA 1	LMS 3	BHR 2	1st	167
2021	AF Corse	LMGTE Am	Ferrari 488 GTE Evo	Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8	SPA 1	POR 11	MON 1	LMS 1	BHR 5	BHR 1			1st	150
2022	AF Corse	LMP2	Oreca 07	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8	SEB 9	SPA 9	LMS 11	MNZ 9	FUJ 10	BHR 10			18th	12
		Pro-Am Cup			1	1	2	3	1	1			1st	177
2023	Ferrari AF Corse	Hypercar	Ferrari 499P	Ferrari 3.0 L Turbo V6	SEB 3	ALG 2	SPA Ret	LMS 4	MNZ 2	FUJ 4	BHR 3		3rd	120
2024	Ferrari AF Corse	Hypercar	Ferrari 499P	Ferrari 3.0 L Turbo V6	QAT 6	IMO 4	SPA 3	LMS 1	SÃO	COA	FUJ	BHR	4th*	90*
Sources: [36] [37]

^* Season still in progress.

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2020	AF Corse	François Perrodo Emmanuel Collard	Ferrari 488 GTE Evo	GTE Am	339	26th	3rd
2021	AF Corse	François Perrodo Alessio Rovera	Ferrari 488 GTE Evo	GTE Am	340	25th	1st
2022	AF Corse	François Perrodo Alessio Rovera	Oreca 07-Gibson	LMP2	361	24th	19th
2023	Ferrari AF Corse	Antonio Fuoco Miguel Molina	Ferrari 499P	Hypercar	337	5th	5th
2024	Ferrari AF Corse	Antonio Fuoco Miguel Molina	Ferrari 499P	Hypercar	311	1st	1st
Sources: [36] [38]

Complete GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup results

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

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Pos.	Points
2020	AF Corse	Ferrari 488 GT3	Pro	IMO 7	NÜR Ret	SPA 6H 4	SPA 12H 1	SPA 24H 5	LEC		6th	46
2021	Iron Lynx	Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020	Pro	MNZ 5	LEC 5	SPA 6H 1	SPA 12H 1	SPA 24H 1	NÜR 7	CAT 7	1st	83
2022	Iron Lynx	Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020	Pro	IMO 7	LEC 2	SPA 6H 5	SPA 12H 11	SPA 24H 9	HOC 43†	CAT 20	10th	37
2023	AF Corse - Francorchamps Motors	Ferrari 296 GT3	Pro	MNZ 8	LEC 7	SPA 6H 29	SPA 12H 25	SPA 24H 44†	NÜR 22	CAT 1	8th	36

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

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

Year	Team	Class	Make	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pos.	Points	Ref
2021	AF Corse	GTD	Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020	Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8	DAY 8	SEB	MDO	DET	WGL	WGL	LIM	ELK	LGA	LBH	VIR	PET	55th	246	[39]
2022	AF Corse	GTD	Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020	Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8	DAY 4	SEB	LBH	LGA	MDO	DET	WGL	MOS	LIM	ELK	VIR	PET	53rd	294	[40]
2023	AF Corse	LMP2	Oreca 07	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8	DAY 3	SEB	MON	WGL 6	ELK	IMS	PET						29th	250	[41]
2024	Richard Mille AF Corse	LMP2	Oreca 07	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8	DAY 12	SEB 13	WGL	MOS	ELK	IMS	ATL						13th*	414*	[42]
Source: [36]

References

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2. "Ferrari Celebrates "Unbelievable" Le Mans Victory". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2024-06-18.
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External links

• Nicklas Nielsen career summary at DriverDB.com

Sporting positions
Preceded by Jörg Bergmeister Patrick Lindsey Egidio Perfetti	FIA Endurance Trophy for LMGTE Am Drivers 2019-20 With: Emmanuel Collard & François Perrodo	Succeeded by Incumbent