Nigel Melker

Nigel Melker
Nationality	Dutch
Born	(1991-01-25) 25 January 1991 (age 34) Rotterdam, Netherlands
Formula Renault 3.5 Series career
Debut season	2012
Current team	Tech 1 Racing
Car number	2
Former teams	Lotus
Starts	19
Wins	0
Poles	0
Fastest laps	2
Best finish	6th in 2013
Previous series
2016 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010–11 2009 2008–09 2008	Supercar Challenge Formula Acceleration 1 Formula Renault 3.5 Series GP2 Series Formula 3 Euro Series GP3 Series Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Formula Renault 2.0 NEC Formula Renault 2.0 Italy
Championship titles
2014	Formula Acceleration 1

Nigel Melker (born 25 January 1991) is a Dutch former racing driver.

Career

Karting

Melker was born in Rotterdam. He began his motorsport career in karting in 2001, winning in the Dutch Mini Junior Cup. In 2005, he won the German Junior championship and finishing as runner-up in the European ICA Junior championship.

Formula Renault

After sitting out the 2007 season, Melker moved up to single-seaters in 2008. He participated in the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup with Van Amersfoort Racing. He finished in twelfth place in the standings with eleven point-scoring positions that gave him 120 points. ^[1] He also took part in ten races of the Italian Formula Renault Championship. He finished eighteenth with 37 points. ^[2]

The following season, Melker competed in both the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup and Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 championships with MP Motorsport. He finished eighteenth in the NEC standings, taking points in all six races he contested. ^[3] In the Eurocup, he took part in the first five rounds, finishing 23rd with five points for sixth place at Spa. ^[4]

GP3 Series

In 2010, Melker became the first driver to join RSC Mücke Motorsport for the 2010 GP3 Series season. ^[5] His team-mates were compatriot Renger van der Zande and German Tobias Hegewald. He started the season by taking the first pole position of his open-wheel racing career in the opening round at Barcelona, ^[6] but in the race he was involved in an accident on the opening lap and retired. ^[7] In the sprint race he started from the back and rose to fourteenth place. ^[8] He took another pole in Turkey, but did not finish in the points until the final race of the season at Monza, restricting him to 23rd place in the championships.

Melker remained in GP3 with the Mücke team for the 2011 season, alongside Michael Christensen and Luciano Bacheta (who was later replaced by Daniel Mancinelli). With the benefit of a year's experience in the category, his form was much stronger and he won the first race of the season in Turkey. This gave him the early championship lead, and he took a further four podium finishes, but he ultimately slipped to third place behind the Lotus ART duo of Valtteri Bottas and James Calado after his team appeared to lose its competitive edge following mid-season testing at Barcelona. ^[9]

Formula 3 Euro Series

As well as his 2011 GP3 campaign, Melker competed in the season's Formula 3 Euro Series, also with Mücke, finishing in fourth position in the drivers' standings with four wins. ^[10] He finished ahead of his team-mates Felix Rosenqvist, Marco Sørensen and Facu Regalia, but was unable to consistently challenge dominant champion Roberto Merhi, his Prema Powerteam colleague Daniel Juncadella, or Signature driver Marco Wittmann.

GP2 Series

After participating in the non-championship 2011 GP2 Final with DAMS, Melker switched to Ocean Racing Technology for the 2012 season, initially alongside Jon Lancaster. ^{[11] [12]} With a best race finish of fourth at Silverstone, he ended the season 19th in the championship.

Formula Renault 3.5 Series

Melker made his racing début in a Formula Renault 3.5 car at Silverstone 2012, replacing César Ramos at the Lotus team. He qualified a respectable 14th for the first race and went on to take a podium at his first race at a wet racing track, finishing 3rd. He retired in the second race and was replaced by Estonian Kevin Korjus for the remainder of the season. He was the only driver in Lotus car #11 to get a podium that year.

After a disappointing season in GP2, Melker went to Formula Renault 3.5 full-time for 2013, driving for previous year's team champions Tech 1 Racing alongside series veteran Mikhail Aleshin. Melker spent most of the season in the subtop of the championship, amassing 4 podiums and 136 points, as well as posting 2 fastest laps. His best weekend of the season was at the Red Bull Ring when he was runner-up twice behind dominant winner Marco Sørensen. He finished the season in 6th place.

Formula Acceleration 1

Unable to find a drive in Formula Renault 3.5 for 2014, Melker turned his attention elsewhere. He signed with Azerti Motorsport for the inaugural Formula Acceleration 1 season. He was competitive immediately, finishing second twice at the opening round in Portugal, before taking a double victory at Circuito de Navarra. He went on to win the drivers' championship after a victory at the Nürburgring and a double victory at Assen.

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2008	Formula Renault 2.0 NEC	Van Amersfoort Racing	15	0	0	0	0	120	12th
	Formula Renault 2.0 Italy		10	0	0	0	0	37	18th
2009	Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup	MP Motorsport	10	0	0	0	0	5	23rd
	Formula Renault 2.0 NEC		6	0	0	0	0	77	18th
2010	GP3 Series	RSC Mücke Motorsport	16	0	2	0	0	5	23rd
	ATS F3 Cup	Jo Zeller Racing	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC†
	Masters of Formula 3	Mücke Motorsport	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	14th
2011	GP3 Series	RSC Mücke Motorsport	16	1	0	2	5	38	3rd
	Formula 3 Euro Series	Mücke Motorsport	24	4	2	2	9	251	4th
	Masters of Formula 3		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	4th
	GP2 Final	DAMS	2	0	0	0	0	0	20th
2012	GP2 Series	Ocean Racing Technology	24	0	0	0	0	25	19th
	Formula Renault 3.5 Series	Lotus	2	0	0	0	1	15	19th
2013	Formula Renault 3.5 Series	Tech 1 Racing	17	0	0	2	4	136	6th
2014	Formula Acceleration 1	Acceleration Team Netherlands	10	5	4	3	9	183	1st
2016	Supercar Challenge – Super GT	DayVTec	2	2	2	2	0	0	NC†
	Supercar Challenge – Superlights 1		4	3	2	4	4	84	3rd

† – As Melker was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 NEC results

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

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	DC	Points
2008	Van Amersfoort Racing	HOC 1 DNS	HOC 2 Ret	ZAN 1 10	ZAN 2 22	ALA 1 Ret	ALA 2 8	OSC 1 12	OSC 2 6	ASS 1 14	ASS 2 Ret	ZOL 1 10	ZOL 2 9	NÜR 1 8	NÜR 2 8	SPA 1 11	SPA 2 15	12th	120
2009	MP Motorsport	ZAN 1 5	ZAN 2 16	HOC 1 13	HOC 2 5	ALA 1	ALA 2	OSC 1 5	OSC 2 5	ASS 1	ASS 2	MST 1	MST 2	NÜR 1	NÜR 2	SPA 1	SPA 2	18th	77

Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results

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

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	DC	Points
2009	MP Motorsport	CAT 1 15	CAT 2 16	SPA 1 6	SPA 2 Ret	HUN 1 22†	HUN 2 18	SIL 1 Ret	SIL 2 12	LMS 1 Ret	LMS 2 Ret	NÜR 1	NÜR 2	ALC 1	ALC 2	23rd	5

Complete GP3 Series results

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

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	DC	Points
2010	RSC Mücke Motorsport	CAT FEA Ret	CAT SPR 14	IST FEA 23	IST SPR 17	VAL FEA Ret	VAL SPR 15	SIL FEA 12	SIL SPR Ret	HOC FEA Ret	HOC SPR Ret	HUN FEA 23	HUN SPR 14	SPA FEA 12	SPA SPR 15	MNZ FEA 8	MNZ SPR 13	23rd	5
2011	RSC Mücke Motorsport	IST FEA 1	IST SPR 3	CAT FEA 6	CAT SPR 2	VAL FEA Ret	VAL SPR 19	SIL FEA Ret	SIL SPR 8	NÜR FEA 10	NÜR SPR 3	HUN FEA 8	HUN SPR 4	SPA FEA 3	SPA SPR Ret	MNZ FEA 9	MNZ SPR Ret	3rd	38

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Engine	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	27	DC	Points
2011	Mücke Motorsport	Mercedes	LEC 1 1	LEC 2 12	LEC 3 4	HOC 1 7	HOC 2 11	HOC 3 5	ZAN 1 1	ZAN 2 11	ZAN 3 3	RBR 1 5	RBR 2 Ret	RBR 3 2	NOR 1 1	NOR 2 11	NOR 3 10	NÜR 1 4	NÜR 2 6	NÜR 3 3	SIL 1	SIL 2	SIL 3	VAL 1 1	VAL 2 8	VAL 3 3	HOC 1 6	HOC 2 5	HOC 3 2	4th	251

Complete GP2 Series results

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

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	DC	Points
2012	Ocean Racing Technology	SEP FEA 16	SEP SPR 14	BHR1 FEA 20	BHR1 SPR 18	BHR2 FEA 19	BHR2 SPR 11	CAT FEA 14	CAT SPR 24	MON FEA Ret	MON SPR 12	VAL FEA Ret	VAL SPR 13	SIL FEA 4	SIL SPR 6	HOC FEA 6	HOC SPR 8	HUN FEA 14	HUN SPR 18	SPA FEA Ret	SPA SPR DNS	MNZ FEA 11	MNZ SPR Ret	MRN FEA 12	MRN SPR 12	19th	25

Complete GP2 Final results

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

Year	Entrant	1	2	DC	Points
2011	DAMS	YMC FEA 15	YMC SPR 20	20th	0

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series 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	Pos	Points
2012	Lotus	ALC 1	ALC 2	MON 1	SPA 1	SPA 2	NÜR 1	NÜR 2	MSC 1	MSC 2	SIL 1 3	SIL 2 Ret	HUN 1	HUN 2	LEC 1	LEC 2	CAT 1	CAT 2	19th	15
2013	Tech 1 Racing	MNZ 1 5	MNZ 2 11	ALC 1 6	ALC 2 6	MON 1 17	SPA 1 3	SPA 2 6	MSC 1 3	MSC 2 15	RBR 1 2	RBR 2 2	HUN 1 6	HUN 2 4	LEC 1 Ret	LEC 2 4	CAT 1 Ret	CAT 2 8	6th	136

Complete Formula Acceleration 1 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	Pos	Points
2014	Netherlands	ALG 1 2	ALG 2 2	NAV 1 1	NAV 2 1	NÜR 1 1	NÜR 2 DNS	MNZ 1 2	MNZ 2 2	ASS 1 1	ASS 2 1	1st	183

References

1. "Formula Renault 2.0 NEC 2008". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
2. "Formula Renault 2.0 Italy 2008". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
3. "Formula Renault 2.0 NEC 2009". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
4. "Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup 2009". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
5. "GP3 series with RSC Mücke Motorsport! key for the 2010 season". Nigel Melker. Totaalnet Internet Services. 3 February 2010. Retrieved 12 February 2010.^{[ dead link ]}
6. "Nigel Melker takes first ever GP3 Series pole". GP3 Series . GP2 Motorsport Limited. 8 May 2010. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
7. "Varhaug storms to victory in Barcelona". GP3 Series . GP2 Motorsport Limited. 8 May 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
8. "Rossi leads from start to finish". GP3 Series . GP2 Motorsport Limited. 9 May 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
9. Freeman, Glenn (15 December 2011). "The 2011 GP3 Series review". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 29 March 2012.
10. "Melker startet 2011 für Mücke". Motorsport-Total.com (in German). Motorsport-Total.com GmbH. 5 February 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
11. "Haryanto and Melker will drive for DAMS". GP2 Series . GP2 Motorsport Limited. 2 November 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
12. Elizalde, Pablo (14 November 2011). "Nigel Melker graduates to GP2 full time with Ocean Racing". Autosport . Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 14 November 2011.

External links

• Official site Archived 21 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine
• Nigel Melker career summary at DriverDB.com
• Nigel Melker on Twitter