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Andreas Wirth

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Name
  
Andreas Wirth


Role
  
Car racer

Andreas Wirth wwwracerviewscomfiles201205wirthgtjpg

Andreas wirth the early racing years


Andreas Wirth (born 19 November 1984 in Heidelberg) is a German racing driver currently acting as reserve and development driver for World Endurance Championship team CEFC Manor TRS Racing (Manor Motorsport).

Contents

Andreas Wirth Champ Car Andreas Wirth

Andreas wirth racing presented by thetnt de music by metallica fuel


Early Years

Andreas Wirth Andreas Wirth Archives RacerViews

Born in a small village near the famed Hockenheimring, Andreas Wirth started his open-wheel career in karting in 1998. From 1998 to 2000 he raced in several junior and senior German Karting series where he earned several championships.

German Formula Ford

In 2001, his rookie year, Wirth finished second in the German Formula Ford Championship, and earned two 10th-place finishes, including the event at Spa and the World Final at the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch .

Formula BMW Germany

Wirth moved to the Formula BMW ADAC series in Germany, finishing 9th in the championship in 2002 (finishing in the top-ten in all eight races, including a 2nd-place finish at the Austrian Grand Prix and a 3rd-place finish at Zandvoort in the Netherlands).

In 2003 Wirth finished 10th overall having poroduced six top-five finishes, including a 2nd-place finish in Italy.

Formula BMW USA

Moving state-side in 2004, Wirth captured the Formula BMW USA championship in his rookie year, recording podium finishes in 11 of the 14 Formula BMW North American events in 2004 (never finishing lower than 5th place), including wins at Road America, Laguna Seca, and both events at Lime Rock.

Toyota Atlantics / Champ Car Atlantic Series

Advancing to the Toyota Atlantic Series in 2005, Wirth earned five 3rd-place finishes, one 2nd-place and one victory in his 2005 rookie season.

During his rookie year in the Toyota Atlantic Series, Wirth was second in the point standings going into the penultimate race, and was a serious contender for the Championship. However, due to an unfortunate accident he was forced to miss the final two events of the 2005 season. Despite missing the last two events, Wirth finished the season in a respectable 6th place.

The following year the series changed their name to the Champ Car Atlantic Series and Wirth joined the Forsythe Championship Racing squad of four for the season. With a total of six trips to the podium in the 2006 (two first-place finishes and four third-place finishes), and a total of eight top-ten finishes in the 12 events on the calendar Wirth finished third overall in the championship and won the prestigious Gilles Villeneuve Award.

Champ Car World Series

Following up a full 2006 season with Forsythe Championship Racing in the Champ Car Atlantics, Wirth was extended the privilege to debut in the Champ Car World Series at Surfer’s Paradise Australia in Dale Coyne Racing's #19 Sonny's BBQ entry at Surfer's Paradise where he finished in ninth place on one of the most difficult tracks on the schedule. He then went on to compete in the Champ Car season finale at Mexico City finishing 15th.

In 2007 Wirth tested the new DP01 Champ Car, and accepted the invitational challenge from the Champ Car World Series to break the lap record at TT Circuit Assen in The Netherlands as part of a promotion for Champ Car’s European debut late in August of that year. Despite the fact that Wirth hadn’t raced with the series all year, and the fact that he’d never competed or tested on the Assen track, he bettered the track record set by Jos Verstappen in the smaller, lighter A1GP car by more than four seconds (1:28.276).

American Le Mans Series (ALMS)

In 2008 Wirth decided to try his hand at sports-car racing and joined Panoz Team PTG in the role of test driver, and participated in the Petit Le Mans in the American Le Mans Series.

Superleague Formula

Called on to test in the Superleague Formula in 2008, Wirth returned home to Europe.

ADAC GT Masters

For seven seasons Wirth competed in the ADAC GT Masters Series where he tallied a total of 9 victories, and as of the close of the 2015 season, holds the record for GT Masters driver with the most wins at the Nürburgring.

BMW ALPINA (2009-2010)

In 2009 Wirth joined BMW ALPINA as they celebrated their return to motorsport in the FIA GT3 European Championship, the GT Masters and VLN Series and the 24h race of the famous Nürburgring Nordschleife.

Wirth continued work with ALPINA in 2010 for the development of the BMW ALPINA B6 race car with their new managing team S-Berg Racing of Austria, competing once again in the German ADAC GT Masters series and the FIA GT3 European Championship.

HEICO Motorsport (2011)

2011 was spent with HEICO Motorsport to put the all-new Mercedes-AMG SLS GT3 through its paces. The season kicked off for Wirth at the 24 hours of Dubai — the chosen testing grounds for the new Mercedes gull-wing supercar.

Callaway Competition (2012-2015)

Wirth teamed with Callaway Competition for four seasons in the ADAC GT Masters, piloting the FIA class-champion Z06R GT3 Corvette with the likes of former Formula 1 stand-out Heinz-Harald Frentzen, touring car veteran Christian Hohenadel and 2013 ADAC GT Masters champion Daniel Keilwitz.

2014 was Wirth's best year in the series where he won four races in a partial season alongside the defending champion Daniel Keilwitz, and placed 6th in the championship. Topping off a successful 2014 season Wirth was invited to participate in the Blancpain GT3 World Final in Baku / Azerbaijan.

European Le Mans Series (ELMS)

In 2016 Wirth jumped to Prototype racing in the European Le Mans Series with SMP Racing in their LMP2-class Nissan-powered BR01 with co-drivers Stefano Coletti and Julián Leal. The multi-national rookie trio finished in a very strong 3rd place in the championship after having visited the podium three times and capturing two fourth-place finishes.

World Endurance Championship (WEC)

In 2017 Wirth joined World Endurance Championship team CEFC Manor TRS Racing (Manor Motorsport) in the capacity of reserve and development driver.

Atlantic Championship (Finishing Place Displayed)

  • 2008 Raced in first 3 rounds only
  • ADAC GT Masters (Race Points Displayed)

  • DNR = Did Not Race
  • References

    Andreas Wirth Wikipedia