Michel Nykjær

Michel Nykjær
Michel Nykjær in 2011.
Nationality	Danish
Born	17 September 1979 Tappernøje (Denmark)
Car no.	17
Starts	38
Wins	3
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Previous series
2009–2013 2011–2012 2005–2011 2003–2009 1998–2002	World Touring Car Championship STCC ETCC Danish Touring Car Championship Danish Group N Championship
Championship titles
2007, 2009 2007–2008	Danish Touring Car Championship ETCC

Michel Nykjær (born 17 September 1979) is a Danish auto racing driver. Nykjær is a two-time European Touring Car Cup winner.

Career

Early years

Between 1989 and 1993 he spent his early racing years in karting. After a break, he returned to motorsport in 1998, with saloon cars in the Danish Group N Championship. He stepped up to the Danish Touring Car Championship in 2003, and was crowned champion in 2007 for SEAT Racing Team, in a SEAT Leon. Also in 2007 he won the European Touring Car Cup for the GR Asia Team.

In 2008 he moved to the Poulsen Motorsport Team in a BMW for another season in the DTC. He defended his ETC Cup title in 2008 for Chevrolet Motorsport Denmark in a Chevrolet Lacetti.^[1]

World Touring Car Championship

Perfection Racing (2009)

For 2009 he was supposed to compete in the World Touring Car Championship for the Poulsen Motorsport Team in a BMW 320si ^[2] but Poulsen chose to run his car for Engstler Motorsport and Nykjær was forced to remain in the DTC where he retained his title. However, he raced the WTCC round at Oschersleben for Perfection Racing.^[3] He attended the 2009 European Touring Car Cup, but lost his crown to James Thompson.

SUNRED Engineering (2010–2011)

In 2010 Nykjær raced for SUNRED Engineering in the WTCC in a SEAT León 2.0 TDI.^[4] He made it into the second part of qualifying for the Race of Morocco when he crashed at turn ten and brought the session to a premature end, his best time put him sixth on the grid. In race one he was battling with Jordi Gené but ran wide and dropped down the field, finishing just outside the points in eleventh. He started on pole position for race two of the Race of Italy and was initially passed by Gabriele Tarquini who was then issued with a drive-through penalty. Before Tarquini could serve the penalty, Nykjær re-passed him and led until the final lap of the race he suffered a puncture and pulled off the track, handing the victory to Yvan Muller.^[5] In race one of the Race of Belgium he made contact with the bamboo-engineering car of Darryl O'Young which left O'Young in the gravel trap while Nykjær finished eighteenth.^[6] He failed to make it through to the second part of qualifying for the Race of Portugal and then ran wide when battling with Norbert Michelisz for seventh place in race one. Nykjær was bumped off the circuit by Tiago Monteiro in race two of the Race of Germany, Monteiro was penalised and Nykjær went on to finish fourth.^[7] He started on pole position for race two of the Race of Japan and led until lap nine when he slid off in the wet conditions, eventually finished seventh.^[8] He was caught up in a first lap incident at the Race of Macau which was originally between Andy Priaulx and André Couto, ending his race on the first lap.^[9] He finished the second race of the day in eleventh place and finished the season 12th in the drivers' championship.

Nykjær driving for SUNRED Engineering at the 2010 FIA WTCC Race of Germany.

Nykjær continued in the WTCC with SUNRED for 2011.^[10] In race two of the Race of Brazil he collided with Kristian Poulsen while the two were fighting over the lead of the independents' category.^[11] He qualified in 20th place for the Race of Belgium having not set a time. He had clipped one of the barriers at the chicane and was unable to continue in the session due to damage.^[12] He scored points in both races, finished fifth in the second race of the day. Having started the season with the TDI engine, Nykjær switched to the new SUNRED 1.6T engine for the Race of Hungary.^[13] The engine change did not yield any points until the following round where Nykjær finished tenth having collided at the first corner in race one.^[14] He then started on pole position for race two but was passed by Tom Coronel at the start and then Yvan Muller. By the end of the race he had dropped down to fourth but he still took the independents' victory.^[15] He started second for race two of the Race of UK at Donington Park but ended his race on the first lap when he became stuck in the gravel trap at Coppice.^[16] He qualified in seventh place for race one of the Race of Japan, on the opening lap he tagged the Volvo of Robert Dahlgren. He was running fourth in the later stages of the race when Muller made a mistake and dropped behind him, giving Nykjær his first overall podium result in the WTCC and the independents' victory.^[17] He was the winning independent again in race two when he finished sixth. He didn't score any points in China, crashing out two laps from the end of race one and finished fourteenth in race two. He qualified ahead of most of his rivals for the independents' trophy at the Race of Macau, finishing fifth and claiming the independents' victory in both races. He finished the season second in the Yokohama Drivers' Trophy, two points behind Kristian Poulsen.

Bamboo Engineering (2012)

He was brought in to substitute for Pasquale di Sabatino at bamboo-engineering for the 2012 FIA WTCC Race of Brazil.^[18] He qualified fourth for race one and took the independents' victory in race one by finishing fifth.^[19]

NIKA Racing (2013)

He returned to the WTCC full-time in 2013, driving for NIKA Racing.^[20] He dropped out of race one of the Race of Italy early on with driveshaft problems but finished second in race two from third on the grid to take the team's first podium finish in the WTCC.^[21] He claimed his first overall victory in the WTCC in race one of the Race of Morocco having started from fourth on the grid.^[22] In the week leading up to the 2013 FIA WTCC Race of Japan he left the team citing financial reasons.^[23]

Michel Nykjær on Ring Knutstorp in Scandinavian Touring Car Championship 2012.

Scandinavian Touring Car Championship

Chevrolet Motorsport Sweden (2011–2012)

In 2012 Nykjær was frontrunner in Scandinavian Touring Car Championship, STCC ^[24]

Racing record

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

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

Year	Team	Car	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
2009	Perfection Racing	Chevrolet Lacetti	BRA 1	BRA 2	MEX 1	MEX 2	MAR 1	MAR 2	FRA 1	FRA 2	ESP 1	ESP 2	CZE 1	CZE 2	POR 1	POR 2	GBR 1	GBR 2	GER 1 NC	GER 2 18	ITA 1	ITA 2	JPN 1	JPN 2	MAC 1	MAC 2	36th	0
2010	SUNRED Engineering	SEAT León 2.0 TDI	BRA 1 12	BRA 2 8	MAR 1 11	MAR 2 7	ITA 1 8	ITA 2 19	BEL 1 18	BEL 2 Ret	POR 1 17	POR 2 Ret	GBR 1 15	GBR 2 9	CZE 1 7	CZE 2 Ret	GER 1 7	GER 2 4	ESP 1 9	ESP 2 7	JPN 1 6	JPN 2 6	MAC 1 Ret	MAC 2 11			12th	66
2011	SUNRED Engineering	SEAT León 2.0 TDI	BRA 1 8	BRA 2 Ret	BEL 1 8	BEL 2 5	ITA 1 12	ITA 2 Ret																			10th	86
		SUNRED SR León 1.6T							HUN 1 13	HUN 2 Ret	CZE 1 10	CZE 2 5	POR 1 9	POR 2 12	GBR 1 7	GBR 2 Ret	GER 1 7	GER 2 17	ESP 1 11	ESP 2 15	JPN 1 3	JPN 2 6	CHN 1 14	CHN 2 14	MAC 1 5	MAC 2 5
2012	bamboo-engineering	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	ITA 1	ITA 2	ESP 1	ESP 2	MAR 1	MAR 2	SVK 1	SVK 2	HUN 1	HUN 2	AUT 1	AUT 2	POR 1	POR 2	BRA 1 5	BRA 2 4	USA 1	USA 2	JPN 1	JPN 2	CHN 1	CHN 2	MAC 1	MAC 2	16th	20
2013	NIKA Racing	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	ITA 1 20	ITA 2 2	MAR 1 1	MAR 2 7	SVK 1 7	SVK 2 12	HUN 1 10	HUN 2 9	AUT 1 1	AUT 2 5	RUS 1 7	RUS 2 1	POR 1 3	POR 2 3	ARG 1 6	ARG 2 4	USA 1 12	USA 2 17	JPN 1	JPN 2	CHN 1	CHN 2	MAC 1	MAC 2	7th	180

Complete Scandinavian Touring Car Championship results

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

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	DC	Points
2011	Chevrolet Motorsport Sweden	Chevrolet Cruze	JYL 1	JYL 2	KNU 1	KNU 2	MAN 1	MAN 2	GÖT 1	GÖT 2	FAL 1	FAL 2	KAR 1	KAR 2	JYL 1	JYL 2	KNU 1 4	KNU 2 15	MAN 1 5	MAN 2 18	18th	22
2012	Chevrolet Motorsport Sweden	Chevrolet Cruze	MAN 1 6	MAN 2 4	KNU 1 Ret	KNU 2 1	STU 1 4	STU 2 1	MAN 1 4	MAN 2 1	ÖST 1 5	ÖST 2 5	JYL 1 1	JYL 2 2	KNU 1 1	KNU 2 2	SOL 1 9	SOL 2 8			3rd	231

Complete TCR International Series results

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

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	DC	Points
2015	Target Competition	SEAT León Cup Racer	MYS 1 8	MYS 2 Ret	CHN 1 9	CHN 2 5	ESP 1 7	ESP 2 2	POR 1 Ret	POR 2 1	ITA 1 13†	ITA 2 DNS	AUT 1 12†	AUT 2 1	RUS 1 9	RUS 2 7	RBR 1	RBR 2	SIN 1	SIN 2	THA 1	THA 2	MAC 1	MAC 2	9th	100

^† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

References

1. http://www.chevroletmotorsportdanmark.dk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=93:michel-nykjaer-won-his-second-european-championship-with-chevrolet&catid=3:motorsport&Itemid=34 Nykjaer defends ETCC title for Chevrolet
2. http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/15042008/58/poulsen-enter-2009-wtcc.html Poulsen Motorsport to join WTCC
3. http://www.touringcartimes.com/news.php?id=3624 Michel Nykjær confirms single race entry
4. Beer, Matt (13 January 2010). "Nykjaer joins WTCC with SUNRED". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
5. English, Steven (23 May 2010). "Muller wins amid more last lap drama". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
6. English, Steven (20 June 2010). "Gene claims first Zolder victory". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
7. Allen, Peter (6 September 2010). "Priaulx Wins Again In BMW 1-2 In Germany". The Checkered Flag. BlackEagleMedia Network. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
8. O'Leary, Jamie (31 October 2010). "Farfus triumphs as SEATs slip up". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
9. Allen, Peter (21 November 2010). "Huff Cruises To Race One Win In Macau". The Checkered Flag. BlackEagleMedia Network. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
10. Meissner, Johan (18 January 2011). "Nykjær confirms continued WTCC program". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
11. Allen, Peter (20 March 2011). "Menu Defeats Coronel To Win Race Two In Brazil". The Checkered Flag. BlackEagleMedia Network. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
12. Glendenning, Mark (23 April 2011). "Huff takes Zolder WTCC pole". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
13. Allen, Peter (2 June 2011). "Reliability Doubts Mean No 1.6T Yet For Monteiro, Tarquini". The Checkered Flag. BlackEagleMedia Network. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
14. Gent, James (19 June 2011). "Huff stretches lead with Brno win". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
15. Gent, James (19 June 2011). "Muller wins race two at Brno". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
16. Abbott, Andrew (17 July 2011). "Muller wins from Huff again". Touring-Cars.net. Andrew Abbott. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
17. "ROUNDS 19 & 20 – SUZUKA, JAPAN RACE REPORT" (PDF). World Touring Car Championship. Kigema Sport Organisation. 23 October 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
18. Hudson, Neil (19 July 2012). "Michel Nykjaer to replace Di Sabatino in Brazil". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
19. "ROUNDS 15 & 16 – CURITIBA RACE REPORT" (PDF). World Touring Car Championship. Kigema Sport Organisation. 22 July 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
20. "NIKA RACING CONFIRM MICHEL NYKJÆR". World Touring Car Championship. Kigema Sport Organisation. 15 March 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
21. Tremayne, Sam (24 March 2013). "Monza WTCC: Yvan Muller charges to second Monza win in rain". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
22. Tremayne, Sam (7 April 2013). "Marrakech WTCC: Nykjaer takes maiden victory in race one". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
23. "Michel Nykjær out of Nika Racing". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. 18 September 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
24. http://racemag.dk/category/dtc_touringcars/scandinavian-touring-car-cup-dtc_touringcars/

External links

• Official Site
• Michel Nykjær on Twitter