| Christian Klien | ||
|---|---|---|
| File:Christian Klien.png | ||
| Driver Details | ||
| Nationality |  Austrian
| |
| P.o.B. | Hohenems, Vorarlberg, Austria
| |
| D.o.B. | 7 February 1983 | |
| Début |  2021 Zolder Race 1
| |
| Best Finish | N/A | |
| DTM Career | ||
| Entries | 0 (0 Starts) | |
| Wins | 0 | |
| Poles | 0 | |
| F.L.s | 0 | |
| Points | 0 | |
| Current Season | ||
| Team |  JP Motorsport
| |
| Car | McLaren 720S GT3 | |
| Number | Standings | Points |
| 15 | – | 0 |
Christian Klien (born 7 February 2021 in Hohenems, Vorarlberg, Austria) is an Austrian racing driver, who competed in the 2021 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship with JP Motorsport.[1] An ex-Formula One driver and veteran of GT3 racing, Klien joined the 2021 DTM season as a guest driver, notably driving the first McLaren to race in the Series.[1]
Background[]
Klien began his career in karting, competing at national level in both Austria and Switzerland, before graduating to single seaters in 1999.[2] Entering the junior category of the Formula BMW, Klien would secure one victory en-route to fourth in his maiden season in race cars.[2] Two more seasons in the full BMW series would follow for Klien in the next two years, with Klien finishing the 2001 season in third.[2]
Austria's Ace: 2002 - 2007[]
2002 saw Klien complete a triumphant campaign in the Formula Renault 2000 Germany Championship, claiming the title with two wins.[2] For 2003 Klien moved into the new Formula 3 Euro Series, finishing as runner-up to Ryan Briscoe, while also claiming victory in the Masters of Formula 3 race.[2] Those results earned Klien the attention of Jaguar Racing, who promoted the Austrian racer into their Formula One programme in 2004.[2]
Klien's rookie season in F1 saw him claim three points and sixteenth in the Championship, before being kept on by Red Bull as they took over the Jaguar entry at the end of the season.[2] An improvement to fifteenth would follow for Klien in 2005, before slipping to eighteenth in 2006, with the Austrian's lack of pace seeing him dropped by Red Bull before the end of the campaign.[2] 2007 saw Klien test for both Honda and Spyker during the season, in a bid to keep his F1 career alive.[2]
Reprieves and GTs: 2008 - 2020[]
Klien moved on to become BMW Sauber's test/reserve driver in 2008, although he would make his debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Peugeot, finishing on the podium.[2] A similar season for Klien would follow in 2009, before the Austrian ace got a chance to drive in F1 once again, completing three races in 2010 for the lowly Hispania F1 Team.[2] After failing to score Klien called time on his hopes of a career in F1, instead making only one competitive appearance in a race car in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Aston Martin.[2]
The following two seasons saw Klien only secure a handful of drives in a variety of series, with the International V8 Supercars Championship, and Auto GP the two most notable categories he raced in.[2] In 2014 Klien would complete a full campaign in the European Le Mans Series finishing third in class, before another journeyman year in 2015 with one-off outings in Super GT and the World Endurance Championship.[2] 2016 saw Klien move into the realm of GT3 racing, joining the Blancpain GT Series for two rounds.[2]
After another quiet season in 2016, Klien gained a full seat in Blancpain in 2018, completing the full Sprint Cup calendar, finishing thirteenth.[2] Having sat out the entire 2019 season, Klien returned to racing in 2020 to compete in the Pro-Am class of the International GT Open Championship, and duly secured four wins, including one overall victory, en-route to second in class.[2]
DTM History[]
Klien was announced as an entry in the 2021 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship ahead of the season, although he and employers JP Motorsport confirmed that they would only appear at select rounds.[1] As a result Klien would have to wait until the 2021 Zolder Race 1 to make his debut, becoming the first driver to race a McLaren in the DTM.[1] Qualifying towards the back of the field it would be a quiet debut for Klien, although the Austrian racer would battle his way up to twelfth as other drivers hit trouble.[3]
Guest Racer: 2021[]
The second race at Zolder saw Klien improve to seventh on the grid with a boost in turbo pressure, although a delay in his stop saw him slip down to fourteenth during the race.[4] Remaining on the entry list for the round at the Nürburgring, Klien would find himself in the midfield throughout the First Race, getting caught in a scrap with Esteban Muth and Markus Winkelhock.[5] Race Two would see Klien again impress in qualifying with a run to eighth, although despite briefly leading the race after a Safety Car, the Austrian racer would end the afternoon down in twelfth.[6]
Full DTM Record[]
Christian Klien's full results from his 0 starts in the DTM are outlined in a series of tables below.
DTM Entries[]
The list below includes all of the teams and cars, as well as overall finishing positions for Christian Klien during their DTM career:
| Christian Klien's Overall DTM Record | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Entrant | No. | Car | Pos. | Pts. | Livery |
| 2021 | JP Motorsport[1]
|
15 | McLaren 720S GT3 | Guest | 
| |
Career Results[]
Below is a table showing Christian Klien's full DTM record:
| Christian Klien's DTM Championship Record | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Rounds | Pos. | Pts. | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | |||
| 2021 | 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
– | 0 | ||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | |||
| 12th | 14th | 15th | 12th | 5th | 18th | |||||||||||||
| Results Key | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Symbol | Meaning | Symbol | Meaning | |
| 1st | Winner | Ret | Retired | |
| 2nd | Second | DSQ | Disqualified | |
| 3rd | Third | DNS | Did Not Start | |
| 7th | Points Scorer | NC | Not Classified | |
| Italics | Fastest Lap | CAN | Race Cancelled | |
| 16th | Non-points finish | † | Non-Championship Race | |
| Bold | Pole Position | 3 | Points for Qualifying | |
References[]
Images and Videos:
References:
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 'JP Motorsport McLaren For Three DTM Events In 2021 With Christian Klien', dailysportscar.com, (Daily Sportscar, 19/03/2021), http://www.dailysportscar.com/2021/03/19/jp-motorsport-mclaren-for-three-dtm-events-in-2021-with-christian-klien.html, (Accessed 27/05/2021)
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 'Christian Klien', driverdb.com, (DriverDB AB, 2021), https://www.driverdb.com/drivers/christian-klien/, (Accessed 30/08/2021)
- ↑ 'FIRST 1-2 OF THE DTM SEASON: KELVIN VAN DER LINDE WINS FROM ABT TEAMMATE ROCKENFELLER', dtm.com, (ITR e.V., 07/08/2021), https://www.dtm.com/en/news/kelvin-van-der-linde-wins-from-abt-teammate-rockenfeller, (Accessed 09/08/2021)
- ↑ 'FIFTH WINNER FROM SIX DTM RACES: WITTMANN WINS AT ZOLDER', dtm.com, (ITR e.V., 08/08/2021), https://www.dtm.com/en/news/wittmann-wins-at-zolder, (Accessed 11/08/2021)
- ↑ 'KELVIN VAN DER LINDE MASTERFULLY STAYS OUT OF ALL THE TROUBLES AND CLAIMS THIRD DTM SEASON WIN AT NÜRBURGRING', dtm.com, (ITR e.V., 21/08/2021), https://www.dtm.com/en/news/kelvin-van-der-linde-masterfully-stays-out-of-all-the-troubles-and-claims-third-dtm-season-win-at-nuerburgring, (Accessed 28/08/2021)
- ↑ 'ALPHATAURI DRIVER ALEX ALBON SCORES MAIDEN DTM WIN – KELVIN VAN DER LINDE VICTIM OF THE HOT RACE AND STILL HALF-TIME CHAMPION', dtm.com, (ITR e.V., 22/08/2021), https://www.dtm.com/en/news/alphatauri-driver-alex-albon-scores-maiden-dtm-win, (Accessed 29/08/2021)
| 2021 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship |
|---|
| Manufacturers |
| Audi • BMW • Ferrari • Lamborghini • McLaren • Mercedes-AMG • Porsche |
| Car/engine |
| Audi R8 LMS Evo • BMW M6 GT3 • Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 • Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo • McLaren 720S GT3 • Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo • Porsche 911 GT3 R |
| Teams |
| ABT Sportsline • AlphaTauri AF Corse • JP Motorsport • Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed • Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing • Mercedes-AMG Team HRT • Mercedes-AMG Team Mücke Motorsport • Mercedes-AMG Team TokSport WRT • Mercedes-AMG Team Winward • Red Bull AF Corse • ROWE Racing • SSR Performance • T3 Motorsport • Team Rosberg • Walkenhorst Motorsport |
| Drivers |
| 3 Kelvin van der Linde • 4 Maximilian Götz • 5 Vincent Abril • 8 Daniel Juncadella • 10 Esteban Muth • 11 Marco Wittmann • 12 Dev Gore/Christopher Haase • 16 Timo Glock • 18 Maximiliam Buhk/Marvin Dienst • 22 Lucas Auer • 23 Alexander Albon/Nick Cassidy • 26 Esmee Hawkey • 30 Liam Lawson • 31 Sheldon van der Linde • 36 Arjun Maini • 51 Nico Müller • 57 Philip Ellis • 99 Sophia Flörsch/Markus Winkelhock |
| Guest Drivers |
| 6 Hubert Haupt • 7 Luca Stolz • 15 Christian Klien • 37 Lucas di Grassi • 63 Mirko Bortolotti • 71 Maximilian Paul • 92 Michael Ammermüller |
| Races |
| Monza 1 • Monza 2 • Lausitzring 1 • Lausitzring 2 • Zolder 1 • Zolder 2 • Nürburgring 1 • Nürburgring 2 • Spielberg 1 • Spielberg 2 • Assen 1 • Assen 2 • Hockenheim 1 • Hockenheim 2 • Norisring 1 • Norisring 2 |
| Cancelled/Postponed Rounds |
| DTM Saint Petersburg |
| Tests |
| 2021 Hockenheim Test • 2021 Lausitzring Test |
| Related Content |
| 2020 • 2022 • DTM Trophy • Porsche Carrera Cup Germany |