| Michael Christensen | |
|---|---|
 Christensen at the2024 6 Hours of Fuji | |
| Nationality |  Danish |
| Born | (1990-08-28)28 August 1990 (age 35) Karlslunde, Denmark |
| FIA World Endurance Championship career | |
| Debut season | 2015 |
| Current team | Porsche Penske Motorsport |
| Racing licence |  FIA Silver(until 2013) FIA Platinum(2014–)[1] |
| Former teams | Porsche Team Manthey,Dempsey-Proton Racing,Porsche GT Team |
| Starts | 72 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Poles | 11 |
| Fastest laps | 2 |
| Best finish | 1st in2018–19 |
| Previous series | |
| 2013 2012 2011 2010–11 2008–09 | Porsche Supercup Porsche Carrera Cup Germany ADAC GT Masters GP3 Series Formula BMW Europe |
Michael Klitgaard Christensen (born 28 August 1990) is aDanish racing driver. He is currently competing in theFIA World Endurance Championship forPorsche in the Hypercar class in the #5Porsche 963.
Born inKarlslunde, Christensen had a very successful karting career, winning the 2004NordicICA Junior Championship[2]. The following year he gathered bothNordic andEuropean[3] titles inICA Junior class. For 2006, Christensen graduated toFormula A and he achieved a second place in theFormula A World Championship[4] and was twice champion in theGerman Kart Championship[5] Winner of the Macau Int. Kart Grand prixFormula A. In 2007, he repeated asGerman Kart Champion[5] and also won theKF1 South Garda Winter Cup.
Christensen made hisopen-wheel racing debut in the2008 Formula BMW Europe season atBarcelona which supported the2008 Spanish Grand Prix, where he was involved in a potentially serious incident, flipping his car.[6] He finished the season in sixth place and as the toprookie in the rookie standings.[7]
He moved toMücke Motorsport for the 2009 season. He started the season as the strongest candidate to win the championship, and a victory in the first race of the season was promising. He finished the season in fourth place, although he lost results from five races including three wins, after his team lost an appeal over a breach of technical regulations[8] was rejected by theFIA.[9]
In 2010, Christensen became the first driver to joinMWArden for the2010 GP3 Series season.[10]
In 2012, Christensen joined thePorscheyoung driver program. He resulted seventh in the 2012Porsche Carrera Cup Germany[11] and sixth in the 2013Porsche Supercup.[12]
Christensen became afactory driver in 2014, racing in theWeatherTech SportsCar Championship joiningPatrick Long in the GTLM class, winning12 Hours of Sebring and North American Endurance Cup. In 2015, he competed in theFIA World Endurance Championship together withRichard Lietz, joining theManthey Racing team in the GTE-Pro class. Winning the manufactures championship, and finishing fourth in the drivers championship.[13] In the 2018–2019FIA World Endurance Championship, he in succeeded winning24 Hours of Le Mans forPorsche.[14]
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(December 2025) |
For the2023 World Endurance Championship season, Christensen was named in the lineup forPorsche Penske Motorsport, partneringDane Cameron andFrédéric Makowiecki.[15] For the2024 WEC season, Christensen would again drive thePorsche 963 for Penske, alongside Makowiecki andMatt Campbell.[16]
Christensen's hobbies are improving on personalfitness, andtraining,[17] while his favourite driver isMichael Schumacher,[17] and his favourite circuit is theNürburgring.[citation needed]
† – As Christensen was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | MW Arden | CAT FEA Ret | CAT SPR 16 | IST FEA 13 | IST SPR 11 | VAL FEA Ret | VAL SPR 14 | SIL FEA Ret | SIL SPR 15 | HOC FEA Ret | HOC SPR 10 | HUN FEA 10 | HUN SPR Ret | SPA FEA 10 | SPA SPR 23 | MNZ FEA 15 | MNZ SPR 10 | 31st | 0 |
| 2011 | RSC Mücke Motorsport | IST FEA 7 | IST SPR 2 | CAT FEA 18 | CAT SPR 12 | VAL FEA Ret | VAL SPR Ret | SIL FEA Ret | SIL SPR 13 | NÜR FEA 26† | NÜR SPR 12 | HUN FEA 2 | HUN SPR 13 | SPA FEA 15 | SPA SPR 4 | MNZ FEA 12 | MNZ SPR 11 | 11th | 19 |
| Source:[18] | |||||||||||||||||||
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Konrad Motorsport | BHR | BHR | MON 20 | VAL | SIL | HOC 8 | HUN | HUN | SPA | MNZ | NC† | 0† |
| 2013 | DAMS | CAT 5 | MON 25 | SIL 3 | NÜR 1 | HUN 10 | SPA 3 | MNZ 8 | YMC 10 | YMC 7 | 6th | 95 |
† As Christensen was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Rank | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Porsche North America | GTLM | Porsche 911 RSR | Porsche 4.0 LFlat-6 | DAY 9 | SEB 1 | LBH 5 | LGA 8 | WGL 8 | MOS 9 | IMS 3 | ELK 5 | VIR 8 | COA 3 | PET 2 | 6th | 303 | [19] | |
| 2015 | Porsche North America | GTLM | Porsche 911 RSR | Porsche 4.0 LFlat-6 | DAY 7 | SEB | LBH | LGA 3 | WGL | MOS | ELK | VIR | COA | PET | 17th | 56 | [20] | ||
| 2016 | Porsche North America | GTLM | Porsche 911 RSR | Porsche 4.0 LFlat-6 | DAY 3 | SEB 3 | LBH | LGA | WGL | MOS | LIM | ELK | VIR | COA | PET 5 | 13th | 89 | [21] | |
| 2017 | Alegra Motorsports | GTD | Porsche 911 GT3 R | Porsche 4.0 LFlat-6 | DAY 1 | SEB 10 | LBH 12 | COA | DET | WGL 7 | MOS | LIM | ELK | VIR | LGA | PET 2 | 23rd | 131 | [22] |
| 2021 | WeatherTech Racing | GTLM | Porsche 911 RSR-19 | Porsche 4.2 LFlat-6 | DAY | SEB | DET | WGL | WGL | LIM | ELK | LGA | LBH | VIR | PET 2 | 11th | 348 | [23] | |
| 2023 | Porsche Penske Motorsport | GTP | Porsche 963 | Porsche 9RD 4.6 LV8 | DAY 7 | SEB 5 | LBH | LGA | WGL | MOS | ELK | IMS | PET | 18th | 556 | [24] | |||
| 2024 | AO Racing | GTD Pro | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) | Porsche 4.2 LFlat-6 | DAY 2 | SEB 9 | LGA | DET | WGL | MOS | ELK | VIR | IMS 1 | PET 11 | 17th | 1208 | [25] | ||
| 2025 | AO Racing | GTD Pro | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) | Porsche M97/80 4.2 L Flat-6 | DAY | SEB | LGA | DET | WGL | MOS | ELK | VIR | IMS | PET 8 | 32nd | 256 | |||
| Source:[18] | |||||||||||||||||||
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 |  Porsche Team Manthey |  Richard LietzJörg Bergmeister | Porsche 911 RSR | GTE Pro | 327 | 30th | 5th |
| 2016 | Dempsey-Proton Racing | Philipp EngRichard Lietz | Porsche 911 RSR | GTE Pro | 329 | 31st | 8th |
| 2017 | Porsche GT Team |  Kévin EstreDirk Werner | Porsche 911 RSR | GTE Pro | 179 | DNF | DNF |
| 2018 | Porsche GT Team | Kévin Estre Laurens Vanthoor | Porsche 911 RSR | GTE Pro | 344 | 15th | 1st |
| 2019 | Porsche GT Team | Kévin EstreLaurens Vanthoor | Porsche 911 RSR | GTE Pro | 337 | 29th | 9th |
| 2020 | Porsche GT Team | Kévin EstreLaurens Vanthoor | Porsche 911 RSR-19 | GTE Pro | 331 | 35th | 6th |
| 2021 | Porsche GT Team | Kévin Estre Neel Jani | Porsche 911 RSR-19 | GTE Pro | 344 | 22nd | 3rd |
| 2022 | Porsche GT Team | Kévin EstreLaurens Vanthoor | Porsche 911 RSR-19 | GTE Pro | 348 | 31st | 4th |
| 2023 | Porsche Penske Motorsport |  Dane CameronFrédéric Makowiecki | Porsche 963 | Hypercar | 325 | 16th | 9th |
| 2024 | Porsche Penske Motorsport |  Matt CampbellFrédéric Makowiecki | Porsche 963 | Hypercar | 311 | 6th | 6th |
| 2025 | Porsche Penske Motorsport | Julien AndlauerMathieu Jaminet | Porsche 963 | Hypercar | 386 | 6th | 6th |
| Sources:[18][27] | |||||||
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | World Endurance GT Drivers' Championship Champion 2018–19 With:Kevin Estre | Succeeded by |