Bernd
Schneider

Bernd Robert Schneider was born in St. Ingbert on 20 July 1964. He shares his first name with Bernd Rosemeyer, who won the European Championship in 1936. Schneider started in karting and became German kart champion in 1980. In 1982 he won the European kart championship with the national team, and in 1983 the African kart championship. He then raced in Formula Ford series in Germany and elsewhere in Europe. In 1986 he moved up to German Formula Three, winning the title in 1987 and finishing third in the Macau Grand Prix that year.

This led to a seat at Zakspeed, for whom he raced in Formula One in 1988 and 1989. In 1988 he started six of his 16 entries, and in 1989 only two of 16. In 1990 he drove briefly for Arrows, starting one race from two entries. In total he made nine World Championship starts, with no podiums or pole positions.

Schneider then left single-seaters and raced Porsche sports cars for Kremer Racing and Joest Racing, including in the World Sportscar Championship, the Interserie and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He won the Porsche Cup in 1990. In 1992 he joined AMG-Mercedes in the DTM, finished third in his first season and won his first title in 1995. While the DTM was on hiatus, he drove the Mercedes CLK GTR in the FIA GT Championship and took the title in 1997 after six wins. In 1998 he won five races alongside Mark Webber but lost the championship to team-mates Klaus Ludwig and Ricardo Zonta.

After the DTM returned in 2000, Schneider won the title in 2000, 2001 and 2003, was runner-up in 2002 and took a fifth championship in 2006. He retired at the end of 2008. He later returned for several endurance races. In 2013 he won the 24 Hours of Dubai, the Bathurst 12 Hour, the Nürburgring 24 Hours and the Spa 24 Hours in a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG.

Source: Wikipedia, “Bernd Schneider (racing driver)”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.