Christoffer Nygaard

Christoffer Nygaard is a Danish racing driver who spent most of his career as factory driver of Aston Martin Racing, participating with a British team in the ADAC GT Masters, FIA GT Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship. In 2014, he was second in the LMGTE Am class of the World Championship. At 24 hours of Le Mans, Nygaard participated five times, scoring the best result in his debut in 2010, when he reached a podium in GT1 class.

Christoffer Nygaard served three seasons as Aston Martin Racing's FIA WEC driver

First go-karts, then Volkswagen Polo Cup

Christoffer Nygaard was born on March 24, 1986, in Gentofte, Denmark. He started a racing career with go-karts, participating in national and European competitions since 2004. His first competition with cars was the ADAC Volkswagen Polo Cup, where he spent two seasons, not scoring notable results except several podiums.

Joining Fischer Racing in 2007

In 2007, Nygaard joined German team Fischer Racing, which will be his team for the next five seasons in several different championships. In the first two years with Fischer, Nygaard competed in the German Seat Leon Supercopa, finishing third in the points in 2008, with one victory and eight podiums. The champion was his compatriot Nicki Thiim.

Nygaard spent two season in the Seat Leon Supercopa

2009 - two competitions with Ford GT

In 2009, Fischer Racing recruited Nygaard to drive Matech-prepared Ford GT GT3 in the ADAC GT Masters and FIA GT3 European Championship. Christoffer was quite successful in the European competition, winning one race at Oschersleben with #28 car, which he shared with Florian Gruber. At the end of the season, they finished sixth in the points. In the ADAC GT Masters, Nygaard's partner in the #8 Ford was Walter Lechner Jr. They scored two podiums, finishing 10th in the points.

In 2010, European GT3 Championship remained the main competition with Fischer Racing. He was sharing the #14 Ford GT with Mikko Eskelinen. Without wins or podiums, Nygaard finished 14th in the final standings.

Christoffer Nygaard joined Aston Martin in 2010

At the same time, Nygaard joined Aston Martin Racing's Young Driver program, participating with Aston Martin DBR9 in the FIA GT1 World Championship. Nygaard's partner in the #8 Aston Martin was Stefan Mucke. At Le Mans Series race at Spa, they were joined by Tomaš Enge. Scoring one podium, Nygaard finished 27th in the FIA GT1 standings.

Nygaard debuted at Le Mans with Young Driver AMR team in 2010

Class podium in 24 hours Le Mans debut

In June 2010, Nygaard debuted at 24 hours of Le Mans, as a member of the #52 Young Driver AMR crew, together with Tomaš Enge and Peter Kox. Their Aston Martin DBR9 finished 22nd overall and third in GT1 class, bringing the first and only Le Mans podium to Christoffer.

In 2011, Nygaard spent one more season with Fischer Racing in the European GT3 Championship, driving the #14 Ford GT together with Mikko Eskelinen. In the FIA GT1 World Championship, he joined Belgian Racing team, driving the #9 Ford GT, with Vanina Ickx and Jonathan Hirschi as co-drivers. Nygaard didn't score wins or podiums in both competitions.

2012 – ADAC GT season with Aston Martin

In 2012, Nygaard returned to Aston Martin Racing, participating in the ADAC GT Masters as a member of the #33 Young Driver AMR crew, together with Kristian Poulsen. The Danish duo won one race, at Sachsenring, finishing 13th in the final standings after 16 races.

In June 2012, Nygaard returned to Circuit de la Sarthe, to participate in Le Mans 24-hour race with factory-entered #99 Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE. His co-drivers were Kristian Poulsen and Allan Simonsen. They retired early, after 31 laps.

Nygaard, Poulsen and Simonsen at Spa in May 2013

Losing co-driver at 2013 Le Mans race

In 2013, Aston Martin Racing hired three Danish drivers to compete in the GTE Am class of the FIA World Endurance Championship. Nygaard, Poulsen and Simonsen scored a victory in the first round of the championship, at 6 hours of Silverstone. In the next race, at Spa, they finished second.

And then, at 24 hours of Le Mans, a tragedy happened. Allan Simonsen crashed their #95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE on Lap 3, hitting a barrier at Tertre Rouge turn. Unfortunately, Simonsen died of injuries.

Nicki Thiim joined his Danish teammates in the #95 car for the remainder of the season. With two more wins (Fuji and Bahrain), Nygaard finished fourth in the GTE Am final standings.

Second in the world and third at Le Mans with Aston Martin

Championship runner-up in 2014 FIA WEC season

In the 2014 FIA WEC season, Nygaard stayed with Aston Martin Racing in GTE Am class but joined Pedro Lamy and Paul Dalla Lana in the #98 car. They started the season with two podiums, at Silverstone and Spa, reaching the first win in the fourth round at Circuit of the Americas. At 2014 Le Mans race, Nygaard and his partners finished 6th in the class.

By the end of the season, the #98 crew won two more times (Shanghai and Sao Paulo), finishing in second place in the final standings. The champions were AMR teammates in the #95 car Kristian Poulsen and David Heinemeier Hansson.

Nygaard also had one appearance in the IMSA United Sportscar Championship, driving the #94 BMW Z4 GT3 at Petit Le Mans. He shared a car with Markus Palttala and Dane Cameron, finishing 4th in GTD class.

Nygaard (right) scored six FIA WEC wins and six podiums with Aston Martin Racing

2015 – the last FIA WEC season with Aston Martin Racing

The 2015 FIA WEC season was less successful for Christoffer. He returned to the #95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE, but this time in the GTE-Pro class. He was sharing the car with Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen. With a fourth place as the best result, Nygaard finished 8th in GTE Am standings. At Le Mans, the #95 crew finished fourth.

In 2015, Nygaard traveled to America again. This time, he participated at Rolex 24 at Daytona, driving the #007 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for TRG-AMR, together with James Davison, Christina Nielsen and Brandon Davis. They finished 13th in GTD class.

For the 2016 FIA WEC season, Aston Martin Racing cut off a number of cars, so there was no place in the team for Christoffer Nygaard. He participated in only one race of the 24H Series, driving the #55 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for Massive Motorsport at 24 hours of Barcelona.

Photos: Christoffer Nygaard FB, motorsporten.dk, motorsport.com,