Jörg Müller

Jörg Müller is a German racing driver who spent most of his career driving BMWs, both GT cars and prototypes. He achieved his greatest results with BMW, including an overall victory at 1999 Sebring 12h, 2001 American Le Mans Series title in GT class and two overall wins at 24 Hours Nürburgring (in 2004 and 2010). Besides good results with BMW, Müller scored two notable results with Porsche 911 GT1, finishing in the second place both at 1998 Daytona 24h and 1998 Le Mans 24h.

Before his sports car racing career, Müller collected several championship titles in the open-wheel competitions between 1989 and 1996, winning German Formula Opel Lotus, European ormula Ford, German Formula 3 and International Formula 3000.

Jörg Müller

Championship title in second season of racing with cars

Jorg Müller was born on September 3, 1969, in Kerkrade, the Dutch town near the border with Germany. As a teenager, he was racing with go-karts, winning the German Junior championship title in 1985. Jorg switched to bigger cars in 1988, entering the German Formula Ford.  In 1989, he continued to compete in the Formula Ford, but also competed in the German Formula Opel Lotus, winning the title in his debut season.

Another championship title followed in 1990, this time in the European Formula Ford Championship. In the same year, Muller debuted in the Formula 3 with Bongers Motorsport, finishing fifth in the German championship.

Formula 3 title plus F3 wins in Monaco and Macau

Formula 3 was his main competition in the next four seasons until he became the 1994 German F3 champion with Helmut Markos' team. In his victorious season, Muller scored eleven wins in nineteen races, taking the championship trophy ahead of Alex Wurz.

While competing in Formula 3, Muller scored few notable wins in the non-championship races, winning the 1991 Monaco Grand Prix and 1993 Macau Grand Prix. In his last Formula 3 season, Muller also had an opportunity to test Ligier F1 car.

Switching to touring cars and winning the Spa 24h race

For 1995, Muller completely changed the motorsport discipline, entering the German Touring Car Cup (DTC), driving the BMW 320i for Isert team. In his first touring car season, Muller scored one podium and finished 12th in the points.

In July 1995, he participated for the first time at 24 hours of Spa, but didn't reach the finish. In July 1996, Muller returned to Spa and scored his first major endurance victory, winning the famous 24-hour race together with Alexander Burgstaller and Thierry Tassin in the #2 BMW 320i of Fina Bastos Team.

Early in a career, Muller was very successful in the single-seater competitions

1996 Formula 3000 champion

During 1996, Muller competed in two completely different championships – the International Formula 3000 and the German Supertouring Championship. Winning two races and scoring six more podiums with RSM Marko's Lola (Zytek), Muller became the 1996 Formula 3000 champion. He was the winner at Pau and Spa-Francorchamps.

In the touring car races, he competed in 17 races and he didn't score any win or podium with Bigazzi's BMW 318is and 320i.

Le Mans debut with Nissan R390 GT1

In 1997, Jorg Muller was a test driver for Arrows F1 team, so he didn't compete in any championship. His only race in 1997 was debut at 24 hours of Le Mans. He joined Martin Brundle and Wayne Taylor in the factory entered #21 Nissan R390 GT1, but they retired after 139 laps.

In 1998, Muller joined Sauber F1 team as a test driver but also became a Porsche factory driver in the FIA GT Championship, sharing the #8 Porsche 911 GT1 mostly with Uwe Alzen. In ten races he scored three podiums, finishing 7th in the points.

Daytona and Le Mans podiums with Porsche 911 GT1

He also participated in two endurance classics with Porsche 911 GT1, scoring podiums in both races. At Daytona 24h, he was driving the #01 Porsche for Rohr Motorsport, alongside Allan McNish, Danny Sullivan, Uwe Alzen and Dirk Muller.

They finished second overall and first in GT1 class. A few months later, at Le Mans, the #25 Porsche, driven by Muller, Bob Wollek and Uwe Alzen, finished second overall.

Jorg Muller was a test driver for BMW's F1 team

Muller joined BMW Motorsport in 1999

The milestone year in Muller's career was 1999, when he joined BMW Motorsport. He was a test driver for BMW-Williams F1 team from 1999 to 2001, never came close to convert his status and to become an F1 driver. He continued to compete in sports car races instead, collecting notable trophies and titles.

Sebring 12h victory with BMW V12 LMR

Muller had a victorious debut with #42 BMW V12 LMR prototype in March 1999 at Sebring. Together with Tom Kristensen and JJ Lehto, he was the overall winner of the famous 12-hour race.

The same crew came to Le Mans a few months later, leading during the race with #17 car, but retiring because of an accident after 304 laps. Later in the season, Muller and Lehto scored one more podiums, finishing 3rd at Petit Le Mans.

American Le Mans Series GT champion in 2001

In 2000, Muller competed with BMW V12 LMR in the American Le Mans Series, scoring two wins (Charlotte and Silverstone) and eight podiums, to finish fifth in the points. His co-driver was JJ Lehto. At Sebring, they finished third.

After stopping the V12 LMR project, BMW continued to compete in  the American Le Mans Series with BMW M3 GTR. Jorg Muller and JJ Lehto was a dominant pair, scoring four wins with #42 BMW. In the season's finale (Petit Le Mans), they competed separately in two different cars, so Muller became the sole ALMS champion while Lehto was second in the points.

Jorg Muller as WTCC driver

Eight seasons and good results in the ETCC and WTCC

The new period of a career started in 2002, with Muller's return to touring car races. Until 2009, touring car races were his main occupation, including three seasons in the European Championship and five seasons in the World Championship.

In 2002, he won four of twenty races, driving the #42 BMW 320i for BMW Team Deutschland/Schnitzer Motorsport, to finish as the ETCC runner-up, behind Alfa Romeo's Fabrizio Giovanardi. In 2003, Muller increased the number of wins to five, finishing again 2nd in the championship. He lost a title by one point from Gabriele Tarquini.

2004 - maiden victory at 24h Nurburgring

In 2004, Muller was the race winner three times and he finished fourth in the points. The highlight of the season was outside the ETCC, as he scored his first victory at 24 hours of Nurburgring. His teammates in the BMW M3 GTR were Dirk Muller, Pedro Lamy and Hans-Joachim Stuck. In August 2004, two Mullers and Stuck scored a class victory at 24h Spa.

In 2005, Jorg Muller had a similar program, competing full season in the newly formed World Touring Car Championship and participating at Nurburgring 24h. He scored three WTCC wins and finished 5th in the points. At the Green Hell, Schnitzer Motorsport scored a 1-2 victory, Muller was in the second-placed car.

2006 - losing the WTCC title by one point

In the 2006 WTCC season, Jorg Muller finished second in the points for the third time in a career. After winning four times, he again lost the title by one point. The champion was Andy Priaulx. Muller spent three more seasons with BMW in the WTCC, finishing 7th (in 2007, 2008) and 6th (in 2009).

In that period, he participated at 24h Nurburgring with different BMW cars, scoring an S1 class victory in 2008 with BMW 320d and finishing next year third in SP10 class with BMW M3 GT4.

Jorg Muller is driving BMW cars since 1999

Return to GT competitions

In September 2009, Jorg Muller joined Dirk Muller and Tommy Milner at Petit Le Mans, finishing 2nd in GT2 class with BMW RLL Team's #92 BMW M3. It was just a preparation for Jorg's full-time return to sports car races in 2010.

He drove Schnitzer's BMW M3 GT2 in the Le Mans Series and participated in one round of the ADAC GT Masters with Schubert Motorsport's BMW Z4 GT3.

2010 - second overall win at Nurburgring

At 2010 Nurburgring 24h, Jorg Muller scored his second overall victory, partnering Augusto Farfus, Uwe Alzen and Pedro Lamy in Schnitzer Motorsport's BMW M3 GT2. Muller, Farfus and Alzen went to Le Mans with the same car. They finished 6th in GT2 class.

In 2011, Muller's schedule was similar to the year before, with his commitment to the Le Mans Series and participations at endurance classics. At Le Mans, Muller, Farfus and Dirk Werner retired after 276 laps in the #55 BMW M3 GT2. At Nurburgring, the last year's victorious crew finished second, behind Manthey Racing's Porsche.

2012 - return to the ALMS

In 2012, after BMW turned its focus to DTM, Jorg Muller returned to the American Le Mans Series. He joined BMW Team RLL to drive full season with BMW M3 E92, sharing the car with Bill Auberlen. With one class victory (Road America) in ten races, they finished sixth in the points.

In 2013, he returned to Europe, to compete in the ADAC GT Masters. He was driving the #20 BMW Z4 GT3 for Pixum Team Schubert, sharing the car with Max Sandritter. With just one podium, Muller finished 17th in the points.  Except in the ADAC GT Masters, he participated in two ALMS races (Sebring and Petit Le Mans).

Jörg Müller and Seiji Ara - teammates since 2014

Regular entrant in the Super GT Series from 2014 to 2017

In August 2013, Muller had a one-off appearance in the Japanese Super GT Series, driving BMW Z4 GT3 at Suzuka 1000km. In 2014, he moved for the full season to the Super GT Series, driving the #7 BMW Z4 GT3 for the Team Studie alongside Seiji Ara. In eight races, they scored three podiums and finished third in the GT300 classification. In Muller's second Super GT season, Seiji Ara remained his co-driver in the #7 BMW Z4 GT3. They again scored three podiums, finishing 7th in the 2015 GT300 standings.

For the 2016 Super GT season, Team Studie replaced Z4 with M6 GT3 car. Muller and Seiji Ara remained teammates. With just one podium, in the season-opening race at Okayama, they finished 15th in the points. While not racing in Japan, Jorg Muller was cruising around Nurburgring Nordschleife circuit, participating in six rounds of the 2016 VLN Endurance series with Schubert Motorsport's BMW M6 GT3, winning one race and scoring four podiums.

In 2017, he stayed with BMW Team Studie in Japan and continued to race with Schubert Motorport in Europe. In 2018, he reduced his racing activities, leaving Japan and competing only with Walkenhorst Motorsport at Nurburgring Nordschleife's VLN endurance series.

Photos: Jörg Müller FB, motorsport.com,