Mike Rockenfeller

Mike Rockenfeller is German racing driver who has four championship titles in different competitions on his account so far. Driving Porsches, he won the 2004 Porsche Carrera Cup Germany and then GT2 class in the 2005 FIA GT Championship.

In 2007, he became Audi factory driver, winning Le Mans Series title in 2008. In 2010, he was the overall winner of 24 hours of Le Mans and then, in 2013, he became DTM champion.

Rocky with his book

Rocky was very busy since the early days

Mike Rockenfeller was born in Neuwied on October 31, 1983. Rocky, what is his nickname, as a kid showed his talent competing in various local and national karting races. He won the Jorg van Omenn Kart Cup Super Series in 2002, but year earlier he felt new experience when he moved to cars and finished fourth in Formula Konig. It didn’t took a long time to begin recording successes at big tracks.

In 2003 he was runner-up in the German Carrera Cup and made his debut in the ALMS. The following year he won the title in the German Carrera Cup, and also added two wins in the Porsche Supercup.

Rockenfeller driviing Audi R10

Mike Rockenfeller had good results wherever he competed

With such results he deserved a place as a full-time Porsche factory driver and won the GT2 class Drivers’ championship title in the FIA GT Championship driving with Marc Lieb for GruppeM Racing. In 2005, he also won the GT2 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, driving with Lieb and Leo Hindrey for Alex Job Racing.

DTM start with Audi

In 2007 he moved to Audi and in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters as a driver of Rosberg team, but the first three seasons have not been successful. However, in 2008 he won the championship title in the Le Mans Series confirming that more is still to come. He had to wait for the first win in the DTM until 2011 in Zandvoort, as a driver of Abt Sportsline Team, but at the end of the season he was sixth overall.

Rocky and his yellow - green Audi DTM

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters champion in 2013

Finally, in 2013 Rockenfeller won DTM championship drivers’ title recording two victories, at Brands Hatch and at Moscow Raceway, and three second places (Lausitzring, Oschersleben and Zandvoort).

Rockenfeller failed to defend his DTM crown in 2014, but still did good job. Even after he has not won the race, he was third overall after he has finished 2nd in three races. The following year Rocky won the race in Moscow, but dropped in the overall DTM rankings and took 10th position what was relatively big underachievement for the former champion.

Ups and downs in the DTM

The season 2016 was his worst in DTM as he finished 19th in the points. In 2017, he was again among the front-runners and fighting for the title until the last round, finishing fourth in the points.

In 2018, scoring no wins, Rockenfeller finished 11th in the final DTM classification. In 2019, he was a race winner once but collected seven podiums to finish fourth in the final DTM standings.

Mike Rockenfeller - the 2013 DTM champion

Rocky triumphed at Le Mans 24h in 2010

Certainly one of  favorite victories in his career was the one from 2010 when, together with Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas, he triumphed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in the #9 Audi R15 TDI.

Next year at the same race, Rockenfeller suffered a nasty crash from which, fortunately, came out with minor injuries. His last Le Mans attempt with Audi was in 2012 when he finished in the third place.

Most recently, he competed at Le Mans two times with Corvette Racing, finishing fourth in GT class in 2018 and eighth in 2019.

At Le Mans drivers parade 2011

When not on the circuits, Rocky still like to be on the move. In his spare time he is relaxing and preparing for new challenges going to cycling and sailing.

Video - Watch Mike Rockenfeller drives a lap at Red Bull Ring

Photo: bildpresse2010.wordpress.com buildraceparty.com wikipedia.org bildpresse2010.wordpress.com