Timo Scheider

As a two-time champion and one of the longest serving drivers, German racing driver Timo Scheider is definitely one of the greatest legends of the DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters) championship. He made a DTM debut in 2000 and stayed in the series until 2016, becoming a champion in 2008 and 2009 with Audi.

He was out of DTM only in 2005, when he finished second in the FIA GT Championship, driving Vitaphone Racing's Maserati MC12. In 2003, he won the Nurburgring 24 Hours in an Opel Astra V8 Coupe.

Most recently, in 2018, Scheider competed in three different disciplines - sports cars (ADAC GT Masters), touring cars (WTCR - FIA World Touring Car Cup) and rallycross (FIA World Rallycross Championship).

Timo Scheider

From karting to German Formula 3

Timo was born on November 10, 1978, in Lahnstein, a small town near Koblenz in Rheinland-Palatinate, Germany. Lo and behold, Scheider made his racing debut in karting in 1989.

Over the years, he won some regional competitions before entering German Junior Kart Cup in 1993. He finished 7th that year but in the following year he became a champion.

Timo Scheider, double DTM champion

The chain of events was logical. In 1995, he became the German Formula Renault 1800 Championship title winner. The following year, he finished 4th in the German Formula Renault 2000 Championship and he was ready for the next challenge – German Formula 3 Championship. He spent three years in the series, recording variable results. Timo’s best year in this championship was 1997, his rookie season, when he was a runner-up.

DTM debut

At the dawn of the new millennium, Scheider got a chance to test himself in probably the most popular racing series in Germany – DTM. He became a driver of OPC Team Holzer’s Opel Astra V8 Coupe. Timo spent three years with a team and those years were good to pick experience. The results weren’t memorable as he failed to score a single podium finish. His best achievement was 8th place overall in the 2002 championship.

Timo Scheider, Opel DTM

In 2003, Scheider changed team and became a member of OPC Team Phoenix, but that hasn’t changed anything in the terms of results as he again finished 8th in the championship, again without a podium finish. For the 2004 campaign, he returned to Team Holzer, but this time behind a wheel of Opel Vectra GTS V8. For the third time in-a-row, Timo gained the 8th place, still waiting for the first podium of his DTM career.

Good results in endurance racing

Probably somewhat disappointed, Timo Scheider left DTM, but still had a very busy schedule, turning attention to GT racing. In 2005, Timo Scheider won the 24 Hours of Spa, scored a class win at 24 Hours of Nurburgring and finished as FIA GT Championship runner-up. In the same time, he was selected for A1 Team Germany and finished second at Laguna Seca.

Timo Scheider, 24 Hours of Spa 2005

Return to DTM

After a stint in various racing series, Timo Scheider returned to DTM in 2006, with Audi Team Rosberg. Again, results weren’t as desired and he finished 10th overall. Moving to Abt Sportsline team and Audi A4 results slightly started to improve. In 2007 DTM season he finally grabbed a place at the podium, finishing second in the final race of the season at Hockenheim while in the Drivers’ championship Timo finished 7th what was his best result.

Two consecutive DTM titles with Audi

Maybe a bit surprisingly, Timo Scheider exploded in 2008. He gained his first DTM victory at Oschersleben than was the winner at Brands Hatch and finally won the season-closing race at Hockenheim. In a meantime, he was the second at the season opener at Hockenheim, at Laundering, Zandvoort and Catalunya circuit what was more than enough to win the DTM title.

Timo Scheider won the DTM titles in 2008 and 2009

As the DTM champion, Scheider was under heavier pressure but he defended his crown in 2009. That year he scored two wins (Oschersleben and Catalunya) and with four finishes at the second position, he scored enough points to defend the title, becoming only the second pilot in the history of DTM, after Bernd Schneider, who managed to do that.

Interestingly, in both seasons in which Timo won the title, the British drivers were runner-ups. In 2008, that was Paul Di Resta while in 2009 that was Gary Paffett.

Scheider spent eleven DTM seasons with Audi

Long period without a win

Unfortunately, Scheider couldn’t become the first DTM driver with three consecutive titles. In 2010, still as the member of Audi Sport, he won the race at Adria International Raceway and had four podium finishes, but that enough only for the 4th place. The same position he has won in the following year and after that results slowly started to get worse.

Class podium finish at 24 Hours of Le Mans

Not to forget, Timo Scheider also has one appearing at 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2010, driving a Porsche 997 GT3, alongside Marco Holzer and Richard Westbrook, he finished 3rd in the GT2 class and 14th overall.

In 2012 Scheider was 14th in the championship, climbing to 10th in the following year, his last with Abt team. Since 2014, Timo is driving for Team Phoenix with which he was 9th that year. Finally, in 2015 he managed to win a DTM race after four years, during final weekend at Hockenheim, showing that he is still capable of achieving top results. Unfortunately, he was only the 18th that year what is one of the worst rankings in his career. Even worst result came in 2016, when he finished 22nd in the points, without wins or podiums.

Timo Scheider in 2017

Switching to rallycross in 2017

It was his last season in the DTM. In 2017, he switched completely to rallycross, in which he made a debut in 2015. He started in one World RX event in 2015, driving Audi S3 for Münnich Motorsport, and then participated in three events in the 2016 World Rallycross Championship with Münnich Motorsport's Seat Ibiza.

After leaving DTM, Scheider signed for MJP Racing Team Austria as a full-time driver in the World Rallycross Championship. He was driving the #44 Ford Fiesta in 2017. He scored his best result in the season-opening round in Barcelona, finishing in the second place.

Timo Scheider on a WTCR podium at Macau Guia Circuit

Combining GT racing, touring cars and rallycross in 2018

In 2018, he reduced rallycross activites to occasional appearances with All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport's Seat Ibiza and joined Schnitzer Motorsport in the ADAC GT Masters as a full-time driver of the #42 BMW M6 GT3. Scoring no wins and two podiums, he finished sixth in the points together with his young co-driver Mikkel Jensen.

In the second part of the season, he became regular driver of Munnich Motorsport's #42 Honda Civic Type R in the WTCR - FIA World Touring Car Cup. In twelve races, Scheider was on a podium once, in the second race at Macau Guia Circuit.

In 2019, Scheider's only competition is the FIA World Rallycross Championship with Münnich Motorsport's Seat Ibiza.

Video - Timo Scheider in the main role of 'Push him out' DTM scandal

Timo, who graduated from vocational school for economy and administration, lives with his family in Lochau near Bregenz in Austria and out of racing he is interested in cooking and snowboarding.

Photo: Francois Flamand, fiaworldrallycross.com, timoscheider.de, how-to-cars.com, eurocarnews.com