| Markus Niemelä | ||
|---|---|---|
| File:Markus Niemela.png | ||
| Driver Details | ||
| Nationality |  Finnish
| |
| P.o.B. | Rauma, Satakunta, Finland
| |
| D.o.B. | 20 March 1984 | |
| Début |  2007 Hungaroring Feature Race
| |
| Last Race |  2007 Valencia Sprint Race
| |
| Best Finish | 31st (2007) | |
| GP2 Series Career | ||
| Entries | 7 (7 Starts) | |
| No. | 18 | |
| Wins | Points | Poles |
| 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fastest Laps | 0 | |
| Teams | BCN Competición
| |
Markus Niemelä (born 20 March 1984 in Rauma, Satakunta, Finland) is a Finnish former racing driver, who competed in the 2007 FIA GP2 Series with BCN Competición.[1] A former Formula Ford Champion in Scandinavia, Niemelä would fail to score in any of his seven GP2 appearances before leaving Europe for America at the end of 2007.[2]
Niemelä made his GP2 debut in place of Sakon Yamamoto, who had been given a surprise promotion to Formula One midway through 2007.[1] Unfortunately for Niemelä a dislocated shoulder on his debut at the Hungaroring ruled him out for the next three races, although upon his return the Finn rarely threatened the points.[2]
After failing to score at all in seven races Niemelä was overlooked for a GP2 seat in 2008, prompting him to move to the United States and the Atlantic Championship.[2] The Finn duly won the Atlantic Series in his rookie season, before engaging in a variety of American series through to 2014.[2]
Niemelä's career would ultimately come to an end in November 2014, when the Finn suffered severe brain injuries in a Sprint Car accident at the Perris Auto Speedway.[2]
Background[]
Beginning his career in karting in the early 1990s, Niemelä would claim numerous numerous titles and accolades, including winning the Finnish Junior Championship with maximum points in 1998.[2] Overcoming injuries sustained in both karting and a snowboarding accident, Niemelä moved into racing cars in 2004, entering the Finnish, Swedish and Nordic Formula Ford Championships.[2] An impressive campaign saw the Finn claim the honours in the former two series, while also finishing as runner up in the overall Nordic series.[2]
Renault Rules: 2005 - 2007[]
For 2005 Niemelä would move south to the Formula BMW ADAC series in Germany, claiming one win en-route to seventh in the championship.[2] He ended the season with a run in the Formula Renault 2.0 UK Winter Series, finishing sixth overall, earning himself a seat in the full FR 2.0 UK series for 2006.[2] The Finn would again claim a single victory en-route to seventh in that series, earning him seats in both the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup and Asian Formula Renault Challenge for 2007.[2]
After claiming two wins in the Asian Series, but no podiums in the Eurocup, Niemelä abandoned his FR programmes in order to take up a seat in the FIA GP2 Series.[2]
GP2 Series History[]
Post GP2 Series Career[]
After being overlooked for a seat in GP2 for 2008, Niemelä moved out to America to compete in the Atlantic Championship, claiming the title in his rookie season.[2] After failing to defend his crown in 2009, Niemelä moved into Sprint Cars for 2010, before making a series of one-off appearances in other grass-roots level series, as well as the NASCAR Pro Series - West.[2] However, a heavy accident in a Sprint Car race at the Perris Auto Speedway in November 2014 would end his career, with the Finn suffering severe brain injuries.[2]
Full GP2 Series Record[]
Shown below are a series of tables outlining Markus Niemelä's career in the GP2 Series in statistical form.
GP2 Series Entries[]
The list below includes all of the teams and cars, as well as overall finishing positions for Markus Niemelä during their GP2 career:
| Markus Niemelä's Overall GP2 Series Record | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Entrant | No. | Car | Pos. | Pts. | Livery |
| 2007 | BCN Competición
|
18 | Dallara GP2/11 | 31st | 0 | File:NIE 07 Livery.png |
Career Results[]
Below is a table showing Markus Niemelä's full GP2 Series record.
| FIA GP2 Series Record | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Rounds | Pos. | Pts. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | |||
| 2007 | 
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31st | 0 | ||||||||||
| F | S | F | S | F | F | S | F | S | F | S | F | S | F | S | F | S | F | S | F | S | |||
| Ret | DNS | 9th | 11th | 11th | Ret | 14th | Ret | ||||||||||||||||
References[]
Videos and Images:
References: