Past Champions: Bernd Schneider

“Mr DTM”, Bernd Schneider, left the Deutsche Tourenwagen Master having amassed four championship titles in nine years of competing in the series.

In the first of the series profiling the past champions of the DTM, we take a look at Bernd Schneider. The popular German enjoyed great success in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, and continued that success in Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.

Schneider’s success began in karting, with the 1980 Kart Junior World Championship title, and he moved up through the single seater ranks through Formula Ford into Formula 3.

In 1987 he took the title in the German Formula 3 Championship title, as well as making his debut in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft.

From there he moved into Formula 1 with Zakspeed in 1988 and ’89, but his time at the pinnacle of open wheel racing wasn’t a success.

Of the 32 Grand Prix he entered with the team, he could only manage to qualify to start for 8 of those, with a best finishing position of 12th.

In 1990 he moved to the Footwork Arrows team, where he was entered in two Grand Prix, and could only qualify to start in one, where he equaled his best place finish of 12th.

After his spell in Formula 1, Schneider competed further in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, where he claimed the title in 1995, and in the same year, he also claimed the International Touring Car Championship title, both times driving for Mercedes-Benz.

During the time between when the old DTM ceased to be, and the formation of the new series, Schneider moved to the FIA GT Championship, and he claimed success first time out by taking the title in 1997.

Schneider began the new era of DTM racing, again with Mercedes, and proceeded to claim no fewer than four championship titles in his nine year spell.

He started with great success, winning the title in 2000 and ’01. He completed his hat-trick in 2003, but had to suffer two barren years before claiming title number four in the 2006 season.

Schneider retried at the end of the 2008 season, but maintained a role with Mercedes, where he went on to become an ambassador, driving instructor and a test driver for the brand.

A total of five DTM titles, spanning both forms of the series, is a tally which will be difficult to surpass, especially given the ever-increasing parity in performance of the cars and drivers in the series.

Next in the Past Champions series: Laurent Aiello