Markus Niemelä

Markus Niemelä
Markus Niemelä
Born	March 20, 1984 (age 42); Rauma, Finland
Occupation	Racing driver (retired)
Years active	1998–2014
Known for	2008 Atlantic Championship title winner

Adapted from the English Wikipedia article Markus Niemelä, available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 10 August 2025

Markus Niemelä (born 20 March 1984 in Rauma) is a retired Finnish racing driver who secured the 2008 Atlantic Championship title by triumphing in the final round at Road Atlanta. His international racing tenure was notably impacted by serious injuries that influenced his competitive outcomes.

Karting

In 1998, Niemelä captured the Finnish junior karting championship, achieving a perfect score. A snowboarding accident in 2001 caused damage to his left arm, restricting his ability to fully compete in the Formula A European and World Championships. Despite this, he managed to win the sole race he entered, competing almost single-handedly against Finland’s top ICA karters.

The following year, 2002, saw him crowned Finnish Formula A champion and setting fastest laps in several European Championship rounds. Although he qualified for the World Cup final, mechanical problems forced him to retire from both the pre-final and final stages. After a crash in 2003 sidelined him for three months, Niemelä returned to secure fifth place at the World Championships.

2004

Niemelä earned titles in Finnish and Swedish Formula Ford competitions and won the STCC Formula Ford championship. He led the Scandinavian Championship standings before missing the concluding round, ultimately finishing second overall. The Finnish ASN honored him as a ”Young Champion,” and he recorded top times during several unofficial tests for Formula BMW.

2005

He concluded the season seventh in points with one race win and a pole position but experienced frequent accidents that damaged his car in 12 of 20 events. Additionally, Niemelä finished fifth in the UK Formula Renault Winter Championship and ranked as the third-fastest qualifier despite minimal prior experience—his initial Formula Renault driving occurred during free practice at the season’s opening event.

2006

Securing one victory alongside fastest lap and pole position honors, Niemelä received multiple Driver Of The Day accolades from Renault Sport. He ended the year seventh overall with best finishes including first, second, third, and two fourth places.

2007

Competing in six rounds of the Formula Renault Eurocup, his top result was second place at Hungaroring. In the Asian series, he contested four races with two wins and one runner-up finish; a third victory was later rescinded due to a jump start penalty. Mid-season, he joined BCN Competicion in the GP2 Series, replacing Sakon Yamamoto, who advanced to F1. His debut at Hungaroring was cut short after 11 laps when he dislocated his left shoulder, causing him to miss the subsequent race.

2008

Niemelä clinched the Atlantic Championship title driving for Brooks Associates Racing by winning both of the final two rounds.

2009

Attempting to defend his Atlantic Championship crown with Newman Wachs Racing, Niemelä struggled early without podium finishes. After transferring to Jensen MotorSport, he was unable to enhance his results and completed the season ranked sixth.

2010

He shifted focus to Sprint Car racing on dirt oval tracks, achieving a runner-up finish at a VRA event held at Ventura Raceway during his rookie season.

2011

Participating selectively across USAC West Coast, USAC CRA, VRA, and USAC Midget Sprint Car series, Niemelä averaged a 4.5 finish in A Main events and earned his inaugural Sprint Car victory.

2014

In November of 2014, Niemelä experienced a major accident at Perris Auto Speedway when his sprint car overturned due to an axle malfunction. Although initially diagnosed with a concussion, he later disclosed that the injuries to his brain were severe enough to bring his racing career to a close.

Career summary

"|align=left | GP2 Series

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Points	Position
2004	Formula Ford Zetec Finland	Team Söderman	2	1	2	2	119	1st
	Formula Ford Zetec Sweden		?	?	?	?	106	1st
	Formula Ford Zetec Nordic		10	3	0	?	115	2nd
2005	Formula BMW ADAC	Team Rosberg	20	1	1	0	85	7th
2005	Formula Renault 2.0 UK Winter Series	Manor Motorsport	3	0	0	0	61	6th
2006	Formula Renault 2.0 UK	Mark Burdett Motorsport	20	1	1	1	274	7th
2007	Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup	BVM Minardi Team	6	0	0	0	20	16th
	Asian Formula Renault Challenge	March 3 Racing	4	2	1	1	87 \|"11th"
	Ocean Racing Technology#BCN Competición	"7	"0	"0	"0	"0	"31st"
2008	2008 Atlantic Championship	Brooks Associates Racing	"11	"2	"1	"0	"245	1st
2009	Atlantic Championship	Newman Wachs Racing	"12	"0	"0	"1	"98	"6th"
2010	AMSOil USAC National Sprint Car Series	Kruseman Motorsport	"3	"0	"0	"0	"0	"–"
2012	NASCAR K&N Pro Series West		"1	"0	"0	"0	"29	"69th"

Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results

(Template:Motorsport driver results legend#key) (Races shown in bold denote pole positions; those in italics indicate fastest laps)

"| 2007 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	DC	Points
BVM Minardi Team	ZOL 1 Template:Small 5	ZOL 2 Template:Small 9	NÜR 1 Template:Small 23	NÜR 2 Template:Small Ret	HUN 1 Template:Small Ret	HUN 2 Template:Small 2	DON 1 {{{1}}}	DON 2 {{{1}}}	MAG 1 {{{1}}}	MAG 2 {{{1}}}	EST 1 {{{1}}}	EST 2 {{{1}}}	CAT 1 {{{1}}}	CAT 2 {{{1}}}	"16th"	"20"

Full GP2 Series Outcomes

(key) (Events shown in bold denote pole position) (Events in italics represent fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	Final Position	Points Accumulated
2007	BCN Competición	BHR FEA	BHR SPR	CAT FEA	CAT SPR	MON FEA	MAG FEA	MAG SPR	SIL FEA	SIL SPR	NÜR FEA	NÜR SPR	HUN FEA Retired	HUN SPR Did Not Start	IST FEA	IST SPR	MNZ FEA 9th	MNZ SPR 11th	SPA FEA 11th	SPA SPR Retired	VAL FEA 14th	VAL SPR Retired	31st	0

Results in American Open-Wheel Racing

(key) (Pole positions are shown in bold; fastest laps appear in italics)

Atlantic Championship

</tbody>

Year	Team Name	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Final Standing	Total Points
2008	Brooks Associates Racing	LBH 7th	LS 4th	MTT 2nd	EDM1 2nd	EDM2 6th	ROA1 6th	ROA2 6th	TRR Retired	NJ 2nd	UTA 1st	ATL 1st	Champion	245
2009	Newman Wachs Racing	SEB Retired	UTA Retired	NJ1 4th	NJ2 4th								rowspan=2 style="background:#CFEAFF;" \|6th rowspan=2 style="background:#CFEAFF;" \|98
2009	Jensen MotorSport					<style="background:#CFEAFF;">LIM 9th

|-