Benjamin Leuchter
German racing driver
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Benjamin Leuchter (born 22 November 1987) is a German racing driver currently competing in the World Touring Car Cup. Having previously competed in the Champions, German Formula Three Championship and Formula BMW amongst others.
| Benjamin Leuchter | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  German |
| Born | 22 November 1987 |
| TCR International Series career | |
| Debut season | 2017 |
| Current team | Max Kruse Racing |
| Racing licence |  FIA Silver |
| Car number | 10 |
| Starts | 2 |
| Previous series | |
| 2017 2017 2016 2009 2008, 15-17 2006 2004-05 2002-03 | VLN TCR International Series Champions ADAC Procar Series VLN German Formula Three Championship Formula BMW Karting |
| Championship titles | |
| 2017 2017 2018 | VLN – TCR Class 24h Nurburgring - TCR Class 24H Dubai - TCR Class |
Racing career
Leuchter began his career in 2002 in Karting, he continued in karting until 2003. In 2004 he switched to the Formula BMW series, he finished the season nineteenth in the championship standings that year. The following year he only took part in the first eight races of the season, but still finished fifteenth in the Formula BMW standings in 2005. For 2006 he switched to the German Formula Three Championship, driving the last round of the championship that year. For 2008 he took part in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, finishing fourth in the SP1/2 class. In 2009 he switched to the ADAC Procar Series, finishing tenth in the Division II standings. For 2015 he raced in the VLN series, racing in the BMW M235i Racing Cup, he finished the season sixth in the standings that year. Continuing in the series for 2016, again racing in the BMW M235i Racing Cup class, this time finishing tenth in the standings. The same year he also raced in the inaugural 2016 ADAC TCR Germany Touring Car Championship season, taking a couple of podiums and fastest laps on his way to finishing fifth in the championship standings. For 2017 he returned to the VLN series, this time racing in the TCR class. Taking several victories, pole positions and podiums, on his way to winning the class.[1]
In November 2017 it was announced that he would race in the TCR International Series, driving a Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR for WestCoast Racing.[2][3]
Whilst competing for the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup class of the 2023 Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie for Max Kruse Racing alongside Nicholas Otto, Leuchter became involved in an incident during the penultimate race, as he caused a collision with Michele di Martino.[4] After a stewards investigation, Leuchter was found to have crashed into di Martino on purpose and was disqualified from this race, in addition to being excluded from the season finale.[5] His teammate Otto would end up winning the Cup2 class on his own two weeks later.
Racing record
Complete TCR International Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete World Touring Car Cup results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | SLR Volkswagen | Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR | MAR 1 16 |
MAR 2 23 |
MAR 3 20 |
HUN 1 20 |
HUN 2 12 |
HUN 3 17 |
SVK 1 14 |
SVK 2 Ret |
SVK 3 16 |
NED 1 8 |
NED 2 2 |
NED 3 Ret |
GER 1 7 |
GER 2 5 |
GER 3 1 |
POR 1 15 |
POR 2 17 |
POR 3 17 |
CHN 1 18 |
CHN 2 Ret |
CHN 3 DNS |
JPN 1 Ret |
JPN 2 12 |
JPN 3 10 |
MAC 1 22 |
MAC 2 21 |
MAC 3 21 |
MAL 1 16 |
MAL 2 10 |
MAL 3 8 |
19th | 111 |
Complete 24 Hours of Nürburgring results
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Harald Hennes Swen Landgraf Steffen Ramer |
Ford Fiesta | SP1-SP2 | 117 | 79th | 4th | |
| 2016 | racing one GmbH |
Fabian Danz Dennis Wüsthoff Tim Zimmermann |
Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR | TCR | 91 | 93rd | 2nd |
| 2017 | mathilda racing |
Andreas Gülden Constantin Kletzer Dennis Wüsthoff |
Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR | TCR | 142 | 29th | 1st |
| 2021 | Max Kruse Racing |
Christian Gebhardt Andreas Gülden Nick Hancke |
Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR | SP3T | 54 | 36th | 1st |
| 2022 | Max Kruse Racing |
 Peter Hansen Lars Nielsen |
Audi RS3 LMS TCR (2017) | TCR | 118 | DNF | DNF |
| 2023 | ADAC Sachsen e.V. |
Dominik Fugel Fidel Leib Moritz Oestreich |
Porsche 992 GT3 Cup | Cup2 Am | 122 | DNF | DNF |
| 2024 | Max Kruse Racing |
Heiko Hammel Johan Kristoffersson Nicholas Otto |
Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR Clubsport 24h | AT3 | 44 | 43rd | 1st |
| 2025 | Max Kruse Racing |
Heiko Hammel Johan Kristoffersson Nicholas Otto |
Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR Clubsport 24h | AT3 | 128 | 24th | 1st |