Nielsen Racing

Nielsen Racing is a British sports car racing team. Born in 2014, the outfit started off in Radicals before progressing to LMP3 in 2017 and LMP2 in 2020, making its debut at that year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. It has won titles in the Asian Le Mans Series and Le Mans Cup, and currently operates a two-car programme in the European Le Mans Series. In 2025 it expanded to single-seater racing by entering the Euroformula Open Championship, and in 2026 rebranded that operation as Northstar Racing.

The team was founded by former Greaves Motorsport engineer David 'Sven' Thompson in partnership with Nielsen Chemicals, a manufacturer of automotive cleaning products.

History

2014–2017

Nielsen Racing made its racing debut in 2014, in the Radical Middle East Cup. In 2017, Nielsen partnered with Ecurie Ecosse to compete in the Le Mans Cup and the British LMP3 Cup. Drivers, Alasdair McCaig and Colin Noble, won six races on the way to becoming the 2017 British LMP3 Cup champions.

2018

The following year, the team stepped up and entered into the 2018 European Le Mans Series, again running in conjunction with Ecurie Ecosse. They finished fourth in the LMP3 class with drivers Alex Kapadia, Colin Noble and Christian Stubbe Olsen, scoring three second place finishes. The team also won the 2018 British LMP3 Cup for a second consecutive year. Nielsen made its Asian Le Mans Series debut in the 2018-19 season in LMP3, with the No. 79 entry finishing in third.

2019

In 2019, Nielsen entered two cars into the European Le Mans Series, a Norma M30 for Colin Noble and Anthony Wells, and a Ligier JS P3 for James Littlejohn, Nobuya Yamanaka and Nicholas Adcock. The No. 7 entry finished in fifth, with one podium, while the No. 8 entry finished in ninth. In addition, they also ran another Norma M30 for Noble and Wells in the Le Mans Cup. They finished on the podium five times to place third in the LMP3 championship. Nielsen returned to the Asian Le Mans Series with two Norma M30 chassis, the No.2 for Noble and Wells, and the No. 3 for Charles Crews, Garett Grist and Rob Hodes. The No. 2 secured the LMP3 championship after scoring three podium finishes, including a win at The Bend Motorsport Park. By virtue of winning the championship, Nielsen Racing received an automatic invitation into the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans in either the LMP2 or LMGTE Am categories.

2020

Nielsen made its first venture into North American racing with an entry into the 2020 IMSA Prototype Challenge with drivers, Garett Grist and Rob Hodes. For the 2020 European Le Mans Series, the team fielded two Duqueine M30 – D08, retaining the same lineup from the Asian Le Mans Series. Across both entries, there were three retirements and only one podium, with the No. 7 finishing in tenth and the No. 10 finishing in eighth. In the Le Mans Cup, Noble and Wells would again partner together scoring two podiums and a win at Portimão, to finish in fifth place in LMP3. Grist and Hodes placed in tenth, with a best finish of fourth at Monza. The team competed in its first 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2020. They would chose to compete in an Oreca 07-Gibson, with drivers Garett Grist, Alex Kapadia and Tony Wells. The team qualified 19th in LMP2, 24th overall, with a time of 3:30.897. Nielsen finished 16th in class, 28th overall, 32 laps down from the LMP2 winner after making contact in the fourth hour with the No. 16 G-Drive by Algarve Pro Aurus 01-Gibson of Nick Tandy.

2021

Two cars were entered into the LMP3 class in the 2021 Asian Le Mans Series with two Ligier JS P320 for Matt Bell and Rodrigo Sales in the No. 8, and Colin Noble and Anthony Wells in the No. 9. The No. 9 entry finished third with a win in race 1 of the 4 Hours of Abu Dhabi, while the No. 8 finished fifth with two podiums. Two Ligier JS P320 chassis were entered into the 2021 European Le Mans Series for drivers Nicholas Adcock, Max Koebolt and Austin McCusker in the No. 6 and Noble and wells in the No. 7. It was a largely mediocre campaign with a best finish of fifth at the Red Bull Ring, resulted in a 13th and 14th place classification. Le Mans Cup saw the full season entry of Noble and Wells take home the Drivers' and Teams' championships, after winning twice at Circuit Paul Ricard and Le Mans.

2022

Nielsen stepped up to run a Oreca 07-Gibson in the Asian Le Mans Series for Matt Bell, Ben Hanley and Rodrigo Sales, while also continuing to run a Ligier JS P320 for Colin Noble and Anthony Wells. The LMP2 entry swept all four races of the season winning the championship after race 1 of the 4 Hours of Abu Dhabi. The team also entered in the Prototype Cup Germany season opener at Spa-Francorchamps for Matt Bell and John Melsom. Bell, Hanley and Sales returned for the European Le Mans Series in the No. 24 LMP2 Pro-Am class, Oreca 07-Gibson, with an additional LMP3 entry for James Littlejohn and Anthony Wells. The No. 24 placed third in the LMP2 Pro-Am championship with four podiums, including a win at Monza, while the No. 7 LMP3 car was tenth with a podium at Spa. Two cars, a Duqueine M30 - D08 for Bell and John Melsom, and a Ligier JS P320 for Noble and Wells, competed in the Le Mans Cup that year. In the LMP3 championship they finished 19th and third respectively. As the Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 champions, Nielsen was automatically invited to the 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans. They entered into the LMP2 Pro-Am subcategory with AsLMS and ELMS drivers Bell, Hanley and Sales. Hanley set a time of 3:32.956 in Qualifying, which was good for LMP2 Pro-Am pole position. Nielsen finished 20th overall, second in class, one lap down from the class winners after suffering multiple problems during the race.

2023

Nielsen entered the Asian Le Mans Series as the defending champions and added Mathias Beche to join Ben Hanley and Rodrigo Sales to their No. 24 LMP2 entry. Matt Bell partnered with Tony Wells in the No. 4 LMP3 Ligier JS P320. The No. 24 finished sixth in LMP2 while the No. 4 LMP3 squad won a race at Abu Dhabi to finish in third. The European Le Mans Series was a two-car campaign for Beche, Hanley and Sales in the No. 24 LMP2 Pro-Am class and Ryan Harper-Ellam and Anthony Wells in the No. 7 LMP3 class. The No. 24 finished fourth with three podiums on the season while the No. 7 finished in 11th. A Duqueine M30 - D08 for Bell and Melsom, and a Ligier JS P320 for Josh Skelton and Wells were entered into the Le Mans Cup. Bell and Melsom won two races to place in fourth while Skelton and wells were in ninth. Beche, Hanley and Sales also teamed up for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. They would DNF after 18 laps when Sales crashed at the Dunlop Chicane.

2024

The team entered the 2023–24 Asian Le Mans Series season with Alex García, Ian Loggie, Ferdinand Habsburg and Will Stevens, who filled in for Habsburg at Dubai. A second Oreca 07-Gibson was brought for the last two rounds for drivers Matt Bell, Patrick Liddy and Blake McDonald. It was an unsuccessful season, with a best finish of seventh at Abu Dhabi for the full season No. 24 entry. Nielsen entered two Oreca 07-Gibsons into the European Le Mans Series, the No. 24 LMP2 Pro-Am car for John Falb, Colin Noble, Albert Costa (rounds 1–3) and Nick Yelloly (rounds 4–6), and the No. 27 LMP2 for Will Stevens, David Heinemeier Hansson, Nico Pino, Benjamin Pedersen and Gabriel Aubry filling in at Portimão. The No. 27 only finished in the points one, at Mugello, scoring one point to finish last in the LMP2 class standings. The Pro-Am, No. 24 squad finished on the podium twice at Barcelona and Portimão, finishing fifth. Nielsen also had Wayne Boyd and Anthony Wells entered into the LMP3 class of the Le Mans Cup, scoring a podium at Mugello and classifying sixth in the standings. The team entered the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans with Hansson, Fabio Scherer and IndyCar driver, Kyffin Simpson, in the LMP2 class. They qualified 33rd overall and tenth in class with a time of 3:34.794. Nielsen finished the race 25th overall and 11th in category, completing 291 laps.

Racing record

Complete European Le Mans Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

* Season still in progress.

Complete Le Mans Cup results

* Season still in progress.

† Guest drivers so ineligible for points.

Complete Road to Le Mans results

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results

* Season still in progress.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Euroformula Open Championship

* Season still in progress.

† Viișoreanu drove for Team Motopark in round 6.

Timeline

Notes