Christian Ried

Christian Ried
Christian Ried
	Ried in 2023
Nationality	German
Born	24 February 1979 (age 45); Schöneberg, Germany
Retired	2024
Debut season	1996
FIA World Endurance Championship
Racing licence	FIA Bronze
Former teams	Dempsey-Proton Racing; KCMG
Starts	85
Wins	13
Previous series
2012-2023; ; 2007-2011, 2013, 2015-2023; 1999-2006	FIA World Endurance Championship; ; European Le Mans Series; FIA GT Championship
Championship titles
2020, 2022	European Le Mans Series – LMGTE class

Christian Ried (born 24 February 1979) is a former German racing driver who last competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship.^[1]

Career

Ried's father Gerold founded Proton Competition in 1996,^[2] the team which Christian has spent most of his career racing for, beginning with the FIA GT Championship in 1999. As of 2021, Christian was team owner, facilitating the team's move to the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship alongside WeatherTech Racing in 2021.^[3] Ried ran his first 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2006, driving in the GT2 class for Sebah Automotive Ltd.^[4] He returned in 2011, driving for Proton Competition, and scored his first podium in 2014, finishing second in the GTE Am class.^[5] Four years later, Ried collected his first victory at the famous race, winning the GTE Am class alongside co-drivers Matt Campbell and Julien Andlauer.^[6] Two years later, Ried finished runner-up once again, this time with Riccardo Pera replacing Andlauer in the driver lineup.^[7] That same year, Ried won the European Le Mans Series championship in the GTE class on countback, after ending level on points with Kessel Racing.^[8]

In 2017 and 2018, Ried won the Porsche Cup, an award handed out to a non-factory driver who has most successfully piloted a Porsche over the course of the season.^[9]^[10]

Ried is the only driver to have competed in every race of the first decade of the FIA World Endurance Championship, spanning from 2012 to 2022.^[11] Following the 2023 season, after 85 consecutive races and 13 class victories in the championship, Ried announced his retirement from professional racing, electing to focus on the management of Proton Competition and his children's racing careers.^[12] Ultimately, Ried returned to the championship for a one-off drive at Interlagos in 2024, replacing full-season Bronze-ranked driver Giorgio Roda. Due to Proton Competition's transition to Ford machinery in 2024, Ried's unscheduled appearance marked his first WEC start in a non-Porsche entry.^[13]

Personal life

His son Jonas, is currently competing in the European Le Mans Series.^[14] And his other son Lenny, is currently competing in F4 Spanish Championship for Monlau Motorsport ^[15]

Racing record

Racing career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
1996	Global GT Championship	Proton Competition	10	0	0	0	0	6	126th
1999	FIA GT Championship - GT	Proton Competition	6	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2000	FIA GT Championship - GT	Proton Competition	9	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2000	American Le Mans Series - GTS	Proton Competition	1	0	0	0	0	22	29th
2001	FIA GT Championship - GT	Proton Competition	8	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2001	Grand American Rolex Series - GTS	Proton Competition	1	0	0	0	0	26	42nd
2002	FIA GT Championship - GT	Proton Competition	6	0	0	0	0	1	35th
2003	FIA GT Championship - GT	Proton Competition	3	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2003	FIA GT Championship - N-GT	Proton Competition	7	0	0	0	0	1	45th
2004	FIA GT Championship - N-GT	Proton Competition	11	0	0	0	1	44	5th
2005	FIA GT Championship - GT2	Proton Competition	10	0	0	0	1	44	5th
2006	FIA GT Championship - GT2	Team Felbermayr-Proton	10	0	0	0	0	25.5	11th
2006	24 Hours of Le Mans - GT2	Sebah Automotive Ltd.	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
2007	Le Mans Series - GT2	Team Felbermayr-Proton	6	0	0	0	0	10	13th
2008	Le Mans Series - GT2	Team Felbermayr-Proton	5	0	0	0	1	10	14th
2008	24H Series - A6	Proton Competition	1	0	0	0	0	0	30th
2009	Asian Le Mans Series - GT2	Team Felbermayr-Proton	2	0	0	0	1	13	3rd
2009	Le Mans Series - GT2	Team Felbermayr-Proton	5	0	0	0	0	5	16th
2010	Le Mans Series - GT2	Team Felbermayr-Proton	5	0	0	0	1	55	3rd
2011	Le Mans Series - LMGTE Am	Team Felbermayr-Proton	5	1	0	0	2	35	5th
	Intercontinental Le Mans Cup - LMGTE Am	Proton Competition	7	1	0	0	2	N/A	N/A
	24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
	American Le Mans Series - GT		1	0	0	0	0	0	NC†
2012	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Am	Team Felbermayr-Proton	8	3	0	0	7	5.5	38th
2012	24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am	Team Felbermayr-Proton	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
2013	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Am	Proton Competition	8	0	0	0	2	76.5	6th
	24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	8th
	European Le Mans Series - LMGTE		5	2	0	0	3	80	2nd
	French GT Championship	Autorlando	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC†
2014	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Am	Proton Competition	8	0	0	0	2	121	4th
	24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am	Proton Competition	1	0	0	0	1	N/A	2nd
	French GT Championship	Team Martinet - Alméras	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC†
2015	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Am	Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing	7	0	0	0	1	79	8th
	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Am	Dempsey-Proton Racing	1	0	0	0	1	79	8th
	24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am	Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
	European Le Mans Series - LMGTE	Proton Competition	5	0	0	0	1	55	6th
2015–16	Asian Le Mans Series - GT	KCMG	2	2	0	0	2	52	2nd
2016	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Am	KCMG	9	0	0	0	5	121	5th
	24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am	KCMG	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	10th
	European Le Mans Series - GTE	Proton Competition	6	0	0	0	1	60	7th
2017	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Am	Dempsey-Proton Racing	9	2	0	0	6	168	2nd
	24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am	Dempsey-Proton Racing	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	6th
	European Le Mans Series - LMGTE	Proton Competition	6	1	0	0	2	80	3rd
2018	European Le Mans Series - LMGTE	Proton Competition	6	1	0	0	2	83	4th
2018	24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am	Dempsey-Proton Racing	1	1	0	0	1	N/A	1st
2018–19	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Am	Dempsey-Proton Racing	8	5	0	0	5	110	2nd
2019	24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am	Dempsey-Proton Racing	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	4th
2019	European Le Mans Series - LMGTE Am	Dempsey-Proton Racing	6	1	0	0	3	76	2nd
2019–20	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Am	Dempsey-Proton Racing	8	0	0	0	2	107.5	5th
2020	24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am	Dempsey-Proton Racing	1	0	0	0	1	N/A	2nd
	European Le Mans Series - LMGTE	Dempsey-Proton Racing	5	2	0	0	4	99	1st
	24H GT Series - GTX	Proton Competition	0	0	0	0	0	0	7th
2021	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Am	Dempsey-Proton Racing	6	0	0	0	2	79	3rd
	24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am	Dempsey-Proton Racing	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	5th
	European Le Mans Series - LMGTE	Proton Competition	6	0	0	0	1	57	7th
2022	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Am	Dempsey-Proton Racing	6	2	1	0	2	83	6th
	24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am	Dempsey-Proton Racing	1	0	1	0	0	N/A	14th
	European Le Mans Series - LMGTE	Proton Competition	6	2	0	0	3	82	1st
2023	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Am	Dempsey-Proton Racing	7	1	0	0	2	80	4th
	24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Am	Dempsey-Proton Racing	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
	European Le Mans Series - LMGTE	Proton Competition	6	2	1	0	3	85	2nd
2024	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGT3	Proton Competition

† As Ried was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score championship points.

Complete Intercontinental Le Mans Cup results

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

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Rank	Points
2011	Proton Competition	LMGTE Am	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	Porsche 4.0L Flat-6	SEB 2	SPA 4	LMS Ret	IMO DSQ	SIL 2	PET Ret	ZHU 1

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

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

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Rank	Points
2012	Team Felbermayr-Proton	LMGTE Am	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	Porsche 4.0L Flat-6	SEB 1	SPA 1	LMS Ret	SIL 2	SÃO 1	BHR 1	FUJ 3	SHA 2		38th	5.5
2013	Proton Competition	LMGTE Am	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	Porsche 4.0L Flat-6	SIL 5	SPA 5	LMS 5	SÃO 3	COA 5	FUJ 3	SHA 4	BHR Ret		6th	76.5
2014	Proton Competition	LMGTE Am	Porsche 911 RSR	Porsche 4.0L Flat-6	SIL 4	SPA 4	LMS 2	COA 3	FUJ 4	SHA 5	BHR 4	SÃO 4		4th	121
2015	Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing	LMGTE Am	Porsche 911 RSR	Porsche 4.0L Flat-6	SIL 5	SPA 4	LMS Ret	NÜR 6	COA 2	FUJ 5	SHA 7			8th	79
2015	Dempsey-Proton Racing	LMGTE Am	Porsche 911 RSR	Porsche 4.0L Flat-6								BHR 3		8th	79
2016	KCMG	LMGTE Am	Porsche 911 RSR	Porsche 4.0L Flat-6	SIL 4	SPA 4	LMS 6	NÜR DSQ	MEX 3	COA 2	FUJ 3	SHA 3	BHR 2	5th	121
2017	Dempsey-Proton Racing	LMGTE Am	Porsche 911 RSR	Porsche 4.0L Flat-6	SIL 3	SPA 2	LMS 3	NÜR 1	MEX 1	COA 4	FUJ 3	SHA 3	BHR 4	2nd	168
2018–19	Dempsey-Proton Racing	LMGTE Am	Porsche 911 RSR	Porsche 4.0L Flat-6	SPA 4	LMS 1	SIL 1	FUJ DSQ	SHA 1	SEB 1	SPA 1	LMS 2		2nd	110
2019–20	Dempsey-Proton Racing	LMGTE Am	Porsche 911 RSR	Porsche 4.0L Flat-6	SIL 5	FUJ 5	SHA 11	BHR 6	COA 5	SPA 2	LMS 2	BHR 7		5th	107.5
2021	Dempsey-Proton Racing	LMGTE Am	Porsche 911 RSR-19	Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6	SPA Ret	POR Ret	MON 5	LMS 4	BHR 2	BHR 2				3rd	79
2022	Dempsey-Proton Racing	LMGTE Am	Porsche 911 RSR-19	Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6	SEB 4	SPA 1	LMS 8	MON 1	FUJ Ret	BHR 8				6th	83
2023	Dempsey-Proton	LMGTE Am	Porsche 911 RSR-19	Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6	SEB 2	PRT 7	SPA 9	LMS Ret	MON 1	FUJ 6	BHR 6			4th	80
2024	Proton Competition	LMGT3	Ford Mustang GT3	Ford Coyote 5.4 L V8	QAT	IMO	SPA	LMS	SÃO 13	COA	FUJ	BHR		28th	0
Sources:^[16]^[1]

^* Season still in progress.

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2006	Sebah Automotive Ltd.	Xavier Pompidou Thorkild Thyrring	Porsche 911 GT3-RSR	GT2	256	DNF	DNF
2011	Proton Competition	Horst Felbermayr Horst Felbermayr Jr.	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	GTE Am	199	DNF	DNF
2012	Team Felbermayr-Proton	Gianluca Roda Paolo Ruberti	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	GTE Am	222	DNF	DNF
2013	Proton Competition	Gianluca Roda Paolo Ruberti	Porsche 997 GTE-RSR	GTE Am	300	35th	8th
2014	Proton Competition	Khaled Al Qubaisi Klaus Bachler	Porsche 911 RSR	GTE Am	300	21st	2nd
2015	Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing	Khaled Al Qubaisi Klaus Bachler	Porsche 911 RSR	GTE Am	44	DNF	DNF
2016	KCMG	Joël Camathias Wolf Henzler	Porsche 911 RSR	GTE Am	300	41st	10th
2017	Dempsey-Proton Racing	Matteo Cairoli Marvin Dienst	Porsche 911 RSR	GTE Am	329	34th	6th
2018	Dempsey-Proton Racing	Julien Andlauer Matt Campbell	Porsche 911 RSR	GTE Am	335	25th	1st
2019	Dempsey-Proton Racing	Julien Andlauer Matt Campbell	Porsche 911 RSR	GTE Am	332	34th	4th
2020	Dempsey-Proton Racing	Matt Campbell Riccardo Pera	Porsche 911 RSR	GTE Am	339	25th	2nd
2021	Dempsey-Proton Racing	Matt Campbell Jaxon Evans	Porsche 911 RSR-19	GTE Am	335	31st	5th
2022	Dempsey-Proton Racing	Sebastian Priaulx Harry Tincknell	Porsche 911 RSR-19	GTE Am	336	47th	14th
2023	Dempsey-Proton Racing	Julien Andlauer Mikkel O. Pedersen	Porsche 911 RSR-19	GTE Am	118	DNF	DNF
Sources:^[16]^[17]

Complete European Le Mans Series results

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

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	Rank	Points
2013	Proton Competition	LMGTE	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6	SIL 1	IMO 5	RBR 8	HUN 1	LEC 3		2nd	80
2015	Proton Competition	LMGTE	Porsche 911 RSR	Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6	SIL 5	IMO 2	RBR 5	LEC 4	EST 8		6th	55
2016	Proton Competition	LMGTE	Porsche 911 RSR	Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6	SIL 6	IMO 4	RBR 5	LEC Ret	SPA 2	EST 5	7th	60
2017	Proton Competition	LMGTE	Porsche 911 RSR	Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6	SIL 2	MNZ 5	RBR 5	LEC 6	SPA 6	ALG 1	3rd	80
2018	Proton Competition	LMGTE	Porsche 911 RSR	Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6	LEC 5	MNZ 2	RBR 4	SIL 4	SPA 5	ALG 1	4th	83
2019	Dempsey-Proton Racing	LMGTE	Porsche 911 RSR	Porsche 4.0L Flat-6	LEC 3	MNZ 1	CAT 6	SIL 7	SPA 2	ALG Ret	2nd	76
2020	Proton Competition	LMGTE	Porsche 911 RSR	Porsche 4.0L Flat-6	LEC 1	SPA 6	LEC 2	MNZ 2	ALG 1		1st	99
2021	WeatherTech Racing	LMGTE	Porsche 911 RSR-19	Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6	CAT 2	RBR 6	LEC 4	MNZ 9	SPA 7	ALG 5	6th	57
2022	Proton Competition	LMGTE	Porsche 911 RSR-19	Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6	LEC 2	IMO Ret	MNZ 2	CAT 1	SPA 9	ALG 5	1st	82
2023	Proton Competition	LMGTE	Porsche 911 RSR-19	Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6	CAT Ret	LEC 1	ARA 4	SPA 8	PRT 1	ALG 2	2nd	85
Source:^[16]

^* Season still in progress.

References

^ ^a ^b "Christian Ried - FIA World Endurance Championship". fiawec.com. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
^ "History - Proton Competition". proton-competition.com (in German). Retrieved 12 January 2021.
^ "Porsche to Have Presence in IMSA GTLM Class, After All". autoweek.com. 6 January 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
^ "Driver Christian Ried Career Statistics - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
^ "Porsche 911 RSR finishes 24-hour marathon at Le Mans in third". us.motorsport.com. 15 June 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
^ "Porsche celebrates double victory at Le Mans 24-hour marathon". newsroom.porsche.com. 17 June 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
^ "Porsche customer team Dempsey-Proton Racing on the podium at Le Mans". newsroom.porsche.com. 20 September 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
^ "G-Drive Wins Portimao Season Finale as Class Titles Decided". sportscar365.com. 1 November 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
^ "Ried Wins Porsche Cup". sportscar365.com. 9 December 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
^ "Ried Wins Porsche Cup for Second Straight Year". sportscar365.com. 8 December 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
^ "Celebrating WEC's Ever-Present – Christian Ried!". FIA World Endurance Championship. 22 December 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
^ Goodwin, Graham (4 November 2023). "85 And Out: Christian Ried Confirms An End To His Driving Career". Dailysportscar. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
^ Goodwin, Graham (10 July 2024). "Christian Ried Returns To The Cockpit At Interlagos". Dailysportscar. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
^ "Iron Lynx-Proton ELMS LMP2 Driver Crew Set". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
^ Template:Cite web https://monlau-motorsport.com/en/monlau-motul-closes-the-winter-series-with-its-sights-set-on-the-2024-season-of-the-spanish-f4/
^ ^a ^b ^c "Christian Ried Results". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
^ "Christian Ried". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. Retrieved 17 April 2024.

Sporting positions
Preceded by Alessandro Pier Guidi Nicklas Nielsen Fabien Lavergne	European Le Mans Series LMGTE Champion 2020 With: Alessio Picariello & Michele Beretta	Succeeded by Miguel Molina Matteo Cressoni Rino Mastronardi
Preceded by Miguel Molina Matteo Cressoni Rino Mastronardi	European Le Mans Series LMGTE Champion 2022 With: Gianmaria Bruni & Lorenzo Ferrari	Succeeded by Ryan Hardwick Alessio Picariello Zacharie Robichon