Markus Niemelä (born 20 March 1984 in Rauma) is a Finnish former race car driver. He was the 2008 series champion after winning the final round at Road Atlanta. His international racing career has been volatile due to a number of injuries he has sustained during his career.
In 1998, Niemelä won the Finnish junior karting championship with maximum points. In 2001, injury of left arm in a snowboarding accident before the start of season prevented participation in the Formula A European/World Championship. He won the one race where he participated, driving practically one-handed against top Finnish karters (ICA).
The following year, Niemelä was the Finnish champion in Formula A. He set the fastest laptime in at least one heat of every European Championship round. He also qualified in World Cup final but technical problems caused a retirement in pre-final and final. In 2003, because of an accident in a European championship race, Niemelä could not drive for three months. He returned for the World Championships to finish fifth.
Niemelä became the Finnish and Swedish Champion and the winner of STCC Formula Ford championship. He led Scandinavian Championship before the last round but finished second overall because he did not participate on the last round. Niemelä was nominated as a âÂÂYoung Championâ by Finnish ASN, and tested for Formula BMW and was fastest at several unofficial tests.
Niemelä finished seventh in championship points with one victory and one pole position. Many crashes resulting to damaged car during the season (12 out of 20 races). He was also fifth in UK Formula Renault Winter Championship, third best qualifier of the championship (third, fourth, ninth and third in qualifyings). Niemelä drove Formula Renault first time ever in free practice of first race meeting.
Niemelä had pne victory, one fastest lap and one pole position. He earned Multiple Driver Of The Day Awards - awarded by Renault Sport, and finished seventh in the final standings with best positions first, second, third, and twice fourth.
In Formula Renault Eurocup, Niemelä did six starts with best result of second at Hungaroring, while in the Asian series, he did four starts with two wins and one second place. His third win of the four races was later penalized from jumping the start. He joined BCN Competicion in the GP2 Series to replace Sakon Yamamoto who moved to F1 during the season. During his first race, also at the Hungaroring, he was forced to retire when his left shoulder unexpectedly dislocated after 11 laps, which also prevented him from taking part in the second race of the meeting.
In the 2008 season, Niemelä won the Atlantic Championship with Brooks Associates team, after winning the last two rounds of the season.
Niemelä returned to the series to defend his Atlantic Championship title, this time driving for Newman Wachs Racing. He struggled through the first five races failing to score a podium finish. He switched teams to Jensen MotorSport for the remainder of the season, but failed to find any more success and finished sixth in points.
Niemelä started racing Sprint Cars on dirt ovals. The best result of his depute season was second in a VRA race at Ventura Raceway.
Niemelä raced in selected races in different Sprint Car Championships (USAC West Coast, USAC CRA, VRA, USAC Midget) with an average A Main finish of 4.5 over the season. He also scored his first Sprint Car win.
In November 2014, Niemelä suffered a severe accident at Perris Auto Speedway in a sprint car, flipping end over end into the catch fence after an axle broke on his car. While he initially was believed to have suffered only a concussion, he later revealed he had suffered severe brain injuries in the accident, resulting in the end of his career.
() (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
() (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
() (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
() (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
() (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
() (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)