🇺🇸 Jim Michaelian

Jim Michaelian was a Bronze-graded amateur endurance racing driver who competed in multiclass sportscar racing across Europe and North America. Between 2010 and 2018 he made ten starts, racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars and modified production machinery in the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie, a prototype in Road to Le Mans, and a shared car in IMSA WeatherTech. His most sustained campaign came in the Nürburgring series, where he started six times over five seasons.[1]

Michaelian's record placed him at the lower end of the amateur field he raced in. He was closely matched with Andreas Ziegler, another Bronze-graded amateur regular at Nürburgring, but typically finished behind Uwe Kolb, a competitive amateur also established in the same series. Against the strongest professional opposition he occasionally prevailed; he finished ahead of Brendon Hartley, an established professional and multiple-time WEC champion, once, and the same against Timo Bernhard, a Platinum-graded WEC LMP1 champion. These were exceptions in a record built mostly against fellow amateurs and semi-professionals on multiclass grids where the calibre of the field varied widely.[2]