Nielsen: “Victory in the Ferrari Challenge was key for my career”

After winning the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli Europe in 2018, Nicklas Nielsen continued his journey in GT and prototype racing by putting together a run of at least one international title every season. He was then selected for the Hypercar programme, taking part from the current season in the FIA WEC with the 499P number 50 alongside Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina. The Danish driver, who was born in 1997, has racked up 167 races, 110 podiums and 51 wins in his career, with 10 victories and 17 top-three finishes in the World Endurance Championship. “Ever since I was a child I’ve been a big Ferrari fan. Becoming an official driver for the Prancing Horse is a dream come true.”

Nicklas as a child. “I grew up in a family that was very passionate about motorsport,” recounts Nielsen. “My father competed, as did my grandfather, my uncle and my grandmother.” That passion would soon become the launchpad for his competitive debut. The driver’s first go-kart race took place when he was eight and was held as part of the Danish national championship. And his first victory? That came in the very same season: “When I was first over the line, seeing the happy faces of my father, my grandfather, the mechanics and the whole team made me feel really proud.” Go-karting gave Nielsen the chance to experience emotions that he still recalls today. “There are still parts of those races I miss – not just for the competition, but also for the atmosphere that was typical of them,” he says.

One-make series. 2018 was a breakthrough year in the career of Nielsen, who, at the age of 21, managed to celebrate the title in the European series of the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli. “That championship gave me the opportunity to prove my worth at the wheel of a racing car – the 488 Challenge,” continues the Dane. “I have to thank Ferrari and the team, Formula Racing, for having experienced that incredible season. It meant that the following year I moved on to competing in the major GT championships, starting already in 2019 in the FIA WEC with François Perrrodo and Emmanuel Collard in the 488 GTE.”

The journey. In just five seasons Nielsen has secured seven titles, including victory in the Maranello manufacturer’s single-marque series. In terms of the FIA WEC, his Endurance Trophy successes in the LMGTE Am (2020 and 2021) and Pro-Am classes with the LMP2 prototypes (2022) stand out among his list of triumphs. “If I look back and think again of all the hours I’ve dedicated to my work with such commitment, to the trips around the world, to the sacrifices I’ve made together with my family, I realise how crucial all of it was to achieve these results.”

And, in recent years, his sporting journey has taken on another dimension with his parallel commitment to virtual racing. “I’ve always had this passion. It grew during the lockdowns caused by the pandemic [Covid-19, Ed.] and has now become a very serious commitment,” he says. “As part of the GT World Challenge Europe, for example, as well as the races on the track with the 296 GT3, I compete in the E-Sports championship.”

499P. For the 2023 season, which saw the return of the Prancing Horse to the top endurance class, Nicklas Nielsen was chosen as one of the three members – alongside Fuoco and Molina – of the Hypercar number 50 crew. In the first six championship rounds the trio secured pole position at Sebring and Le Mans and made the podium three times. “Coming as far as this is a dream come true,” says Nielsen. “I remember very clearly when Antonello Coletta [Ferrari Global Head of Endurance and Corse Clienti, Ed.] called to tell me I’d been selected as one of the six drivers of the prototype: it was an amazing day.” If he had to choose three adjectives to describe his 499P, Nielsen would be in no doubt: “Beautiful, fast, fun.”

And looking ahead, the future is clear. In the words of the 26-year-old official Ferrari driver: “When you achieve a goal you’ve set yourself, you immediately give yourself another one. I’ve never heard of a driver getting ‘tired’ of winning. Chasing the next victory is what stimulates us to always do our best.”