Mikkel Jensen (born 31 December 1994) is a Danish racing driver. He is a Peugeot Sport factory driver currently competing in the World Endurance Championship, having previously been a factory driver for BMW.[1][2]
Jensen began karting in 2010 and raced in his native Denmark for the majority of his career. He ended his karting career two years later, moving into single-seaters.
2013 saw his debut in the ADAC Formel Masters championship with the Lotus-monikered Motopark Academy team. Jensen finished tenth in the championship with podiums at Spa and the Sachsenring.[3]
Jensen remained in the series in 2014, moving to the Neuhauser Racing team. He achieved ten wins at Oschersleben, Zandvoort, Spielberg, the Slovakia Ring, the Nürburgring and Hockenheim on his way to the championship title.[4]
In 2015, Jensen graduated to the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, joining Mücke Motorsport.[5] With a pair of podiums at Monza being his best result, the Dane ended up tenth in the standings.
Jensen remained with Mücke for the 2016 season.[6] Despite being in his second year, he could only take one podium finish on his way to twelfth overall.
2016 saw Jensen make his sportscar racing debut in the European Le Mans Series, as he joined Formula Racing for the round at Le Castellet.[7] Piloting a Ferrari 458 Italia GT2, Jensen and teammates Mikkel Mac and Johnny Laursen finished second.[8]
After exiting Formula 3, Jensen switched to the LMP3 category of the ELMS, driving alongside Alexander Talkanitsa Sr. and Jr. for AT Racing.[9] The trio ended up sixth in the standings, with the Dane being a deciding factor in a lone victory at the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit and scoring three pole positions and fastest laps respectively across the season.[10] Additionally, Jensen won the 6 Hours of Rome as part of the AF Corse outfit.[11]
In 2018, BMW Team MTEK confirmed Jensen as their reserve driver for the 2018–19 World Endurance Championship campaign, a year after BMW signed to their junior programme.[12] The Dane went on to compete with another BMW-affiliated squad, namely BMW Team Schnitzer, in the ADAC GT Masters with Timo Scheider.[13] Three podiums earned the pair sixth place overall at year's end.
Ahead of the 2019 season, BMW promoted Jensen from junior driver to works driver, running him in all five races of the Intercontinental GT Challenge.[14] Parallel to his GT commitments, the Dane drove for Eurointernational in the ELMS's LMP3 category.[15] Partnering Jens Petersen, Jensen would have a standout year, winning the championship after amassing three victories at Monza, Silverstone, and Spa, where Jensen overtook two drivers on the final lap.[16][17] The title was decided in controversial fashion, as Jensen and Pedersen would inherit the championship following a penalty for Inter Europol, whose bronze-ranked driver had undercut their mandated driving time.[18]
At the start of 2021, it was announced that Jensen would become part of the Peugeot Sport Le Mans Hypercar outfit for the 2022 WEC season.[1] Partnering Paul di Resta and Jean-Éric Vergne, the team competed in the final three races of the campaign.
The following year, the trio of Jensen, di Resta and Vergne returned to the World Endurance Championship, driving the Peugeot 9X8.[19]
† As Jensen was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.* Season still in progress.
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
† Points only counted towards the Michelin Endurance Cup, and not the overall LMP2 Championship.* Season still in progress.
* Season still in progress.