Nigel Melker

Nigel Melker (born 25 January 1991) is a Dutch racing driver.

Nigel Melker
Nationality Dutch
Born (1991-01-25) 25 January 1991
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Formula Renault 3.5 Series career
Debut season2012
Current teamTech 1 Racing
Car number2
Former teamsLotus
Starts19
Wins0
Poles0
Fastest laps2
Best finish6th in 2013
Previous series
2012
2011
2010–11
2009
2008–09
2008		GP2 Series
Formula 3 Euro Series
GP3 Series
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0
Formula Renault 2.0 NEC
Formula Renault 2.0 Italy

Career

Karting

Melker was born in Rotterdam. He began his motorsport career in karting in 2001, winning in the Dutch Mini Junior Cup. In 2005, he won the German Junior championship and finishing as runner-up in the European ICA Junior championship.

Formula Renault

After sitting out the 2007 season, Melker moved up to single-seaters in 2008. He participated in the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup with Van Amersfoort Racing. He finished in twelfth place in the standings with eleven point-scoring positions that gave him 120 points.[1] He also took part in ten races of the Italian Formula Renault Championship. He finished eighteenth with 37 points.[2]

The following season, Melker competed in both the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup and Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 championships with MP Motorsport. He finished eighteenth in the NEC standings, taking points in all six races he contested.[3] In the Eurocup, he took part in the first five rounds, finishing 23rd with five points for sixth place at Spa.[4]

GP3 Series

In 2010, Melker became the first driver to join RSC Mücke Motorsport for the 2010 GP3 Series season.[5] His team-mates were compatriot Renger van der Zande and German Tobias Hegewald. He started the season by taking the first pole position of his open-wheel racing career in the opening round at Barcelona,[6] but in the race he was involved in an accident on the opening lap and retired.[7] In the sprint race he started from the back and rose to fourteenth place.[8] He took another pole in Turkey, but did not finish in the points until the final race of the season at Monza, restricting him to 23rd place in the championships.

Melker remained in GP3 with the Mücke team for the 2011 season, alongside Michael Christensen and Luciano Bacheta (who was later replaced by Daniel Mancinelli). With the benefit of a year's experience in the category, his form was much stronger and he won the first race of the season in Turkey. This gave him the early championship lead, and he took a further four podium finishes, but he ultimately slipped to third place behind the Lotus ART duo of Valtteri Bottas and James Calado after his team appeared to lose its competitive edge following mid-season testing at Barcelona.[9]

Formula 3 Euro Series

As well as his 2011 GP3 campaign, Melker competed in the season's Formula 3 Euro Series, also with Mücke, finishing in fourth position in the drivers' standings with four wins.[10] He finished ahead of his team-mates Felix Rosenqvist, Marco Sørensen and Facu Regalia, but was unable to consistently challenge dominant champion Roberto Merhi, his Prema Powerteam colleague Daniel Juncadella, or Signature driver Marco Wittmann.

GP2 Series

After participating in the non-championship 2011 GP2 Final with DAMS, Melker switched to Ocean Racing Technology for the 2012 season, initially alongside Jon Lancaster.[11][12] With a best race finish of fourth at Silverstone, he ended the season 19th in the championship.

Formula Renault 3.5 Series

Melker made his racing début in a Formula Renault 3.5 car at Silverstone 2012, replacing César Ramos at the Lotus team. He qualified a respectable 14th for the first race and went on to take a podium at his first race at a wet racing track, finishing 3rd. He retired in the second race and was replaced by Estonian Kevin Korjus for the remainder of the season. He was the only driver in Lotus car #11 to get a podium that year.

After a disappointing season in GP2, Melker went to Formula Renault 3.5 full-time for 2013, driving for previous year's team champions Tech 1 Racing alongside series veteran Mikhail Aleshin. Melker spent most of the season in the subtop of the championship, amassing 4 podiums and 136 points, as well as posting 2 fastest laps. His best weekend of the season was at the Red Bull Ring when he was runner-up twice behind dominant winner Marco Sørensen. He finished the season in 6th place.

Formula Acceleration 1

Unable to find a drive in Formula Renault 3.5 for 2014, Melker turned his attention elsewhere. He signed with Azerti Motorsport for the inaugural Formula Acceleration 1 season. He was competitive immediately, finishing second twice at the opening round in Portugal, before taking a double victory at Circuito de Navarra. He went on to win the drivers' championship after a victory at the Nürburgring and a double victory at Assen.

Racing record

Career summary
Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2008 Formula Renault 2.0 NEC Van Amersfoort Racing 15 0 0 0 0 120 12th
Formula Renault 2.0 Italy 10 0 0 0 0 37 18th
2009 Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup MP Motorsport 10 0 0 0 0 5 23rd
Formula Renault 2.0 NEC 6 0 0 0 0 77 18th
2010 GP3 Series RSC Mücke Motorsport 16 0 2 0 0 5 23rd
ATS F3 Cup Jo Zeller Racing 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC†
Masters of Formula 3 Mücke Motorsport 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 14th
2011 GP3 Series RSC Mücke Motorsport 16 1 0 2 5 38 3rd
Formula 3 Euro Series Mücke Motorsport 24 4 2 2 9 251 4th
Masters of Formula 3 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 4th
GP2 Final DAMS 2 0 0 0 0 0 20th
2012 GP2 Series Ocean Racing Technology 24 0 0 0 0 25 19th
Formula Renault 3.5 Series Lotus 2 0 0 0 1 15 19th
2013 Formula Renault 3.5 Series Tech 1 Racing 17 0 0 2 4 136 6th
2014 Formula Acceleration 1 Acceleration Team Netherlands 10 5 4 3 9 183 1st

† – As Melker was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

Complete GP3 Series results

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

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 DC Points
2010 RSC Mücke Motorsport CAT
FEA
Ret		 CAT
SPR
14		 IST
FEA
23		 IST
SPR
17		 VAL
FEA
Ret		 VAL
SPR
15		 SIL
FEA
12		 SIL
SPR
Ret		 HOC
FEA
Ret		 HOC
SPR
Ret		 HUN
FEA
23		 HUN
SPR
14		 SPA
FEA
12		 SPA
SPR
15		 MNZ
FEA
8		 MNZ
SPR
13		 23rd 5
2011 RSC Mücke Motorsport IST
FEA
1		 IST
SPR
3		 CAT
FEA
6		 CAT
SPR
2		 VAL
FEA
Ret		 VAL
SPR
19		 SIL
FEA
Ret		 SIL
SPR
8		 NÜR
FEA
10		 NÜR
SPR
3		 HUN
FEA
8		 HUN
SPR
4		 SPA
FEA
3		 SPA
SPR
Ret		 MNZ
FEA
9		 MNZ
SPR
Ret		 3rd 38

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results

(key)

Year Entrant Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 DC Points
2011 Mücke Motorsport Mercedes LEC
1
1		 LEC
2
12		 LEC
3
4		 HOC
1
7		 HOC
2
11		 HOC
3
5		 ZAN
1
1		 ZAN
2
11		 ZAN
3
3		 RBR
1
5		 RBR
2
Ret		 RBR
3
2		 NOR
1
1		 NOR
2
11		 NOR
3
10		 NÜR
1
4		 NÜR
2
6		 NÜR
3
3		 SIL
1		 SIL
2		 SIL
3		 VAL
1
1		 VAL
2
8		 VAL
3
3		 HOC
1
6		 HOC
2
5		 HOC
3
2		 4th 251

Complete GP2 Series results

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

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 DC Points
2012 Ocean Racing Technology SEP
FEA
16		 SEP
SPR
14		 BHR1
FEA
20		 BHR1
SPR
18		 BHR2
FEA
19		 BHR2
SPR
11		 CAT
FEA
14		 CAT
SPR
24		 MON
FEA
Ret		 MON
SPR
12		 VAL
FEA
Ret		 VAL
SPR
13		 SIL
FEA
4		 SIL
SPR
6		 HOC
FEA
6		 HOC
SPR
8		 HUN
FEA
14		 HUN
SPR
18		 SPA
FEA
Ret		 SPA
SPR
DNS		 MNZ
FEA
11		 MNZ
SPR
Ret		 MRN
FEA
12		 MRN
SPR
12		 19th 25

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

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

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Pos Points
2012 Lotus ALC
1		 ALC
2		 MON
1		 SPA
1		 SPA
2		 NÜR
1		 NÜR
2		 MSC
1		 MSC
2		 SIL
1
3		 SIL
2
Ret		 HUN
1		 HUN
2		 LEC
1		 LEC
2		 CAT
1		 CAT
2		 19th 15
2013 Tech 1 Racing MNZ
1
5		 MNZ
2
11		 ALC
1
6		 ALC
2
6		 MON
1
17		 SPA
1
3		 SPA
2
6		 MSC
1
3		 MSC
2
15		 RBR
1
2		 RBR
2
2		 HUN
1
6		 HUN
2
4		 LEC
1
Ret		 LEC
2
4		 CAT
1
Ret		 CAT
2
8		 6th 136

Complete Formula Acceleration 1 results

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

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pos Points
2014 Netherlands ALG
1
2		 ALG
2
2		 NAV
1
1		 NAV
2
1		 NÜR
1
1		 NÜR
2
DNS		 MNZ
1
2		 MNZ
2
2		 ASS
1
1		 ASS
2
1		 1st 183

References
  1. "Formula Renault 2.0 NEC 2008". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  2. "Formula Renault 2.0 Italy 2008". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  3. "Formula Renault 2.0 NEC 2009". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  4. "Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup 2009". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  5. "GP3 series with RSC Mücke Motorsport! key for the 2010 season". Nigel Melker. Totaalnet Internet Services. 3 February 2010. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  6. "Nigel Melker takes first ever GP3 Series pole". GP3 Series. GP2 Motorsport Limited. 8 May 2010. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
  7. "Varhaug storms to victory in Barcelona". GP3 Series. GP2 Motorsport Limited. 8 May 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
  8. "Rossi leads from start to finish". GP3 Series. GP2 Motorsport Limited. 9 May 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
  9. Freeman, Glenn (15 December 2011). "The 2011 GP3 Series review". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
  10. "Melker startet 2011 für Mücke". Motorsport-Total.com (in German). Motorsport-Total.com GmbH. 5 February 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
  11. "Haryanto and Melker will drive for DAMS". GP2 Series. GP2 Motorsport Limited. 2 November 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  12. Elizalde, Pablo (14 November 2011). "Nigel Melker graduates to GP2 full time with Ocean Racing". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 14 November 2011.

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