Mikkel O. Pedersen

Mikkel Overgaard Pedersen (born 26 January 1997) is a Danish racing driver who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Dempsey-Proton Racing.

Early career
Born in Struer, Denmark, Pedersen's racing career began in karting at the age of seven. It was a family operation, with the Pedersens running the team out of a van in which they'd house the kart and travel to races. On Friday evenings, Mikkel would frequently watch the Porsche Supercup on TV, a series which he'd eventually compete in himself. Throughout his career Pedersen has relied on local sponsor support to fund his racing endeavors.

In 2012, Pedersen made his junior formula debut, taking part in the Danish Formula Ford Championship with DP Engineering. Pedersen's opening season in the series saw him compete in the Zetec category, driving the car that teammate Morten Dons had piloted the year prior. The following season, he stepped into Porsche racing, initially at a local level before expanding to the Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia in 2015. At the conclusion of the 2015 season, Pedersen traveled to the Lausitzring to take part in the annual Porsche Junior Shootout.

Porsche Supercup
Pedersen made his Supercup debut at the end of the 2015 season at Circuit of the Americas, where he was disqualified from the second event after the first race was canceled. The following season, Pedersen lined up a part-time campaign with MRS-GT Racing, supplemented with a drive at the 2016 Dubai 24 Hour. In 2017, he was able to compete for the full season, tallying a best finish of eighth at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. His second full-time season improved on the prior, with Pedersen registering three top-ten finishes including a fifth-place finish at Monaco and a sixth-place finish at Hockenheim. At the conclusion of the 2018 season, he was named Motorsport Talent of the Year at the Danish Motorsport Awards.

In 2019, Pedersen left MRS-GT Racing, taking part in his fifth year in the series with Italian outfit Dinamic Motorsport. After utilizing a 2017 model for the previous two years, Pedersen upgraded to a 2019-spec version of the car. 2019 was Pedersen's best statistical season to date, as he claimed his maiden podium finish at Monaco and tallied two fastest laps, once at Monaco and again at Monza. He would finish eighth in the championship, racking up 80 championship points.

GT3 and beyond
In 2020, Pedersen continued with Dinamic for the team's globe-trotting GT3 program for the year. In January, he began the season at the Dubai 24 Hour, finishing on the GT3-Am class podium. Pedersen's primary program for the season was a drive in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, where he'd join Adrien De Leener and Andrea Rizzoli in Dinamic's Silver Cup entry. In the opening round of the season at Imola, Pedersen's entry finished on the class podium, and would finish the season 13th in the Silver Cup classification. Pedersen returned to the team for the following season, stepping up to the Pro class as Romain Dumas replaced De Leener in the lineup. The team would claim just one point, earned in a 10th-place finish at Monza, and finished 32nd in the series championship.

Pedersen's program expanded in 2022, where he took on drives in the FIA World Endurance Championship, Le Mans Cup, and GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup. In the WEC, Pedersen served as the silver-ranked driver in one of Team Project 1's GTE Am class entries, joining Matteo Cairoli and Nicolas Leutwiler. With full-season entries guaranteeing a spot at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Pedersen was able to fulfill a career dream of competing in the race. Although the entry retired due to puncture damage, the rest of the season proved relatively successful. The team claimed their first podium finish of the season at Monza, before taking victory in the final race of the season, the 8 Hours of Bahrain. The trio were classified seventh in the GTE Am class championship. Pedersen's Le Mans Cup campaign took place with Danish team GMB Motorsport, where he piloted a Honda NSX GT3. He joined the team due to their long-term goal to compete at Le Mans in 2024, with the GT3 class being introduced to the race that year. Although he did not compete in the full season, being replaced by Jan Magnussen after the Monza round, Pedersen and co-driver Lars Engelbreckt Pedersen claimed one class victory over the course of five races.

Pedersen's GT World Challenge Europe campaign was much more patchwork than his previous endeavors. After re-joining Dinamic Motorsport for an expected one-off at the 24 Hours of Spa, Pedersen was asked to finish the season, joining Marius Nakken and Giorgio Roda in the team's Silver Cup entry. Pedersen scored 12 points over the course of three races, finishing 22nd in the class championship.

Pedersen began his 2023 campaign by taking part in the Asian Le Mans Series with Herberth Motorsport. During the four-race championship, the returning trio from the previous season's WEC entry tallied two top-five finishes and finished sixth in the championship. Pedersen's season continued with a full-season drive in the 2023 edition of the World Endurance Championship, albeit with a different team. He joined Dempsey-Proton Racing, driving alongside team principal Christian Ried and Frenchman Julien Andlauer. In the trio's first race, the 2023 1000 Miles of Sebring, the team claimed a podium finish. They claimed their first and only victory of the season at Monza in July, and would end up finishing fourth in the GTE Am class championship. At the end of the season, Pedersen drove a Proton-supplied Oreca 07 at the Bahrain rookie test.

The Dane remained at Proton for the 2024 season, driving alongside Dennis Olsen and Giorgio Roda in the newly-formed LMGT3 class. The trio scored points in two of the opening three races, before taking a podium at the Le Mans 24 Hours, with Pedersen and Olsen performing especially well during Sunday morning.

Career summary

 * Season still in progress.

Complete Porsche Supercup results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) † – Driver did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 75% of the race distance.

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) † – Driver did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 75% of the race distance.

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
 * Season still in progress.

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)