Marcel Fässler (racing driver)
Marcel Fässler ( born May 27, 1976 in Einsiedeln ) is a Swiss car racer.
Career
1983 sat Fässler at the age of seven years for the first time at the wheel of a go - kart. Until 1993 he went kart racing in different categories. From 1993 to 1995 he attended the famous racing school École Winfield in Le Castellet, which he finished as the third- best driver of the vintage. In 1995 he finished third overall in the French Formula Campus Championship. 1996 drove Fässler in the French Formula Renault Championship, where he took third place overall, and was elected Rookie of the Year. Fässler moved into Formula 3 and drove in 1997 and 1998 in the French Formula 3 Championship. In 1997 he came eleventh place overall, 1998, he was in the final fourth. 1999 Fässler runner-up in the German Formula 3 Championship.
At the reintroduction of the DTM in 2000 Fässler was taken from the Mercedes Benz factory team under contract and was now DTM driver in the highest German touring car class. For Mercedes Benz Fässler went from 2000 to 2003. At the Grand Prix in Monaco and Canada in 2001, he represented the then injured Bernd Mayländer as a driver of the Safety Car in Formula 1 in the seasons 2000-2002 Fässler won the DTM Appreciation three times fourth overall. He was in the final third in his best DTM season 2003. Overall, Fässler won in this time three DTM race victories for Mercedes. 2004 and 2005 drove Fässler an Opel Vectra GTS V8. He was ninth in 2004 and 2005, the eleventh DTM standings. After the departure of Opel in the DTM at the end of the 2005 season Fässler got a new contract as a DTM driver.
2006 drove Fässler a Le Mans prototype for the team Swiss Spirit in the Le Mans Series, where he won the 4th place overall. In 2007 he was third start driver of the Swiss team in the A1 Grand Prix series and continues driver for the team Swiss Spirit in the Le Mans Series.
On May 9 and June 10, 2007 Fässler took along with Klaus Ludwig, Robert Lechner and Sascha Bert on an Aston Martin DBRS9 the 24-hour race on the Nürburgring Nordschleife part. In fourth position, the team retired six hours before the end of the race with an engine failure. On July 29, 2007 Fässler won with Jean- Denis Delétraz, Mike Hezemans and Fabrizio Gollin on a Chevrolet Corvette C6.R of teams Cars Portholland the 24 - hour race at Spa -Francorchamps and another round of the FIA GT Championship in Zolder for the competing team Phoenix Racing.
In 2008 he received a contract for the whole season of the FIA GT in Phoenix. There he won with Jean -Denis Delétraz the two championship races on the street circuit in Bucharest and finished three more runs on the podium. In addition, Fässler started with Olivier Panis and Simon Pagenaud for ORECA in the 24- hour race at Le Mans, but resigned after an accident. In addition, he supported a number of teams in different series. So Fässler went next to his involvement in the FIA GT also race in the French GT Championship, the International GT Open and two Cup races in the American Le Mans Series with the factory team Audi.
2009 saw Fässler in the International GT Open and drove there a Ferrari F430 GTC of the Swiss team idiot Racing, where he has occasionally attacked in 2008 the tax. He and Joel Camathias closed the season with six overall victories from a master. In addition, he received at Speedy Racing Team Sebah the possibility a Le Mans prototype in the Le Mans Series to pilot, up to a second place at the season finale at Silverstone Fässler achieved only mediocre results. At the 24 - hour race at Le Mans, with the Speedy Racing also launched, Fässler drove the other hand, for the factory team Corvette, which he supported already at the longer championship races in the American Le Mans Series at Sebring and the Petit Le Mans 2009. At his previous team Phonix Racing Fässler also denied the 24-hour race in Spa -Francorchamps, where he, Basseng, Henri Moser and Alexandros Margaritis finished with the Audi R8 LMS on the podium and as a class winner of the G2 category.
2010 signed a contract with Fässler Audi factory team Joest Racing and appearances for the team, the 1000 km race at Spa -Francorchamps, the. 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Petit Le Mans
12 June 2011 as the first Swiss Fässler won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. On an Audi R18 he drove with his teammates Benoît Treluyer and André Lotterer to a very narrow victory, followed by three cars of Peugeot Sport.
His ties to racing cars shows Marcel Fässler occasionally in a representative manner, for example as a pilot of racing taxis on the occasion of the international mountain race Arosa ClassicCar, 2012.
Private
Marcel Fässler is married and has four daughters. He lives in Gross.