Marcel Fässler (racing driver) explained

Marcel Fässler
Nationality: Swiss
Birth Date:27 May 1976
Birth Place:Einsiedeln, Switzerland
Racing Licence: FIA Platinum
Last Series:FIA World Endurance Championship
Years Active:20122016
Former Teams:Audi Sport Team Joest
Starts:41
Wins:10
Podiums:24
Poles:7
Championships:1 (2012)
Career Template1:
Embed:yes
Last Series:DTM
Years Active:20002005
Former Teams:HWA Team
Phoenix Racing
Team Holzer
Starts:87
Wins:5
Podiums:19
Poles:6
Fastest Laps:4
Best Finish:3rd
Year:2003
Career Template2:
Subbox:yes
Years:
Best Finish:1st
Class Wins:3

Marcel Fässler (born 27 May 1976) is a Swiss former racing driver. From 2010 to 2016 he competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship as part of Audi Sport Team Joest with co-drivers André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times (2011, 2012, and 2014) and capturing the World Endurance Drivers' Championship in 2012.

Professional career

Touring car racing

Born in Einsiedeln, Fässler began competing in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters for Mercedes-Benz when it resumed in 2000. He finished 4th with no wins in 2000, 4th with one win in 2001 and in 2002 and 3rd with one win in 2003, all four seasons with a Mercedes-Benz CLK. He moved to Opel and an Opel Vectra GTS V8 for 2004 and 2005, where he finished 9th and 12th with no wins after which the brand retired from the DTM.

Marcel also drove the Formula One Mercedes-Benz safety car for one event in Canada, while regular driver Bernd Mayländer was off due to an injury. He was on track for three laps after a crash involving Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya and Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello. He also worked as a successor in Monaco.[1]

Sports car racing

Fässler switched to sports cars in 2006, finishing second at the Spa 24 Hours in a Phoenix Aston Martin DBR9 and collecting two overall podiums at the Le Mans Series for Swiss Spirit. In 2007, he returned to open-wheel racing for A1 Team Switzerland in the 6th round of the A1 Grand Prix series held in Taupō, New Zealand, and in the 9th round at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico. He also won the Spa 24 Hours on a Chevrolet Corvette C6.R for Phoenix Carsport.

For 2008, Fässler joined the team for the full FIA GT Championship season. Sharing a GT1 class Corvette with Jean-Denis Delétraz, he won two races, finished 7th in the standings and helped the team finish 2nd at the teams championship. The same year he finished 2nd at the American Le Mans Series Road America race on a works Audi R10 TDI for Audi Sport North America. LMP1 team Sebah hired Fässler for the 2009 Le Mans Series season,[2] having a 2nd-place finish as best result. In addition, he and Joël Camathias were crowned International GT Open overall and Super GT class champions in a Trottet-fielded Ferrari F430. He also retired at the 24 Hours of Le Mans driving a works GT1 class Corvette and finished 4th in the GT2 class of the petit Le Mans, also for Corvette Racing.

Audi works team Joest hired Fässler to drive the Audi R15 TDI plus at three 2010 races: Spa (12th), Le Mans (2nd) and Petit Le Mans (6th). He also retired at the 24 Hours of Spa running a Phoenix Audi R8 LMS. In 2016 Marcel re-joined Corvette Racing for the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona and won the GTLM Class in the No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R with regular season drivers Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner by the smallest ever margin of victory 0.034 seconds.[3]

Racing record

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

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

YearTeamCar1234567891011121314151617181920DCPoints
2000HWA TeamAMG-Mercedes CLK-DTMHOC
1

HOC
2

OSC
1

OSC
2

NOR
1

NOR
2

SAC
1

SAC
2

NÜR
1

NÜR
2

LAU
1

LAU
2

OSC
1

OSC
2

NÜR
1

NÜR
2

HOC
1

HOC
2

4th116
2001HWA TeamAMG-Mercedes CLK-DTMHOC
QR

HOC
CR

NÜR
QR

NÜR
CR

OSC
QR

OSC
CR

SAC
QR

SAC
CR

NOR
QR

NOR
CR

LAU
QR

LAU
CR

NÜR
QR

NÜR
CR

A1R
QR

A1R
CR

ZAN
QR

ZAN
CR

HOC
QR

HOC
CR

4th76
2002HWA TeamAMG-Mercedes CLK-DTMHOC
QR

HOC
CR

ZOL
QR

ZOL
CR

DON
QR

DON
CR

SAC
QR

SAC
CR

NOR
QR

NOR
CR

LAU
QR

LAU
CR

NÜR
QR

NÜR
CR

A1R
QR

A1R
CR

ZAN
QR

ZAN
CR

HOC
QR

HOC
CR

4th30
2003HWA TeamAMG-Mercedes CLK 2003HOC
ADR
NÜR
LAU
NOR
DON
NÜR
A1R
ZAN
HOC
3rd57
2004OPC Team PhoenixOpel Vectra GTS V8 2004HOC
EST
ADR
LAU
NOR
SHA1
14†
NÜR
OSC
ZAN
BRN
HOC
9th13
2005OPC Team HolzerOpel Vectra GTS V8 2005HOC
LAU
SPA
BRN
OSC
NOR
NÜR
ZAN
LAU
IST
HOC
12th12

1 - Shanghai was a non-championship round.

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

YearTeamCo-DriversCarClassLaps
Swiss Spirit Harold Primat
Philipp Peter
Courage LC70-JuddLMP1132DNFDNF
Swiss Spirit Jean-Denis Délétraz
Iradj Alexander
Lola B07/18-AudiLMP162DNFDNF
Team Oreca-Matmut Olivier Panis
Simon Pagenaud
Courage-Oreca LC70-JuddLMP1147DNFDNF
Corvette Racing Oliver Gavin
Olivier Beretta
Chevrolet Corvette C6.RGT1311DNFDNF
Audi Sport Team Joest André Lotterer
Benoît Tréluyer
Audi R15 TDI plusLMP13962nd2nd
Audi Sport Team Joest André Lotterer
Benoît Tréluyer
Audi R18 TDILMP13551st1st
Audi Sport Team Joest André Lotterer
Benoît Tréluyer
Audi R18 e-tron quattroLMP13781st1st
Audi Sport Team Joest André Lotterer
Benoît Tréluyer
Audi R18 e-tron quattroLMP13385th5th
Audi Sport Team Joest André Lotterer
Benoît Tréluyer
Audi R18 e-tron quattroLMP1-H3791st1st
Audi Sport Team Joest André Lotterer
Benoît Tréluyer
Audi R18 e-tron quattroLMP13933rd3rd
Audi Sport Team Joest André Lotterer
Benoît Tréluyer
Audi R18LMP13674th4th
Corvette Racing - GM Tommy Milner
Oliver Gavin
Chevrolet Corvette C7.RGTE
Pro
33524th8th
Corvette Racing - GM Tommy Milner
Oliver Gavin
Chevrolet Corvette C7.RGTE
Pro
259DNFDNF
Corvette Racing Tommy Milner
Oliver Gavin
Chevrolet Corvette C7.RGTE
Pro
82DNFDNF

Complete American Le Mans Series results

YearEntrantClassChassisEngine1234567891011RankPointsRef
2008Audi Sport North AmericaLMP1Audi R10 TDIAudi 5.5L Turbo V12
(Diesel)
SEBSTPLNBUTALIMMIDAME
ovr:2
cls:2
MOSDET
ovr:DSQ
cls:DSQ
PETMON19th21[5]
2009Corvette RacingGT1Chevrolet Corvette C6.RChevrolet LS7.R 7.0L V8
(E85 ethanol)
SEB
ovr:7
cls:2
STPLNBUTALIMMIDAMEMOS6th26[6]
GT2Chevrolet Corvette C6.RChevrolet 6.0L V8PET
ovr:11
cls:4
MON31st20
2010Audi Sport Team JoestLMP1Audi R15 TDI plusAudi 5.5L Turbo V10
(Diesel)
SEBLNBMONUTALIMMIDAMEMOSPET
ovr:6
cls:5
NC-[7]
2011Audi Sport Team JoestLMP1Audi R18 TDIAudi 3.7L Turbo V6
(Diesel)
SEBLNBLIMMOSMIDAMEBALMONPET
ovr:Ret
cls:Ret
NC-[8]
2013Audi Sport Team JoestP1Audi R18 e-tron quattroAudi 3.7L Turbo V6
(Diesel)
SEB
ovr:1
cls:1
LNBMONLIMMOSAMEBALCOTAVIRPETNC-[9]

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

YearEntrantClassChassisEngine123456789RankPoints
2012Audi Sport Team JoestLMP1Audi R18 e-tron quattroAudi TDI 3.7L Turbo V6
(Hybrid Diesel)
SEB
SPA
LMS
SIL
SÃO
BHR
FUJ
SHA
1st172.5
2013Audi Sport Team JoestLMP1Audi R18 e-tron quattroAudi TDI 3.7L Turbo V6
(Hybrid Diesel)
SIL
SPA
LMS
SÃO
COA
FUJ
SHA
BHR
2nd149.25
2014Audi Sport Team JoestLMP1Audi R18 e-tron quattroAudi TDI 4.0 L Turbo V6
(Hybrid Diesel)
SIL
SPA
LMS
COA
FUJ
SHA
BHR
SÃO
2nd127
2015Audi Sport Team JoestLMP1Audi R18 e-tron quattroAudi TDI 4.0 L Turbo V6
(Hybrid Diesel)
SIL
SPA
LMS
NÜR
COA
FUJ
SHA
BHR
2nd161
2016Audi Sport Team JoestLMP1Audi R18Audi TDI 4.0 L Turbo Diesel V6
(Hybrid)
SIL
SPA
LMS
NÜR
MEX
COA
FUJ
SHA
BHR
5th104

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

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

YearEntrantClassMakeEngine1234567891011RankPointsRef
2016Corvette RacingGTLMChevrolet Corvette C7.RChevrolet 5.5 V8DAY
SEB
LBHLGAWGLMOSLIMELKVIRCOAPET
12th103[10]
2017Corvette RacingGTLMChevrolet Corvette C7.RChevrolet LT 5.5 V8DAY
SEB
LBHCOAWGLMOSLIMELKVIRLGAPET
16th71[11]
2018Corvette RacingGTLMChevrolet Corvette C7.RChevrolet LT5.5 5.5 V8DAY
SEB
LBHMOHWGLMOSLIMELKVIRLGAPET
12th85[12]
2019Corvette RacingGTLMChevrolet Corvette C7.RChevrolet LT 5.5 V8DAY
SEB
LBHMDOWGLMOS
LIM
ELKVIRLGAPET
13th118[13]
2020Corvette RacingGTLMChevrolet Corvette C8.RChevrolet 5.5 L V8DAY
DAYSEBELKVIRATLMDOCLTPET
LGASEB
10th77[14]

Complete Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup results

References

  1. Web site: Marcel Fässler auf dem Weg in die Formel 1. Hust. Fabian. 16 June 2001. motorsport-total.com. de. 2 September 2017.
  2. Book: Codling, Stuart. Art of the Le Mans Race Car: 90 Years of Speed. 11 February 2016. 2013. Motorbooks. 9780760344378. 230.
  3. Web site: Chevrolet Corvette C7.R wins Rolex 24 GTLM class in closest finish ever. 31 January 2016. Autoweek. 2 September 2017.
  4. Web site: Britcar 24 Hours – Provisional Result. 2007. DailySportsCar. 2 September 2023.
  5. Web site: Marcel Fassler – 2008 American Le Mans Series Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. 2 September 2023.
  6. Web site: Marcel Fassler – 2009 American Le Mans Series Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. 2 September 2023.
  7. Web site: Marcel Fassler – 2010 American Le Mans Series Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. 2 September 2023.
  8. Web site: Marcel Fassler – 2011 American Le Mans Series Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. 2 September 2023.
  9. Web site: Marcel Fassler – 2013 American Le Mans Series Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. 2 September 2023.
  10. Web site: Marcel Fassler – 2016 Weathertech SportsCar Championship Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. 2 September 2023.
  11. Web site: Marcel Fassler – 2017 Weathertech SportsCar Championship Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. 2 September 2023.
  12. Web site: Marcel Fassler – 2018 Weathertech SportsCar Championship Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. 2 September 2023.
  13. Web site: Marcel Fassler – 2019 Weathertech SportsCar Championship Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. 2 September 2023.
  14. Web site: Marcel Fassler – 2020 Weathertech SportsCar Championship Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. 2 September 2023.