Klaus Abbelen (born 15 September 1960) is a German race car driver. After starting racing Ferraris in the 1990s, he became the Euro GT Series champion in 2000. He has also recently competed in the

FIA GT Championship The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...

, as well as in the

Le Mans Endurance Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

. In 2006, he and

Sabine Schmitz Sabine Schmitz (; 14 May 1969 – 16 March 2021) was a German professional motor racing driver and television personality. Born in Adenau to a family in the hotel and catering business, and raised in one of the villages nestled within the Nürb ...

drove the #97

Porsche 997 Porsche 997 is the internal designation for the Porsche 911 sports car manufactured and sold by the German automobile manufacturer Porsche between 2004 (as Model Year 2005) and 2013. Production of the Carrera and Carrera S coupés began in early ...

in the VLN endurance racing series on the Nürburgring, entered by Land Motorsport.

Early career

Abbelen started his endurance career in 1999, joining class A in the Ferrari Porsche Challenge in a Porsche, finishing second in his class. In 2002, Abbelen attempted to run the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, but failed to get in. In the same year, Abbelen joined the A Class in the Euro GT Series, where he joined Team W&A, placing 3rd overall.

Career

In 2003, Abbelen joined multiple series, beginning with the Euro GT Series. Then, he joined the

French GT Championship The FFSA GT Championship (''Championnat de France FFSA GT'') is a French Grand Touring-style sports car racing series that began in 1997. It is the main event of the ''Championnat de France des Circuits'' (formerly called ''Super Série FFSA'' and ...

, driving a Porsche 911 for Chateau Sport for 2 races along with racer

Stéphane Ortelli Stéphane Ortelli (born 30 March 1970 in Hyères, Var, France) is a Monégasque professional racing driver with three world championship titles. He has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in with Allan McNish and Laurent Aïello and the Spa ...

. The pair would fail to reach podium and would settle for a 41st in the final standings. Abbelen would then join Zwaan's Racing in the

, driving their Chrysler Viper with Arjan van der Zwaan and Robert van der Zwaan. In 7 races, the team would fail to reach podium, finishing the championship 19th in points. Abbelen would then move to the

Porsche Supercup The Porsche Supercup (officially known as Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, known as Porsche Michelin Supercup prior to 2007) is an international one-make sports car racing series supporting the FIA Formula One World Championship organized by Porsche ...

, racing for DeWalt Racing driving their Porsche 911 for a single race. In 2004, Abberlen ran in the

, driving a Saleen S7-R for

Konrad Motorsport Konrad Motorsport is an auto racing team initially from Austria, but now based in Germany. Founded by Austrian racer Franz Konrad in 1976, the team has mostly run Porsches, although they have also run Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Saleens ove ...

in one race. In 2004, Abberlen returned to Zwaan's Racing in the FIA GT Championship before not making podium again.

References

External links

Company website
1960 births German racing drivers European Le Mans Series drivers Living people Racing drivers from North Rhine-Westphalia Porsche Supercup drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers 24H Series drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers Le Mans Cup drivers Porsche Carrera Cup Germany drivers {{Germany-autoracing-bio-stub