Marcel Fässler (born 27 May 1976) is a Swiss former

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

. From 2010 to 2016 he competed in the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship, abbreviated as WEC, is a world championship for automobile endurance racing organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The se ...

as part of Audi Sport Team Joest with co-drivers

André Lotterer André Lotterer (born 19 November 1981) is a German racing driver, who most recently competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Porsche in motorsport, Porsche. In formula racing, Lotterer competed in Formula One at the in , and Formu ...

and Benoît Tréluyer, winning the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

three times (2011, 2012, and 2014) and capturing the World Endurance Drivers' Championship in 2012.

Professional career

Touring car racing

Born in

Einsiedeln Einsiedeln () is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality and Districts of Switzerland#Schwyz, district in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland known for its monastery, the Benedictine Einsiedeln Abbey, established in the 10th century. Histor ...

, Fässler began competing in the

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, commonly abbreviated as the DTM, is a sports car racing series sanctioned by ADAC. The series is based in Germany, with rounds elsewhere in Europe. The series currently races a modified version of Group GT3 gra ...

for

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

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 The Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class is a former series of mid-size or compact executive car, entry-level luxury coupés and convertibles produced by Mercedes-Benz between 1996 and 2010. Although its design and styling was derived from the E-Class, the mec ...

. He moved to

Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Gr ...

and an

Opel Vectra The Opel Vectra is a mid-size car (large family car) that was engineered and produced by the German automaker Opel from 1988 until 2010. Available in Sedan (automobile), saloon, hatchback and Station wagon, estate (from model year 1997 onwards ...

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 In motorsport, a safety car, or a pace car, is a car that limits the speed of competing cars or motorcycles on a racetrack in the case of a ''caution period,'' such as an obstruction on the track or bad weather. The safety car aims to enable the ...

for one event in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, while regular driver

Bernd Mayländer Bernd Michael Mayländer (born 29 May 1971) is a German racing driver and current Formula One safety car driver. Racing career Bernd started his career in karting at the end of the 1980s. In the following years he made his way to the Formula Fo ...

was off due to an injury. He was on track for three laps after a crash involving Williams'

Juan Pablo Montoya Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (; born 20 September 1975) is a Colombian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to , IndyCar between 1999 and 2022, and the NASCAR Cup Series between 2006 and 2024. Montoya won seven Formula One Grand ...

and

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

Rubens Barrichello Rubens Gonçalves Barrichello (; born 23 May 1972) is a Brazilian racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster, who competes in the Stock Car Pro Series for Full Time Sports. Nicknamed "Rubinho" (), Barrichello competed in Formula One fro ...

. He also worked as a successor in

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

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 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 ...

for Swiss Spirit. In 2007, he returned to open-wheel racing for A1 Team Switzerland in the 6th round of the

A1 Grand Prix A1 Grand Prix Operations Ltd. operated as A1 Grand Prix (A1GP) was a "single-make" open-wheel auto racing series that ran from 2005 until 2009. It was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation as opposed to themse ...

series held in

Taupō Taupō (), sometimes written Taupo, is a town located in the central North Island of New Zealand. It is situated on the edge of Lake Taupō, which is the largest freshwater lake in New Zealand. Taupō was constituted as a borough in 1953. It h ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, and in the 9th round at the

Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is a motorsport race track in Mexico City, Mexico, named after the racing drivers Ricardo Rodríguez (1942–1962) and Pedro Rodríguez (1940–1971). The circuit got its current name in 1979 after Ricardo ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. 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 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 ...

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 The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le M ...

Road America Road America is a motorsport Road racing, road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the IndyCar Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship, Sports Car Club ...

race on a works Audi R10 TDI for Audi Sport North America. LMP1 team Sebah hired Fässler for the 2009 Le Mans Series season, 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 The Ferrari F430 (Type F131) is a sports car produced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Ferrari from 2004 until 2009 as a successor to the Ferrari 360. The car is an update to the 360 with exterior and performance changes. It was unveiled a ...

. 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 Petit Le Mans (French language, French for ''Little Le Mans'') is a sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, United States. The race has been held for a durat ...

, 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 The Audi R8 is a mid-engine, 2-seater sports car, which uses Audi's trademark quattro permanent all-wheel drive system. It was introduced by the German car manufacturer Audi AG in 2006. Production ended in the first quarter of 2024. The car i ...

. 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 Oliver Benjamin Gavin (born 29 September 1972) is a British racing driver who joined Corvette Racing in 2002. He has won five American Le Mans Series class championships, five 24 Hours of Le Mans class wins, six 12 Hours of Sebring class wi ...

and

Tommy Milner Thomas Milner (born January 28, 1986) is an American GM factory racing and test driver, also currently employed full-time in Corvette Racing. He is also the co-owner of PRIVATE LABEL Team Hype E-Sports team on iRacing. He was featured in 2011 ...

by the smallest ever margin of victory 0.034 seconds.

Racing record

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) * † — Retired, but was classified as he completed 90% of the winner's race distance. ¹ - Shanghai was a non-championship round.

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Britcar 24 Hour results

Complete American Le Mans Series results

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

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

Complete Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup results

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fassler, Marcel 1976 births Living people Swiss racing drivers Formule Campus Renault Elf drivers French Formula Renault 2.0 drivers British Formula Three Championship drivers French Formula Three Championship drivers German Formula Three Championship drivers A1 Team Switzerland drivers Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans winning drivers American Le Mans Series drivers European Le Mans Series drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers FIA GT Championship drivers GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers International GT Open drivers ADAC GT Masters drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers People from Einsiedeln 24H Series drivers Sportspeople from the canton of Schwyz Audi Sport drivers HWA Team drivers Team Joest drivers W Racing Team drivers Oreca drivers Phoenix Racing drivers Corvette Racing drivers Mercedes-AMG Motorsport drivers Rebellion Racing drivers La Filière drivers Mücke Motorsport drivers G-Drive Racing drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers Porsche Carrera Cup Germany drivers