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

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

. From 2010 to 2016 he competed in the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship is an auto racing world championship organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The series supersedes the ACO's former Intercont ...

as part of

Audi Sport Team Joest Joest Racing is a sports car racing team that was established in 1978 by former Porsche works racer Reinhold Joest. Their headquarters are in Wald-Michelbach, Germany. Early years As a combined driver/team owner, Reinhold Joest first began t ...

with co-drivers

André Lotterer André Lotterer (born 19 November 1981) is a German professional racing driver currently racing for Avalanche Andretti Formula E in the FIA Formula E Championship. He is best known for his success in endurance racing with the works Audi team, ...

and

Benoît Tréluyer Benoît Tréluyer (; born 7 December 1976) is a French professional racing driver. Early career Beginning his motorsport career in motocross and karting, Alençon-born Tréluyer switched to single-seaters in Formula Renault Campus for 1995. He w ...

, winning the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

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 municipality and district in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland known for its monastery, the Benedictine Einsiedeln Abbey, established in the 10th century. History Early history There was no permanent settlement in the area p ...

, Fässler began competing in the

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM, German Touring Car Masters) is a grand touring car series sanctioned by ITR e.V. who have been affiliated to the DMSB-FIA since 1984. The series is based in Germany, with rounds elsewhere in Europe. The ser ...

for

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...

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 entry-level luxury coupés and convertibles produced by Mercedes-Benz between 1997 and 2010. Although its design and styling was derived from the E-Class, the mechanical underpinnings ...

. 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 Grou ...

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 saloon, hatchback and estate body styles, the Vectra was also sold by the Vauxhall marque i ...

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 Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, while regular driver

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

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 September 20, 1975) is a Colombian racing driver. He won the International F3000 championship in 1998, the CART FedEx Championship Series in 1999 in his debut year in the series, and the IMSA WeatherTech S ...

and

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

Rubens Barrichello Rubens "Rubinho" Gonçalves Barrichello (, ; born 23 May 1972) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competed in Formula One between and . He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 111 Toy ...

. He also worked as a successor in

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

Sports car racing

Fässler switched to sports cars in 2006, finishing second at the

Spa 24 Hours The 24 Hours of Spa is an Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by TotalEnergies. History The Spa 24 Hours was ...

in a Phoenix

Aston Martin DBR9 The Aston Martin DBR9 is a racing car built by Aston Martin Racing, debuting in 2005 and racing actively in international sportscar racing until the end of GT1 category in 2011. The name DBR9 is derived from the original 24 Hours of Le Mans-winn ...

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 fo ...

for Swiss Spirit. In 2007, he returned to open-wheel racing for

A1 Team Switzerland A1 Team Switzerland is the Swiss team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. The team were the A1 Grand Prix champions for the third season, 2007-08. Management A1 Team Switzerland is owned by Max Welti. History In the inaugural ...

in the 6th round of the

A1 Grand Prix 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 themselves or a team, the usual format in most for ...

series held in Taupo,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, 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 (1942–1962) and Pedro Rodríguez (1940–1971). The circuit got its name shortly after it opened when Ricardo Rodr ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. He also won the

on a

Chevrolet Corvette C6.R The Chevrolet Corvette C6.R is a grand tourer racing car built by Pratt & Miller and Chevrolet for competition in endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing. It is a replacement for the Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, Corvette C5-R racing car, app ...

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 Jean-Denis Delétraz (born 1 October 1963) is a Swiss racing driver. He participated in three Formula One Grands Prix, debuting in the 1994 Australian Grand Prix. Before reaching Formula One, he scored two third places in the 1988 International Fo ...

, 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 and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The American Le Mans' hea ...

Road America Road America is a motorsport road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, United States on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, WeatherTech SportsCar Champ ...

race on a works

Audi R10 TDI The Audi R10 TDI, usually abbreviated to R10, is a diesel-powered racing car from the German car manufacturer Audi. The car dominated Le Mans, winning each year from its 2006 introduction until it was replaced by the R15 in 2009. It was design ...

for Audi Sport North America. LMP1 team Sebah hired Fässler for the

2009 Le Mans Series season The 2009 Le Mans Series was the sixth season of Automobile Club de l'Ouest's Le Mans Series. It was contested over five events between 5 April and 13 September 2009. Aston Martin Racing trio Jan Charouz, Tomáš Enge and Stefan Mücke finished ev ...

, having a 2nd-place finish as best result. In addition, he and

Joël Camathias Joël Camathias (born 9 February 1981) is a Swiss race car driver born in Lugano. In 2001 he raced in the International Formula 3000 championship and in 2002 in the European F3000 series. In 2003 he made 7 starts in the American Champ Car series fo ...

were crowned

International GT Open The International GT Open is a grand tourer-style sports car racing series founded in 2006 by the Spanish GT Sport Organización. It was a spin-off of the now-defunct Spanish GT Championship, but is now a distinct series featuring FIA GT3-spec car ...

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 The Petit Le Mans (French for ''little Le Mans'') is a sports car endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, USA. It uses the rules established for the 24 Hours of Le Mans by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), which ...

, 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. The car is exclusively designed, developed, and manufact ...

. In 2016 Marcel re-joined

Corvette Racing Corvette Racing is an American auto racing team established in 1999 by General Motors and Pratt & Miller for the purposes of competing in sports car racing internationally. Corvette Racing is an official racing program for General Motors and t ...

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, five 12 Hours of Sebring class win ...

and

Tommy Milner Tommy 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 Team Hype Sim. He was featured in 2011 racing video game Shift 2: Unleashed ...

by the smallest ever margin of victory 0.034 seconds.

Racing record

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (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

(

) (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 Blancpain Endurance Series 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