Kessel Racing offers Swiss excellence in motorsport worldwide
Kessel Racing is the Swiss racing team mostly known as Ferrari customer team which competes in different GT competitions all over the world. The team was founded by former Formula One driver Loris Kessel who was leading the team until his death in 2010. Today, the Team Principal is Ronnie Kessel.
Kessel Racing has numerous championship titles on its account, achieving it in different competitions such are Ferrari Challenge, Blancpain GT Sports Club, Blancpain GT Series, International GT Open, Italian GT Championship and French GT Championship.
Loris Kessel and Ronnie Kessel
Loris Kessel founded a team in 2000
After an illustrious career in different competitions with different teams, including three starts in Formula One, Loris Kessel founded his own team in 2000 as an addition to his core business with car dealerships in Switzerland. The team first race car was a Ferrari 360 Modena Challenge in the FIA GT Championship. Loris Kessel himself was driving a car.
Three championship titles in 2003
The first success came in 2003 when the team won three championship titles in the Italian N-GT Championship, French N-GT Championship and Ferrari Challenge Europe. In 2004, Andrea Chiesa repeated his triumph in the N-GT class of the Italian GT Championship, driving a Ferrari 360 Modena GTC for Kessel Racing.
From 2005, the team switched to the GT1 class with Ferrari 575 Maranello GTC but without notable results. In the same period, the team was successful in the European Ferrari Challenge, taking three consecutive titles from 2005 to 2007.
Kessel Racing is one of the most successful Ferrari teams
European GT3 champions in 2007
When the FIA GT3 European Championship was inaugurated in 2006, Loris Kessel was among the participants. Next year, Kessel Racing’s drivers Henri Moser and Gilles Vannelet became the European GT3 champions driving a Ferrari 430 GT3. The team spent one more season in the European Championship, switching to another international competition – the International GT Open.
Kessel Racing successfully competed in the GT Open
Four consecutive titles in the International GT Open
In 2009, Stefano Livio was the Italian GT3 champion in a Ferrari 430 but the main success was the first championship title for the team in the International GT Open. After winning six races, Michal Broniszewski and Philipp Peter became the GTS class champions, starting a winning streak of four championship titles for the team.
In 2010, the GTS champion was Marco Frezza. A year later, Lorenzo Bontempelli and Stefano Gattuso were the GTS champions. The fourth consecutive title was brought by Daniel Zampieri and Michael Dalle Stelle in 2012.
Kessel Racing is running Ferraris since the beginning
Blancpain GT Series regulars since 2012
In 2012, Kessel Racing found a new challenge, entering the Blancpain Endurance Series. Since then, the team in is the regular entrant in the competition which became the major European playing ground for GT teams.
Since its first season in the Blancpain Endurance Series, Kessel Racing was running cars in all classes (Pro Cup, Pro-Am Cup, Gentlemen Trophy). In 2012, the team had three Ferrari 458 GT3s and one Ferrari 430 Scuderia.
Maiden Blancpain endurance race win at Monza
In 2013, the team was running three cars in the Blancpain Endurance Series, scoring the first overall victory in the season-opening race at Monza. The drivers were Cesar Ramos, Davide Rigon and Daniel Zampieri. They finished fourth in the final standings.
Since 2014, the team was more focused on Pro-Am and Am classes. The first success came in 2015, when Pro-Am drivers Michal Broniszewski, Alessandro Bonacini and Michael Lyons finished second in the final standings. In the Amateur class, Stephen Earle, Liam Talbot and Marco Zanuttini finished in the third place.
Kessel Racing had extremely successful season in the 2016 Blancpain GT Series
Three championship titles in the 2016 Blancpain GT Series
The full success followed in 2016 when Kessel Racing captured three championship titles in the Blancpain GT Series. Michal Broniszewski, Alessandro Bonacini and Andrea Rizzoli were the Endurance Cup Pro-Am champions in the #11 Ferrari 488 GT3. But, it wasn’t all, because Michael Broniszewski and Giacomo Piccini were also the Pro-Am champions in the Sprint Cup.
The third championship title for the team came in the Am class of the Endurance Cup, where Liam Talbot, Vadim Gitlin and Marco Zanuttini were the most successful crew with the #888 Ferrari 458 Italia GT3.
Michael Broniszewski added the third crown to his account
To round the most successful season for the team, Michal Broniszewski added one more championship title to his account, winning in the 2016 Blancpain GT Sports Club series, reserved for drivers with Bronze and Iron status only. A year earlier, Kessel Racing’s Max Bianchi was the champion in the inaugural Blancpain GT Sports Club season.
With hands full of trophies, Kessel Racing continues with the similar schedule in 2017, participating in the Blancpain GT Series and Ferrari Challenge.
Photos: Kessel Racing FB,
