Marcel Fässler: "Had hoped for Le Mans" 🎥
CORVETTE STAYING HOME For the first time in 14 years, Marcel Fässler will not be competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Corvette Racing has withdrawn the entry of its two C8.R cars for understandable reasons. The film shows the team during development tests of the new mid-engine cars at Sebring in the spring. Marcel Fässler also has his say. Still [...]
The film shows the team during the development tests of the new mid-engine cars at Sebring in the spring. Marcel Fässler also has his say.
In any case, it is not yet set in stone that the 24-hour Le Mans race, which has been postponed from mid-June to mid-September, will take place at all. Without spectators, i.e. as a "ghost race," this event is unthinkable.
During Le Mans race week, around a quarter of a million spectators from all over Europe normally line the Circuit de la Sarthe with its huge grandstands. And so far, no European country allows such large-scale events beyond the end of August.
Planning uncertainty when traveling
While the first border openings in our latitudes without restrictions are in prospect as of June, open intercontinental transit traffic is probably not up for discussion for a long time yet. This planning uncertainty has already caused two racing teams from the USA to withdraw from Le Mans.
First Porsche, then Corvette
Porsche Motorsport, for example, will not be sending its two 911 RSRs fielded in the American Sports Car Championship to France as reinforcements. The Germans will only field the two cars familiar from the WEC (World Endurance Championship). Now Corvette Racing is following suit.
September dates agglomeration
The classic race, which has been postponed to calendar week 38, no longer fits into the Americans' schedule at all. The schedule includes races in the IMSA SportsCar Championship the week before Le Mans at Laguna Seca and the following weekend at Mid-Ohio. Since the Americans do not have two teams and special LM cars, the transfer of material and personnel is almost impossible with quarantine conditions still looming.
Corvette Racing has competed at Le Mans without interruption since 2000. Since then, the Americans have won the main GT class eight times.
Most successful Swiss at Le Mans
Also affected by the withdrawal is Marcel Fässler as one of the six scheduled Corvette drivers. Unless another door miraculously opens up, it will be the first absence in 14 years for the soon-to-be 44-year-old from Schwyz.
Since his sports car debut with Swiss Spirit in 2006, Fässler has always been on the grid, winning the race with Audi in 2011 as the first Swiss ever and celebrating two more stunning overall victories in 2012 and 2014.
Powerless
Even though he hasn't had nearly as much success with Corvette Racing as he has with Audi, his heart naturally bleeds.
Marcel Fässler: "I had feared it, but still hoped that we would be able to drive at Le Mans. A lot of things are just out of our hands, especially the travel options."
Two more planned operations
Since the professional, who lives in Gross SZ, currently has no other program than with Corvette Racing, he hopes to be able to take part in at least two more agreed races in late fall after the 24 Hours of Daytona, which he already completed in January.
In mid-October, as in all U.S. endurance races, the Swiss is scheduled to be the third driver alongside Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner at the "Petit Le Mans" at Road Atlanta and from November 11 to 14 at the made-up 12-hour race at Sebring.
Marcel Fässler: "I deliberately left everything open except Corvette Racing in 2020. That's why no other GT races are planned at the moment. We'll see how the situation develops."
An advantage of maturity
After all, the former Mercedes DTM factory driver is in the fortunate position of already having his mite in motorsport in the dry. Many younger, up-and-coming drivers, on the other hand, are worried about their future and that of their teams, as the Corona pandemic will have economic consequences in all walks of life.
Marcel Fässler: "Even if I hope otherwise, I am convinced that motorsport will face huge problems. If it's necessary, manufacturers or sponsors will be the first to make savings. That's why I'm glad and happy that I've been able to experience so much as a driver."
