Loris Kessel

Loris Kessel (1 April 1950 – 15 May 2010) was a Swiss racing driver.

Biography Kessel was born in Lugano, Switzerland.

Following a couple of season in Formula Two, where he managed to finish fourth twice at Hockenheim driving for the March team, Kessel made his debut in Formula One.

Kessel participated in six Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 2 May 1976, driving a Brabham for RAM.

In 1977, he drove his own Apollon-Williams. He scored no championship points.

Following his retirement from competitive motorracing in 1981, Kessel established a series of car dealerships in Switzerland as well as his own racing team, competing in Ferrari Challenge series in Italy and the main European series. The team also competes in the FIA GT3 European Championship with the same car.

In 2010, Kessel died in Montagnola, Switzerland, after a battle with leukemia.

His son Ronnie continues to operate the Kessel cars dealership.

Racing record

Complete European Formula Two Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pts Team Vonlanthen March 742 BMW BAR HOC PAU SAL HOC MUG KAR PER HOC VAL NC 0 Ambrozium Racing Team March 742 BMW EST THR HOC NÜR PAU HOC SAL ROU 15th 7 March 752 MUG PER SIL ZOL NOG VAL Horag Hotz Racing March 812 BMW SIL HOC THR NÜR VAL MUG NC 0 Astra Team Merzario Srl Merzario M1 PAU Horag Hotz Racing March 802 PER SPA Astra Team Merzario Srl March 812 DON MIS MAN

Complete Formula One World Championship results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Pts 1976 RAM Racing Brabham BT44B Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 BRA RSA USW ESP BEL MON SWE FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA CAN USA JPN NC 0 1977 Jolly Club of Switzerland Apollon Fly Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG BRA RSA USW ESP MON BEL SWE FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA USA CAN JPN NC 0

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 1985 Carma F.F. (Cheetah) Jean-Pierre Frey Ruggero Melgrati Aldo Bertuzzi Alba AR2-Carma C2 - DNS DNS 1993 Obermaier Racing GmbH Otto Altenbach Jürgen Oppermann Porsche 962C C2 355 7th 3rd