GT racer and team boss Loris Kessel died yesterday at the age of 60. He had been suffering from leukemia.
The Swiss entrepreneur entered motorsport as a rally driver in the 1970s, before switching to single-seaters and progressing through Formula 3 and Formula 2 to a brief Formula 1 stint, although his sole grand prix finish was 12th place in the 1975 Belgian GP in a RAM-run Brabham. Kessel later reappeared in F3, F2 and sports cars, before establishing Kessel Racing in 2000.
The multiple title-winning team would become synonymous with the Ferrari GT program, and has raced in the FIA GT Championship, as well as domestic GT championships in France, Italy and Germany, and one-make Ferrari series, with Kessel continuing as a driver alongside his team boss role until 2008.