Marc Gené

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Marc Gené

Nationality Spanish
Car #
Current team Ferrari
Formula One World Championship career
Races 36
Championships 0
Wins 0
Podium finishes 0
Pole positions 0
Career points 5
Fastest laps 0
First race 1999 Australian Grand Prix
Latest race 2004 British Grand Prix
2007 position
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Participating years 2007
Teams Peugeot
Best finish DNF (30th)
Class wins 0

Marc Gené Guerrero (born May 29, 1974) was a test driver for the Scuderia Ferrari Formula One team in 2007. Recently, he also served as a replacement for Ralf Schumacher for the WilliamsF1 team, following his injury in the 2004 United States Grand Prix. His brother Jordi is also a racing driver, competing in the WTCC for SEAT.

Born in Sabadell, Catalonia, Spain, he finished runner-up in the 1987 Catalan Kart Championship (National Class) at the age of 13; he would win both this and the National Class Spanish Kart Championship in 1988. In 1989 he competed in both the European and World championships. Gene won the Senior Class of the 1990 Spanish Kart Championship, making him the youngest driver to do so. He competed again in the World Championship in 1991, placing 13th.

For 1992 Gené moved into Formula Ford, placing 5th in the Spanish championship with a win and 2 pole positions. He was runner-up in the 1993 European Championship, with 1 win and 3 podiums; also, Gené took 2nd place at the Formula Ford Festival. In 1994, Gené was named Rookie of the Year in the British Formula Three Championship; he placed 10th in 1995. In 1996 Gené won the FISA Superformula championship, and in 1997 he competed in 5 rounds of the FIA Formula 3000 series, though he failed to score a single point. In 1998 he won the Open Fortuna by Nissan Championship.

Gené testing for Ferrari in 2007.
Gené testing for Ferrari in 2007.

Gené got his big break in 1999, occupying a race seat with the Minardi team. It was a difficult year; however, after several 9th places and an 8th, he managed to score his first point, and Minardi's first since 1995, with a 6th place at the European Grand Prix. He continued with Minardi in 2000, but failed to score a single point. Unable to obtain a quality drive for 2001, Gené opted to sign with Williams as test driver. He has, however, driven some Grands Prix for Williams. The first of these was the 2003 Italian Grand Prix, where Ralf Schumacher was unable to race because of a concussion. Gené replaced his teammate well, collecting 4 points for a 5th place finish, but Schumacher was back in the car for the next race in the USA. Following a back injury to Schumacher at the 2004 USGP, Gené drove in the 2004 French and British Grands Prix, but subsequently lost the race seat to Antônio Pizzonia and hasn't raced since.

In November 2004, Gené signed a deal to become a test driver for Scuderia Ferrari alongside former teammate Luca Badoer. His contract was renewed for 2007.[1] However, due to a limit on testing in Formula One in 2007, Gené has also been hired by Peugeot as a factory driver for their 908 Le Mans Series effort, as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Continuing in both roles for 2008, Gené crashed his 908 heavily in practice for the 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans, but escaped with a broken toe.[2]

Gené is the only current F1 driver with a university degree (in economics).[citation needed] Gené can also speak four languages fluently.

Career Statistics (as of 2004 British Grand Prix)


[edit] Complete Formula One results

(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 WDC Points
1999 Fondmetal Minardi Ford Minardi M01 Ford V10 AUS
Ret
BRA
9
SMR
9
MON
Ret
ESP
Ret
CAN
8
FRA
Ret
GBR
15
AUT
11
GER
9
HUN
17
BEL
16
ITA
Ret
EUR
6
MAL
9
JPN
Ret
18th 1
2000 Telefonica Minardi Fondmetal Minardi M02 Fondmetal V10 AUS
8
BRA
Ret
SMR
Ret
GBR
14
ESP
14
EUR
Ret
MON
Ret
CAN
16
FRA
15
AUT
8
GER
Ret
HUN
15
BEL
14
ITA
9
USA
12
JPN
Ret
MAL
Ret
19th 0
2003 BMW WilliamsF1 Team Williams FW25 BMW V10 AUS
MAL
BRA
SMR
ESP
AUT
MON
CAN
EUR
FRA
GBR
GER
HUN
ITA
5
USA
JPN
17th 4
2004 BMW WilliamsF1 Team Williams FW26 BMW V10 AUS
MAL
BHR
SMR
ESP
MON
EUR
CAN
USA
FRA
10
GBR
12
GER
HUN
BEL
ITA
CHN
JPN
BRA
23rd 0

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Gene stays at Ferrari - but to do what?", Grandprix.com, 2006-11-10. Retrieved on 2006-11-12. 
  2. ^ "Gene hospitalised after Le Mans crash", autosport.com, 2008-06-01. Retrieved on 2008-06-02. 

[edit] External links

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Sporting positions
Preceded by
none
Open Fortuna by Nissan Champion
1998
Succeeded by
Fernando Alonso