Marc Gené

Marc Gené Born 29 March 1974 (1974-03-29) (age 37) Formula One World Championship career Nationality Spanish Active years 1999–2000, 2003–2004 Teams Minardi, Williams Races 36 Championships 0 Wins 0 Podiums 0 Career points 5 Pole positions 0 Fastest laps 0 First race 1999 Australian Grand Prix Last race 2004 British Grand Prix 24 Hours of Le Mans career Participating years 2007 - Teams Peugeot Best finish 1st (2009) Class wins 1 (2009)

Marc Gené i Guerrero (born March 29, 1974 in Sabadell, Spain) is a motor racing driver, from Catalonia, Spain. He is best known as a tester for Williams and Ferrari in Formula One, Minardi Formula One driver and factory driver for Peugeot's Le Mans team, with which he won the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans. His brother Jordi is also a racing driver, competing in the WTCC for SEAT.

He had 36 starts in Formula One, mostly through two seasons with the Minardi team, with which he scored a sixth place finish at the attrition-filled 1999 European Grand Prix.

From 2010 season, Marc Gené comments the F1 races for Spain's TV broadcaster LaSexta.

Early years

Gené finished runner-up in the 1987 Catalan Kart Championship (National Class) at the age of 13;^[1] 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 fifth in the Spanish championship with a win and two pole positions. He was runner-up in the 1993 European Championship, with one win and three podiums; also, Gené took second place at the Formula Ford World Cup and Festival.^[2] In 1994, Gené was named Rookie of the Year in the British Formula Three Championship;^[1] he placed 10th in 1995. In 1996 Gené won the FISA Superformula championship, and in 1997 he competed in six rounds of the FIA Formula 3000 series, though he failed to score a point. In 1998 he won the Open Fortuna by Nissan Championship with six wins and three poles.^[1]

Gené testing for Ferrari in 2007.

Formula One

Gené got his big break in 1999, occupying a race seat with the Minardi team. It was a difficult year; however, after several ninth places and an eighth, he managed to score his first point, and Minardi's first since 1995, with a sixth place at the European Grand Prix, while his team-mate Luca Badoer broke down in tears after his car's gearbox failed and denied the Italian his first points finish in Formula One, as he was running in fourth place with 13 laps to go. Gené continued with Minardi in 2000, but failed to score a single point, with his best finish being eighth at the Australian and Austrian Grands Prix. His team-mate in 2000 was Argentina's Gastón Mazzacane, who also achieved a best finish of eighth, at the European Grand Prix.

Testing

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 four points for a fifth 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 has not 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.^[3] A limit on testing in Formula One in 2007 and 2008 has restricted his involvement.

At the end of 2010, Gené along with Luca Badoer and Giancarlo Fisichella was replaced by Jules Bianchi as Ferrari test driver ahead of the 2011 season.^[4]

Sportscar Racing

Gené won the 2010 12 Hours of Sebring with team-mates Alexander Wurz and Anthony Davidson.

Gené has also been hired by Peugeot as a factory driver for their 908 HDi FAP Le Mans Series effort, as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans since 2007. In 2008, Gené crashed his 908 heavily in practice for the 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans, but escaped with a broken toe.^[5] A year later, however, there were no such problems for Marc, and the Peugeot he shared with David Brabham and Alex Wurz completed 382 laps on its way to victory in the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans. He completed the last stint for the team and brought the 908 home to a standing ovation from the avid French crowd, who saw one of their cars stop the recent domination of Audi in the prestigious event. In both 2008 and 2009 he also took part in the 1000 km Spa endurance race, winning in 2008 and finishing 12th in 2009.

Career Statistics (as of 2004 British Grand Prix)

• Grands Prix started: 36
• Points: 5
• Best Championship position: 17th (2003)
• Most points in one season: 4 (2003)
• Best race classification: 5th (2003 Italian Grand Prix)
• Best grid position: 5th (2003 Italian Grand Prix)

Racing record

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	DC	Points
1997	Nordic Racing	SIL 13	PAU DNQ	HEL	NÜR DNQ	PER Ret	HOC 8	A1R	SPA	MUG	JER Ret	25th	0

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

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Class	No	Tyres	Car	Team	Co-Drivers	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2007	LMP1	7	M	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Peugeot HDi 5.5L Turbo V12 (Diesel)	Team Peugeot Total	Nicolas Minassian Jacques Villeneuve	338	DNF	DNF
2008	LMP1	7	M	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Peugeot HDi 5.5L Turbo V12 (Diesel)	Team Peugeot Total	Nicolas Minassian Jacques Villeneuve	381	2nd	2nd
2009	LMP1	9	M	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Peugeot HDi 5.5L Turbo V12 (Diesel)	Team Peugeot Total	David Brabham Alexander Wurz	382	1st	1st
2010	LMP1	1	M	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Peugeot HDi 5.5L Turbo V12 (Diesel)	Team Peugeot Total	Alexander Wurz Anthony Davidson	360	DNF	DNF
2011	LMP1	7	M	Peugeot 908 Peugeot HDi 3.7L Turbo V8 (Diesel)	Peugeot Sport Total	Anthony Davidson Alexander Wurz	351	4th	4th

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} http://www.risicompetizione.com/go/gene.cfm
2. ^ http://manor-motorsport.com/#/1991-1995/4514638440
3. ^ "Gene stays at Ferrari - but to do what?". Grandprix.com. 2006-11-10. http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns17750.html. Retrieved 2006-11-12. 
4. ^ English, Steven (2010-11-11). "Ferrari confirms Bianchi as 2011 tester". Autosport (Haymarket Publications). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88128. Retrieved 2010-12-10. 
5. ^ "Gene hospitalised after Le Mans crash". autosport.com. 2008-06-01. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/67928. Retrieved 2008-06-02. 

External links

• Marc Gené Official Site
• Profile and statistics

Sporting positions
Preceded by None	Open Fortuna by Nissan Champion 1998	Succeeded by Fernando Alonso
Preceded by Allan McNish Rinaldo Capello Tom Kristensen	Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2009 with: David Brabham Alexander Wurz	Succeeded by Timo Bernhard Romain Dumas Mike Rockenfeller

Persondata
Name	Gene, Marc
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	March 29, 1974
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death