Fässler: Nürburgring return without rancor
BACK AT THE 24-HOUR RACE A year ago, Marcel Fässler narrowly missed out on his longed-for triumph at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring together with Nico Müller. This year he is not one of the absolute favorites - and he doesn't think that's a bad thing at all... After sunny days, the last half hour of the 24 Hours of Nürburgring [...]
After sunny days, the rain set in during the last half hour of the 2017 Nürburgring 24 Hours. Short and heavy as it was, it was fateful for Marcel Fässler.
The Audi R8 of him and Nico Müller was in the lead. At the final pit stop, however, Audi Team WRT decided against rain tires, whereupon final runner René Rast - the eventual DTM Champion - helplessly slipped to third place.
Huge disappointment instead of huge success
Instead of winners, the two Swiss were only third. What would have been a huge success for many was a huge disappointment for them. Marcel Fässler never came that close to his last big endurance success, which is still missing from his collection.
A few weeks later, he also missed out on overall victory in the Blancpain GT Series at the last moment. He has since completely digested both disappointments.
Marcel Fässler: "In the meantime, I can tick off such things. If I can win this race, I want to do it with a good performance (i.e. under my own steam, red.). We would have liked to win it last year, but our colleagues from Land Motorsport also deserved it because they had previously lost the top spot only because of a minor incident."
Busy factory driver in customer teams
In 2018, the man from Schwyz is still a factory driver for Audi Sport Customer Racing but no longer contests a complete championship. He continues to be successful, but now in individual races.
During the Australian GP in Melbourne in March, Fässler took part in two GT races as a reserve driver in an Australian Audi team. It was no easy undertaking to compete against the established Aussies on a track they knew best without prior testing and free practice.
But hello - the Swiss veteran finished both races on the podium in second and third place. Without safety car phases, he could have won.
Winner in Italy
He did so recently in the Italian GT Championship at Imola, where he partnered the young Israeli Bar Baruch at Audi Sport Italia. After leaving ex-GP driver Giancarlo Fisichella behind him in the Ferrari F488, the Swiss was deservedly able to stand at the top of the podium with Baruch.
He would like nothing better on Sunday after the 46th Nürburgring 24-hour race. However, with his three German partners Stefan Mücke, Christer Jöns and Schlieren-based Pierre Kaffer, he is not among the narrowest circle of favorites with the Audi R8 LMS from BWT Mücke Motorsport.
However, anything is possible in a race like this, and Fässler knows this too.
Marcel Fässler: "It's true, on paper we're not the absolute favorites. Other cars and pairings appear stronger because we're not one of the official factory-supported teams. In addition, we didn't race the Audi R8 as often as others. But sometimes it's good to be underestimated. I prefer the role of the underdog."
Stay in the rhythm and enjoy racing
Personally, the soon-to-be 42-year-old pro finds himself as fit and well prepared as ever. That's why the three-time Le Mans winner and winner of the Spa 24 Hours and Sebring 12 Hours simply wants to enjoy this race and take what comes.
Marcel Fässler: "I don't see it stiffening. If it works out, it's good. But I'm not getting uptight about it. I think it's cool that I can contest great races in different racing series for Audi and Corvette this year and discover a lot of new things. The important thing is that I'd stay in rhythm and continue to enjoy racing."
The 24 Hours of Nürburgring starts at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. The free TV channel RTL Nitro will broadcast the entire race live.
