Marc Gené Information & Marc Gené Links at HealthHaven.com

24 Hours of Le Mans career
Participating years	2007 -
Teams	Peugeot
Best finish	1st (2009)
Class wins	1 (2009)

Marc Gené
	;
	Nationality Spanish
Formula One World Championship career
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

Marc Gené i Guerrero (born March 29, 1974 in Sabadell, Spain) is a motor racing driver, from Catalonia, Spain, best known as a tester for Williams and Ferrari in Formula One and a factory driver for Peugeot's Le Mans team. 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.

As part of a deal signed between Scuderia Ferrari and SKY Italia, Marc Gené comments the F1 races on SKY Sport, along with the journalist Carlo Vanzini.

[edit] 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 five 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.

[edit] 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. He continued with Minardi in 2000, but failed to score a single point.

[edit] 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 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.^[3] A limit on testing in Formula One in 2007 and 2008 has restricted his involvement. For 2010, he is linked with a race seat at Formula One newcomers Campos Grand Prix for 2010.^[4]

[edit] Other racing

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 for 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 1000km 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)

[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

^ ^a ^b ^c http://www.risicompetizione.com/go/gene.cfm
^ http://manor-motorsport.com/#/1991-1995/4514638440
^ "Gene stays at Ferrari - but to do what?". Grandprix.com. 2006-11-10. http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns17750.html. Retrieved 2006-11-12.
^ "De la Rosa for Campos?". grandprix.com. 2009-07-06. http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns21612.html. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
^ "Gene hospitalised after Le Mans crash". autosport.com. 2008-06-01. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/67928. Retrieved 2008-06-02.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Marc Gené

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 Incumbent

[risi-0] ttp://www.risicompetizione.com/go/gene.cfm

[1] ttp://manor-motorsport.com/#/1991-1995/4514638440

[2] "Gene stays at Ferrari - but to do what?". Grandprix.com. 2006-11-10. http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns17750.html. Retrieved 2006-11-12.

[3] "De la Rosa for Campos?". grandprix.com. 2009-07-06. http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns21612.html. Retrieved 2009-07-07.

[4] "Gene hospitalised after Le Mans crash". autosport.com. 2008-06-01. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/67928. Retrieved 2008-06-02.

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