Loris Kessel

Loris Kessel
Kessel in 1976
Born(1950-04-01)1 April 1950
Lugano, Ticino, Switzerland
Died15 May 2010(2010-05-15) (aged 60)
Montagnola, Ticino, Switzerland
Formula One World Championship career
NationalitySwitzerland Swiss
Active years1976–1977
TeamsApollon
Non-works Brabham
Entries6 (3 starts)
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums0
Career points0
Pole positions0
Fastest laps0
First entry1976 Spanish Grand Prix
Last entry1977 Italian Grand Prix

Loris Kessel (1 April 1950 – 15 May 2010) was a Swiss racing driver.

Biography

Kessel was born in Lugano, Switzerland.

Following a couple of season in Formula Two, where he managed to finish fourth twice at Hockenheim driving for the March team, Kessel made his debut in Formula One.

Kessel participated in six Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 2 May 1976, driving a Brabham for RAM.

In 1977, he drove his own Apollon-Williams. He scored no championship points.

Following his retirement from competitive motorracing in 1981, Kessel established a series of car dealerships in Switzerland as well as his own racing team, competing in Ferrari Challenge series in Italy and the main European series. The team also competes in the FIA GT3 European Championship with the same car.

In 2010, Kessel died in Montagnola, Switzerland, after a battle with leukemia.

His son Ronnie continues to operate the Kessel cars dealership.

Racing record

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

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

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos. Pts
1974 Team Vonlanthen March 742 BMW BAR HOC PAU SAL HOC MUG KAR PER HOC VAL
Ret		 NC 0
1975 Ambrozium Racing Team March 742 BMW EST
Ret		 THR
NC		 HOC
4		 NÜR
Ret		 PAU
8		 HOC
4		 SAL
DNQ		 ROU 15th 7
March 752 MUG
Ret		 PER SIL
NC		 ZOL
Ret		 NOG VAL
8
1981 Horag Hotz Racing March 812 BMW SIL HOC THR NÜR
12		 VAL MUG
Ret		 NC 0
Astra Team Merzario Srl Merzario M1 PAU
DNPQ
Horag Hotz Racing March 802 PER
Ret		 SPA
Astra Team Merzario Srl March 812 DON
19		 MIS MAN

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 WDC Pts
1976 RAM Racing Brabham BT44B Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 BRA RSA USW ESP
DNQ		 BEL
12		 MON SWE
Ret		 FRA
DNQ		 GBR GER AUT
NC		 NED ITA CAN USA JPN NC 0
1977 Jolly Club of Switzerland Apollon Fly Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG BRA RSA USW ESP MON BEL SWE FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA
DNQ		 USA CAN JPN NC 0

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1985 Italy Carma F.F. (Cheetah) Switzerland Jean-Pierre Frey
Italy Ruggero Melgrati
Italy Aldo Bertuzzi		 Alba AR2-Carma C2 - DNS DNS
1993 Germany Obermaier Racing GmbH Germany Otto Altenbach
Germany Jürgen Oppermann		 Porsche 962C C2 355 7th 3rd
Source:

References

  1. ↑ "Ex-Formel-1-Pilot Loris Kessel gestorben". swissinfo.ch (in German). Swissinfo. 2010-05-15. Archived from the original on 2012-09-28. Retrieved 2010-05-15.
  2. ↑ Latham, Stephen (31 March 2020). "On This Day: The Long and Varied Career of Loris Kessel". HistoricRacingNews.com. Archived from the original on 2025-12-07. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
  3. ↑ "Ronnie Kessel". Ollimono. Retrieved 2026-08-05.
  4. ↑ "All Results of Loris Kessel". racingsportscars.com. Retrieved February 19, 2018.