The GT racing world has lost one of its staunchest supporters with the news yesterday of the passing of driver and team owner Loris Kessel at the age of 60.  The Swiss entrepreneur began his career as a rally driver in the 1970s, before switching to single-seaters and progressing through Formula 3 and Formula 2 to a brief Formula One stint in 1975 and 1976.  Most recently he competed in the Citation Cup in the FIA GT Championship, in a Ferrari 550 Maranello. His successful team, Kessel Racing, won the 2007 FIA GT3 European Championship with drivers Gilles Vannelet and Henri Moser, moving up to GT2 in 2008.

Stephane Ratel, the CEO of SRO, said: "I met Loris when he first came to race in the Lamborghini Supertrophy in the late 90’s.  His position as an important Ferrari distributor while being a true racer made him a great contributor to GT racing.

"We owe him the presence of Ferrari cars in the GT3 category since Kessel Racing is the tuner for the 430 and the 430 Scuderia GT3 cars in addition to being a regular competitor as a team and a driver in the FIA GT Championships.

"To his son Ronnie, who was already involved at his side in the racing operation and to his family, I present my sincere condolences."