Loris Kessel

Loris Kessel (1 April 1950 – 15 May 2010) was a Swiss racing driver. Kessel won the 2004 Italian GT Championship in the N-GT class, together with Andrea Chiesa.

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, but 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 competed in the Italian GT Championship, where it won the 2003 and 2004 titles, and 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.

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