Marc Gené

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Marc Gené

Nationality	Spanish
World Championship Career
Active years	1999 - 2000, 2003 - 2004
Team(s)	Minardi, Williams
Races	36
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podium finishes	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First race	1999 Australian Grand Prix


Last race	2004 British Grand Prix

Marc Gené Guerrero (born May 29, 1974) is the test driver for the Scuderia Ferrari Formula One team. Recently, he also served as a replacement for Ralf Schumacher for the WilliamsF1 team, following his injury in the 2004 United States Grand Prix. His brother Jordi is also a racing driver, competing in the WTCC for SEAT.

Born in Sabadell, Catalonia, Spain, he finished runner-up in the 1987 Catalan Kart Championship (National Class) at the age of 13; 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 5th in the Spanish championship with a win and 2 pole positions. He was runner-up in the 1993 European Championship, with 1 win and 3 podiums; also, Gené took 2nd place at the Formula Ford Festival. In 1994, Gené was named Rookie of the Year in the British Formula Three Championship; he placed 10th in 1995. In 1996 Gené won the FISA Superformula championship, and in 1997 he competed in 5 rounds of the FIA Formula 3000 series, though he failed to score a single point. In 1998 he won the Open Fortuna by Nissan Championship.

Gené got his big break in 1999, occupying a race seat with the Minardi team. It was a difficult year; however, after several 9th places and an 8th, he managed to score his first point, and Minardi's first since 1995, with a 6th place at the European Grand Prix. He continued with Minardi in 2000, but failed to score a single point. 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 4 points for a 5th 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 Luca Badoer. His contract has been renewed for 2007.^[1] However, due to a limit on testing in Formula One in 2007, 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.

Gené is the only current F1 driver with a university degree (in economics). Gené can also speak four languages fluently.

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