Klaus Abbelen

Klaus Abbelen
Abbelen in 2009
Born	(1960-09-15) 15 September 1960 Tönisvorst, West Germany
VLN career
Car number	97
Championship titles
2000	Euro GT Series

Klaus Abbelen (born 15 September 1960) is a German race car driver.

After starting racing Ferraris in the 1990s, he became the Euro GT Series champion in 2000. He has also recently competed in the FIA GT Championship, as well as in the Le Mans Endurance Series.

In 2006, he and Sabine Schmitz drove the #97 Porsche 997 in the VLN endurance racing series on the Nürburgring, entered by Land Motorsport.

Early career

Abbelen started his endurance career in 1999, joining class A in the Ferrari Porsche Challenge in a Porsche, finishing second in his class. In 2002, Abbelen attempted to run the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, but failed to get in. In the same year, Abbelen joined the A Class in the Euro GT Series, where he joined Team W&A, placing 3rd overall.

Career

In 2003, Abbelen joined multiple series, beginning with the Euro GT Series. Then, he joined the French GT Championship, driving a Porsche 911 for Chateau Sport for 2 races along with racer Stéphane Ortelli. The pair would fail to reach podium and would settle for a 41st in the final standings. Abbelen would then join Zwaan's Racing in the FIA GT Championship, driving their Chrysler Viper with Arjan van der Zwaan and Robert van der Zwaan. In 7 races, the team would fail to reach podium, finishing the championship 19th in points. Abbelen would then move to the Porsche Supercup, racing for DeWalt Racing driving their Porsche 911 for a single race.

In 2004, Abberlen ran in the Le Mans Endurance Series, driving a Saleen S7-R for Konrad Motorsport in one race. In 2004, Abberlen returned to Zwann's Racing in the FIA GT Championship before not making podium again.

External links

• Company website