Sascha Maassen (born 28 September 1969 in

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

, Germany) is a veteran

sports car A sports car is a type of automobile that is designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as Automobile handling, handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving, and Auto racing, racing capability. Sports cars originated in ...

driver.

Early career

Maassen began his career in

karts Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size moto ...

, and moved to cars in 1989, in

Formula Ford 1600 Formula Ford 1600 is a group of auto racing championships for 1600cc Ford Kent engine, Ford Kent powered Formula Ford racing cars. The UK national Formula Ford category disbanded these cars when it adopted the 1800cc Ford Zetec engine, Zetec engi ...

. During the early 1990s, he raced in the German

Formula 3 Formula Three (F3) is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. History Formula Three (adop ...

series. His F3 career includes a win at the prestigious

Macau Grand Prix The Macau Grand Prix (; ) is an annual motorsport road racing event for automobiles and motorcycles held on the Guia Circuit in Macau. The event includes the Formula Regional and Motorcycle Grand Prix title races, with other races for Touri ...

in 1994. From 1995 to 1997, he raced touring cars for

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

in the

Super Tourenwagen Cup The Super Tourenwagen Cup, or German Supertouring Championship, was a touring car racing series held between 1994 and 1999 in Germany. The championship was established when BMW and Audi both left the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM) in 199 ...

Sports car career

In 1998, Maassen moved to the FIA GT Championship, where he raced a

Porsche 911 GT2 The Porsche 911 GT2 is a high-performance, track-focused sports car built by the German automobile manufacturer Porsche from 1993 to 2009, and then since 2010 as the GT2 RS. It is based on the Porsche 911 Turbo, 911 Turbo, and uses a similar twin ...

for

Roock Racing Roock Racing is an auto racing team based in Leverkusen, Germany that was highly successful in numerous sports car and endurance racing series during the 1990s.

, along with Bruno Eichmann. In 1999, he competed in

Porsche Supercup The Porsche Supercup (officially known as Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, known as Porsche Michelin Supercup prior to 2007 and often abbreviated as PSC) is an international One-design racing, one-make production stock car racing series supporting the ...

. He also drove for Alex Job Racing at

Petit Le Mans Petit Le Mans (French language, French for ''Little Le Mans'') is a sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, United States. The race has been held for a durat ...

, where he won the GT class with Cort Wagner and Dirk Müller.

2000

In 2000, he joined Porsche as a factory driver. His primary job was driving a Porsche GT3-R in the

American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le M ...

. He partnered with fellow factory driver Bob Wollek at Dick Barbour Racing. The duo would win five races, including Maassen's second straight Petit Le Mans victory. He also finished 2nd in the GT class at the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

, driving for Skea Racing International. Maassen also raced sparingly in Supercup, and raced in the

24 Hours Nürburgring 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the H ...

, and one race in the Sports Racing World Cup.

2001

In 2001, Maassen was paired with Lucas Luhr at Alex Job Racing. They would win at

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and the

12 Hours of Sebring The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race for Sports car racing, sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in S ...

in the GT class in a season otherwise dominated by the BMW M3 GTRs. Maassen also raced

prototypes A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and software programming. A prototype is generally used to ...

, at the

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Flo ...

for Champion Racing, and for Dick Barbour Racing at Le Mans.

2002

Maassen started 2002 by finishing 4th at the

for Champion Racing. Maassen and Luhr dominated the GT class of the ALMS, winning seven of ten races en route to the championship. These victories included second straight Sebring win, and 3rd career Petit Le Mans win.

2003

2003 saw Maassen and Luhr win the championship again, and win Sebring for the third year in a row. Maassen also notched his 20th class win in the ALMS at

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. He also won the

Grand-Am Grand-Am Road Racing or Grand-Am was an auto racing sanctioning body that was established in 1999 to organize road racing competitions in North America. Its primary focus was the Rolex Sports Car Series, an endurance racing championship series. I ...

round at Circuit Mont-Tremblant in a Brumos Racing Fabcar-

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

2004 & 2005

In 2004, Maassen acted mainly as a third driver for the longer endurance races, winning at Sebring and Petit Le Mans for Alex Job, and winning the GT class at Le Mans with Petersen Motorsports. 2005 saw him focus mainly on the development of the new

Porsche RS Spyder The RS Spyder (Type 9R6) is a racing car designed by Porsche in conjunction with Penske to compete in Le Mans Prototype Class 2 (LMP2) racing. The car takes its name from the legendary Porsche 550 Spyder of the 1950s (combined with Porsche's ...

, including racing in the car's debut at

Laguna Seca Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for sponsorship reasons) is a paved Racing track#Motorsport, road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and Motorcyc ...

2006

In 2006, Maassen would race the RS Spyder and win the LMP2 championship with Lucas Luhr. Maassen and Luhr would drive together for the first six races of the season, including one win (at Miller Motorsports Park) and an overall 2nd place (at

Mid-Ohio Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington, Ohio, Lexington. It hosts a number of racing series such as IndyCar Series, Indy ...

). Maassen the partnered with Timo Bernhard for the remainder of the season, collecting two wins.

2007

Maassen continued driving for Penske in the ALMS.

2008

Maassen continued driving for Penske in the ALMS, and competed in the 2008 edition of 24 hour Le Mans with Team Essex where he finished second in the LMP2 class together with John Nielsen and

Casper Elgaard Casper Gunvad Elgaard (born 5 April 1978 in Aarhus, Denmark) is a Danish auto racing driver. He has competed several times in the 24 Hours of Le Mans since 2001, as well as regular drives in the Le Mans Series. In 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans, 2008 ...

Racing record

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete Super Tourenwagen Cup results

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

Accolades

ALMS Alms (, ) are money, food, or other material goods donated to people living in poverty. Providing alms is often considered an act of Charity (practice), charity. The act of providing alms is called almsgiving. Etymology The word ''alms'' come ...

GT class champion:

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

LMP2 class champion:

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

GT class winner:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

GT class winner: 2001, 2002,

FIA GT Championship The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...

NGT Class Champion (with Lucas Luhr): 2004 *

LMP2 class winner:

GT class winner: 1999, 2000, 2002,

winner: 1994

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maassen, Sascha 1969 births Living people German racing drivers German Formula Three Championship drivers British Formula 3000 Championship drivers Sportspeople from Aachen Racing drivers from Cologne (region) 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers FIA GT Championship drivers American Le Mans Series drivers European Le Mans Series drivers Rolex Sports Car Series drivers Porsche Supercup drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers Porsche Carrera Cup GB drivers Carlin racing drivers Team Penske drivers Porsche Motorsports drivers RSM Marko drivers Cheever Racing drivers Paul Stewart Racing drivers Level 5 Motorsports drivers Team Rosberg drivers Porsche Carrera Cup Germany drivers Volkswagen Motorsport drivers Manthey Racing drivers Team Goh Motorsports drivers