Steve Zacchia (born 15 August 1982 in

Yverdon-les-Bains Yverdon-les-Bains () (called Eburodunum and Ebredunum during the Ancient Rome, Roman era) is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Jura-North Vaudois District, Jura-Nord vaudois of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It ...

) is a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

racing driver, currently competing in the

Intercontinental Le Mans Cup The Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (shortened ILMC) was an endurance sports car racing tournament organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) started in 2010.

for

Hope Racing Morand Racing is an auto racing team founded by former racing driver Benoît Morand and based in the Swiss town of Marly, Fribourg. The team traces its origins to 2000 when Morand founded PoleVision Racing which competed in numerous open-wheel se ...

Early career

Zacchia began

go-karting 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 motor ...

in 1998 when he finished fourth in the Swiss Regional Championship in Category B. He raced in Category A in 1999 finishing third in the standings. In 2000, he started competing in European Championships and getting into the finals of the

Winfield World Challenge Winfield may refer to: Places Canada * Winfield, Alberta * Winfield, British Columbia United States * Winfield, Alabama * Winfield, Arkansas * Winfield, Georgia * Winfield, Illinois * Winfield, Indiana * Winfield, Iowa * Winfield, Kansas * Win ...

. His single-seater career only lasted a year, when he began competing in the

2001 Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup season The 2001 Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup season was the eleventh Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season. The season began at Monza Circuit on 30 March and finished at the Circuito do Estoril on 4 November, after ten races. RC Motorsport driver Augusto ...

. He competed in every race weekend but did not score a point. In 2002, he started competing in sports car racing by racing in

Porsche Carrera Cup France Porsche Carrera Cup France is a Spec racing, one make motor racing championship held in France. The cars are Porsche 911 GT3#Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (Type 991.2) with 4.0 liters, Flat-six engine, flat-6 naturally aspirated engines that pr ...

. He picked up one win and three podiums.

GT Racing

2003 saw Zacchia compete in the

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 ...

. The 2003 season saw Zacchia team up with ex-

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

driver

Philippe Alliot Philippe René Gabriel Alliot (born 27 July 1954) is a French former racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to and from to . Born and raised in Voves, Alliot initially studied political science before dropping out ...

and French singer

David Hallyday David Hallyday (born David Michael Benjamin Smet; 14 August 1966) is a French singer, songwriter, actor and amateur sports car racing, sports car racer. Early life Hallyday was born in Boulogne-Billancourt and is the son of the French singers ...

for Force One Racing

Festina image:Festina F16184 4.jpg, Festina F16184 Festina is a Spanish watch conglomerate. In 1985, businessman Miguel Rodríguez acquired Festina, a brand founded in Switzerland in 1902, thus forming the ''Festina-Lotus Group.'' History Festina w ...

. He raced five of the ten races, picking up 14 points, including a podium at Donington. After racing in

Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the ...

in 2004, he returned to FIA GT in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

with

Larbre Compétition Larbre Compétition is a French auto racing team founded in 1988 by racing driver Jack Leconte and based at the Circuit du Val de Vienne in Le Vigeant, France. The team has had considerable success in a number of sports car racing series and major ...

He teamed up with Swiss compatriots

Lilian Bryner Lilian Bryner (born 21 April 1959) is a racing driver from Switzerland. Career She has mainly raced in the FIA GT Championship from 1997 until 2005 and has raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Her first race at Le Mans was in 1993, but her most ...

and

Enzo Calderari Enzo Calderari (born 18 April 1952, Bienne, Switzerland) is a Swiss entrepreneur and former car racing driver. Career Enzo Calderari is the son of Jacques Calderari, who was active as a sports car driver in the 1960s. The son, a real estate ag ...

He earned 16 points during the season. In 2006, he competed in the newly formed

FIA GT3 European Championship The FIA GT3 European Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It was a championship derived from the international FIA ...

. He raced in all events during the season, racing for French team Racing Logistic alongside Olivier Dupard. Zacchia and Dupard earned 14 points finishing 20th in the drivers standings. He participated in one round of the

2006 FIA GT Championship season The 2006 FIA GT Championship season is the 10th season of FIA GT Championship. It is a series for Grand Touring style cars broken into two classes based on power and manufacturer involvement, called GT1 and GT2. Invitational G2 and G3 classes are ...

at the 2006 FIA GT Dubai 500km. He raced for

and their evolution of

Prodrive Prodrive is an England, English motorsport and advanced engineering group based in Banbury, Oxfordshire. History Prodrive was founded in 1984 by Ian Parry and David Richards (motorsport executive), David Richards. Prodrive sold its 51% s ...

Ferrari 550 The Ferrari 550 Maranello (''tipo'' F133) is a front-engine V12 2-seat grand tourer built by Ferrari from 1996 to 2002. The 550 Maranello marked Ferrari's return to a front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout for its 2-seater 12-cylinder model, 23 y ...

-GTS Maranello in the G2 class as it was an unhomologated GT1 car. He finished seventh along with

Gabriele Gardel Gabriele Gardel (born 22 October 1977 in Milan, Italy) is a Switzerland, Swiss former racing driver. Having competed in Sports car racing, sports cars for most of his career, Gardel won the 2005 FIA GT Championship driver's title, and took home t ...

and

Frédéric Makowiecki Frédéric Makowiecki (born 22 November 1980) is a French professional racing driver who currently competes as a factory driver for Alpine Endurance Team in the Hypercar category of the FIA World Endurance Championship. Career After competin ...

. He returned to the

for two events for Larbre, picking up three points. 2007 saw Zacchia race in the French GT Championship for Solution F earning 18 points with co-driver Jean-Yves Adam. He raced in the 2007 FIA GT Championship season for one event in the French circuit of

Nogaro Nogaro (; Gascon: ''Nogaròu'') is a commune in the Gers department, Southwestern France. It is the site of a distillery of Armagnac brandy. Geography The commune is bordered by six other communes: Caupenne-d'Armagnac to the northwest, ...

. François Jakubowski was his team mate for the Solution F

finishing 20th overall. Zacchia was more focused on Le Mans Series afterwards but did compete in a round of the Belgian GT Championship in 2008 and two rounds of the

International GT Open The International GT Open is a grand tourer-style sports car racing series founded in 2006 by the Spanish GT Sport Organización. It was a spin-off of the now-defunct Spanish GT Championship, but is now a distinct series featuring FIA GT3-spec ...

in 2009.

Le Mans Series/24 Hours of Le Mans

Zacchia got his first taste of endurance racing at the

2003 24 Hours of Le Mans The 2003 24 Hours of Le Mans () was a non-championship 24-hour automobile endurance race from 14 to 15 June 2003 at the Circuit de la Sarthe near Le Mans, France for teams of three drivers each entering Le Mans Prototype and Grand Touring ...

. He raced for

in the GTS class using a

Chrysler Viper GTS-R The Chrysler Viper GTS-R (also known as the Dodge Viper GTS-R when raced in North America) was a successful race car, racing variant of the Dodge Viper developed in conjunction with Chrysler of North America, Oreca of France and Reynard Motorsp ...

. His team mates were

Patrice Goueslard Patrice Goueslard (born 26 November 1965) is a French racing driver. He competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans each year from 1999 until 2010, having initially made his debut at the event in 1994. His best finish in the event came in 2006, when he a ...

and

1993 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 61st Grand Prix of Endurance, taking place at the Circuit de la Sarthe on the 19 and 20 June 1993. The race was won by Peugeot Sport, Peugeot Talbot Sport, with drivers Geoff Brabham, and Le Mans rookies Éri ...

winner

Christophe Bouchut Christophe Bouchut (born 24 September 1966 in Voiron, Isère) is a French professional racing driver. He currently competes in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, driving for Dexwet-df1 Racing and Alex Caffi Motorsport in a part-time effort. He won t ...

. They finished 16th overall and fourth in class. Larbre signed Zacchia prior to the 2004 Le Mans Series season. He reunited with 2003 Le Mans team mate Bouchut, his other team mate was ex-F1 driver

Pedro Lamy José Pedro Mourão Nunes Lamy Viçoso, OIH, known as Pedro Lamy (; born 20 March 1972), is a Portuguese former professional racing driver. He was the first Portuguese driver to score a point in a Formula One World Championship event, in the ...

. The trio won every race in the GTS class with their

-GTS Maranello, thus winning the championship. Zacchia focused on FIA GT for the next two seasons before returning to LMS in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, once again with Larbe with support from

Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Racing is a British auto racing team established in 2004 as a partnership between automobile manufacturer Aston Martin and engineering group Prodrive. The partnership was initially created for the purpose of returning Aston ...

as Larbre ran their

DBR9 The Aston Martin DBR9 is a racing car built by Aston Martin Racing, debuting in 2005 and racing actively in international sportscar racing until the end of GT1 category in 2011. The name DBR9 is derived from the original 24 Hours of Le Mans-winn ...

. His team mate for the majority of the season was Gregor Fisken. For the final round, the 2007 Mil Milhas Brasil, the duo were joined by Roland Bervillé and Brazilian racer

Fernando Rees Fernando Rees (born January 4, 1985) is a retired Brazilian racecar driver. He started his career racing with go-karts back in 1993 at age 8. Fernando made his international single-seaters' debut in 2001, his endurance racing debut in 2007, a ...

. It was the final round at

Interlagos Interlagos is a neighborhood located in the district of Socorro (district of São Paulo), Socorro in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Its name comes from the fact that the region is located between two large reservoirs, Guarapiranga and Billings ...

that he won in the GT1 class but only half points were awarded due to less than five cars competing in that particular class. Zacchia and Fisken finished eighth in the GT1 standings, with their No. 51 car finishing sixth in the teams championship. In 2008, he was signed by Swiss team Speedy Racing Team Sebah (now Rebellion Racing) for the Le Mans Series season. Zacchia raced a

Lola B08/80 The Lola B08/80 is a Le Mans Prototype built by Lola Cars International. It is effectively the LMP2 version of the larger Lola B08/60; they are the first closed-cockpit sports prototypes built by Lola since the T92/10 of 1992. The B08/80 is ...

- Judd in the LMP2 class along with team mates

Andrea Belicchi Andrea Belicchi (born 18 December 1976) is an Italian professional racing driver. He has competed in such series as the Porsche Supercup, Le Mans Series and FIA World Endurance Championship. He won the Russian Formula Three Championship in 2002 ...

and

Xavier Pompidou Xavier Pompidou (born 27 July 1972) is a French racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is comm ...

The trio picked up points in only the first event of the season, the 1000 km of Catalunya where they finished second in class Zacchia and co. finished tenth in the drivers championship and seventh in the teams. Zacchia returned to 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 ...

in 2008 for Speedy, teaming up with LMS team mates Belicchi and Pompidou. Their LMP2-spec Lola-Judd retired after 194 laps. 2009 was a quiet year for Zacchia, racing only on a couple of occasions in the International GT Open but also raced one round of the

2009 Le Mans Series season The 2009 Le Mans Series was the sixth season of Automobile Club de l'Ouest's Le Mans Series. It was contested over five events between 5 April and 13 September 2009. Aston Martin Racing trio Jan Charouz, Tomáš Enge and Stefan Mücke finished ev ...

, reuniting with Larbre Compétition in the 1000 km of Catalunya. Only four cars competed in the GT1 class in which Zacchia raced in with a

Saleen S7 The Saleen S7 is an American hand-built, high-performance sports car designed and built by American automobile manufacturer Saleen Automotive Inc. Developed jointly by Steve Saleen for the initial concept, direction and engine, Hidden Creek Indu ...

-R. Zacchia along with Roland Bervillé and

Sébastien Dumez Sébastien is a common French given name. It is a French form of the Latin name ''Sebastianus'' meaning "from Sebaste". Sebaste was a common placename in classical Antiquity, derived from the Greek word ''σεβαστος'', or ''sebastos'', mea ...

finished third in class and 22nd overall. 2010 saw another year of

racing for Zacchia, this time for Swiss team Hope Polevision Racing. He competed a full season in the one-make

Formula Le Mans The Le Mans Prototype Challenge (shortened to LMP Challenge or LMPC) was a spec sports prototype formula created by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), organisers of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and sports car constructor Oreca. The formula is inte ...

(FLM) class along with Luca Moro and

Wolfgang Kaufmann Wolfgang is a German male given name traditionally popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The name is a combination of the Old High German words ''wolf'', meaning "wolf", and ''gang'', meaning "path", "journey", "travel". Besides the regula ...

. The trio took their only class victory of the season at the 100 km of Spa. Zacchia and Moro finished runners-up in the drivers and teams championships. Zacchia is set to race in 2011 once again for Hope Racing in the

Intercontinental Le Mans Cup The Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (shortened ILMC) was an endurance sports car racing tournament organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) started in 2010.

driving an

Oreca 01 The Oreca 01 is a Le Mans Prototype built by Oreca Racing in 2009. It replaced the Courage Compétition, Courage-Oreca LC70 raced previously by Oreca. It is powered by an engine from Japanese engine company AIM Power. It is a tuned Judd (engine), ...

Hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...

chassis. It will be powered by a two-litre four cylinder petrol engine from

Volkswagen Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...

modified by Lehmann Motoren, badged as Swiss HyTech. It also features

KERS A kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) is an automotive system for recovering a moving vehicle's kinetic energy under braking. The recovered energy is stored in a reservoir (for example a flywheel or high voltage batteries) for later use under ...

, an automotive system whereby the kinetic energy of a moving vehicle is recovered under braking and stored in the flywheel for later use under acceleration, developed by Flybrid. Zacchia is set to compete with this car in the LMP1 class in the ILMC and at this year's

alongside French driver

Nicolas Marroc Nicolas Marroc (born 5 December 1986 in La Roche-sur-Yon) is a French racing driver. Career Formula Renault Campus France Marroc began his formula racing career in the 2006 Championnat de France FFSA Formule Campus Renault Elf season. He fini ...

and Le Mans veteran and

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

winner

Jan Lammers Johannes Antonius "Jan" Lammers (born 2 June 1956) is a Dutch racecar driver, most notable for winning the 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans FIA World Endurance Championship, world endurance race, for Silk Cut Jaguar Cars, Jaguar/Tom Walkinshaw Racing, TW ...

24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

External links

Official website
*
Profile at history.fiagt.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zacchia, Steve Living people 1982 births Swiss racing drivers FIA GT Championship drivers European Le Mans Series drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers International GT Open drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers Sportspeople from Yverdon-les-Bains Racing drivers from the canton of Vaud Morand Racing drivers Formula Renault Eurocup drivers Aston Martin Racing drivers Larbre Compétition drivers Rebellion Racing drivers 24H Series drivers Porsche Carrera Cup France drivers Ligier European Series drivers