Fabio Leimer freut sich überaus bekannt zu geben, dass er vom Manor Marussia F1 Team als Reserve- und Entwicklungsfahrer für den Rest der Formel 1 Saison 2015 verpflichtet wurde.

The contract with Team Mugen for the 2015 season of the Super Formula was cancelled with great disappointment an all sides. Due to financial difficulties resulting from the involvement of a Japanese intermediary, the requested budget payments to the team could not be made. 

Fabio Leimer and his management are currently evaluating his existing options for the 2015 season.

Fabio Leimer
"Of course I am extremely disappointed. We started the project Japan after finding a representative in Japan. We signaled him from the start that the complete required budget would have to come through him. Regrettably his promises and the trust we put in him were not justified, again we had to learn the lesson of almost not being able to trust anyone in a very painful way. 
We are currently working on solutions for the current season that can be financed by our own doings. 
I wish Team Mugen lots of success and apologize for all the trouble we have caused through this."

It was raining in the morning of the second test day of the Super Formula at the Okayama International Circuit. Therefor all the drivers where out with rain tyres. Fabio Leimer led the list of Honda motor equipped cars with a fourth place at the end of the session. It ceased to rain in the afternoon, but the track only dried slowly due to the cold temperatures. It was only possible to swicht to slick tyres at the end of the second session. The Swiss was leading at this point clearly. There regretably were several crashes during the remaining 20 minutes that led to individual red flags. Fabio therefore had no chance to finish a pushing lap and present a timed lap on the fast tyres.

Fabio Leimer:
"I honestly have to say that I'm really happy with the outcome of the test. I was able to show jointly with the team, that I could be a serious contender in the Super Formula. Evidently I'm not to be found in the end at the top of the list due to the crashes, but what's the saying? That's racing! The objective of the test was fulfilled."

It was a cold but sunny morning that greeted Fabio Leimer at the pitoresque situated Japanese track of Okayama in Japan. The Honda factory team Mugen Power had invited the Rothrist resident to the 2 day rookie test of the Super Formula. It had been a long time since he had last sat in a formula car. He quickly adpated to the driving style again and finished the day on P4 behind Kamui Kobayashi and Takuma Sato but before last years champion Kazuki Nakajima.

Fabio Leimer:
"I find myself very luck to be allowed to test. I like the car but I can surely still improve substantialy. It was a pity that the brake pad broke and had me sent into the gravel. I'm sure I could have improved my position quite alot. But looking at the names of the other drivers and the demanding track, I can't say that I'm displeased! I'm looking forward to tomorrow, I heard there should be rain."

Fabio Leimer began the endurance race of Sao Paulo in car #13 of REBELLION Racing from P8 during the late sunday afternoon. He had to evade his sister carat the start  to not have an accident and was thus forced off the track. The Lotus of the LMP1-L class took it's chance and overtook him after that. Regretably it had to conced the race quite early due to technical defects. Fabio finished his double stint in eight position and passed the car on to Dodo Kraihamer.

Dodo also finished a double stint in the heat and passed the car over to Andrea Belicchi who was stuggling with health issues. The sister car had major troubles in the meantime. This led to a 25 lap gap before it could take up the race again. Car #13 was not immune to problems either. Andrea had major problems with braking, that's why he had to go into the pits several times. The mechanics did their best to find the source of the problem, but where not successful. The engineering decision had already been made to swap out the brakes, this would however have meant, that #12 would have won the race (bar no further major problems). Fabio then spoke within the team and assured that he could bring the car home ahead of the direct competition even with these risks and challenges. The lead was three laps as he got into the car but was not allowed to drive over the curbes as to not have to an  imminent risk of losing the brakes altogether. He drove lap after lap but problems were not out of the picture: the clutch was all of a sudden not usable anymore! This would have meant that at the last pitstop for just a little splash he would have afterwards not have been able to start the car again. This would have meant conceding the race. Regretably Marc Webber of Porsch LMP1-H had a bigger accident which called for a safety car phase that lastetdtill the end of the race. This made a very efficient petrol saving driving possible and a last splash was not necessary anymore. Ultimately Fabio Leimer, Andrea Belicchi and Dodo Kraihamer won the last race of the season, which meant three of the last four.

Fabio Leimer:
"Overall it was a great day, but it was very nerve wracking. Regardless of two major problems with the car that would have almost cost us, we won the race in the end. I however wanted to take the resposnibility on myself so that the victory couldn't be taken away from us! All in all it was a great season with ups and downs. I learnt alot, in endurance racing and about myself. Our team was awesome, especially Andrea and Dodo. I'm looking forward to next year!"

Zum ersten Mal hat sich das Glück gewendet für den Rothrister (Schweiz) Fabio Leimer in der World Endurance Championship am 6 Stundenrennen von Fuji. In den letzten drei Rennen der laufenden Langstreckenmeisterschaft in der Kategorie LMP1-L war dieses nun auf der Seite der R-One #13 des Schweizer Privatteams REBELLION Racing. Bisher hatte Fabio mit seinen Mitstreitern Dominik Kraihamer und Andrea Bellicchi wegen technischer Schwierigkeiten jeweils das Ende des Rennens nicht gesehen. Diesmal haftete leider das Pech an ihrem Schwesterteam mit der Startnummer #12. Deren Auto stand häufig länger in der Garage und musste Probleme lösen. Dies blieb jedoch nicht gänzlich Fabio, Dodo und Andrea erspart, aber nicht in dem Masse. Fabio konnte einen starken Doppeleinsatz (double stint) verbuchen, bei dem er eine konstant hohe Rundengeschwindigkeit vorweisen konnte.

Am Ende überquerte die #13 als erster Wagen der Kategorie die Ziellinie mit zahlreichen Runden Vorsprung auf die #12. Ganz schlecht erwischte es die direkte Konkurrenz von Lotus LMP1. Deren Auto brannte Eingangs Boxengasse komplett aus nach etwas mehr als die Hälfte des Rennens. Zum Glück konnte sich der Fahrer noch vorher dem Fahrzeug retten.

Fabio Leimer:
"Endlich konnte ich miterleben, wie wir als Team das Rennen in unserer Kategorie gewinnen konnten. Es ist ein unglaublich tolles Gefühl, welches wir auch im nächsten Rennen in Shanghai spüren wollen. Ich bin mit meiner Leistung nicht gänzlich zufrieden. Ich hätte klar schneller fahren können, wollte jedoch eine Balance zwischen Sicherheit und absolutem Limit finden. In Anbetracht meiner noch jungen Karriere im Langstreckenbereich, wollte ich meinem Team am besten dienen, indem ich sehr schnell, konstant aber niemals über das Limit des Autozustands fuhr. 

Japan war eine neue kulturelle Erfahrung für mich. Ich habe die Menschen hier sehr geschätzt und ins Herz geschlossen. Wie am Vortag war die Hingabe zum Rennsport allgegenwärtig. Ich komme überaus gerne wieder!"

We're proud to announce our partnership with

AutoHelvetia.ch. The owners, Martin Kessler and Peter Haba, share Fabio's passion for racing and driving of exclusive sportscars. The handover of Fabio's new official car, a stunning Mercedes C63 AMG, can be seen in the attached picture. The Merc is just one of many extemely desireable sportscars, that are being sold by AutoHelvetia.ch.

Fabio is pleased to announce the future collaboration with the Swiss clothing and sunglass manufacturer

einSTOFFEN! Not only do their products look cool and stand out of the norm (a perfect match) but they are also produced in a fair and sustainable manner! Since 2008, the small Swiss label einSTOFFen produces fashion and accessories for people with an eye for the future, a heart in the right place and a good sense of humor. What started out with funny T-Shirts and our bestselling "Hemden für Helden", shirts inspired by movie characters - has lately become one of the most innovative fashion labels in Switzerland. einSTOFFen is inspired by movies, music (our parties are legend), art and most of all nature. We combine what belongs together: wood and textile, new trends and classic shapes, crazy ideas and strict quality awareness. Our designs demonstrate a love for pure and simple aesthetics but still leave room for playful detail in the right place and a little twinkle in the eye. Openmindedness, Innovation, Swiss Quality, Sustainability and Fairness when dealing with producers, customers and business partners are important to us. We vouch for the quality of our products and make sure regularly that they are manufactured under fair working conditions and using only the finest materials. einSTOFFen is proud to support Fabio Leimer!

On the 18th and 19th of July Fabio went to the GP of Germany and was a guest of the team with which he won his GP2 title. Existing friendships with Racing Engineering were cherished as well as new ones made. He witnessed the GP2 qualifying and main race as the proverbial rabbit's foot for the current drivers. Stefano Coletti just missed the podium with P4 on race 1 but won the sprint race the following day. Fabio is proud to have been his lucky charm ;) Impressions of the day can be found on the according

page!

As you can see, my freshly designed homepage is now live.  I will post impressions, news and press releases concerning my racing activities here. Follow me on Twitter and like my official Facebook fanpage to get closer to the action! 

Unlucky #13 in LeMans

The well known problems of car #13 of the REBELLION Racing team made themselves known again after a positiv qualifying on Wednesday. Fabio Leimer and his teammates Andrea Belicchi and Dodo Kraihamer could not improve substantially on their qualifying time in the rounds two and three on Thursday due to technical difficulties, as opposed to their sister car #12. The culmination was the breakdown of the motor shortly after the beginning of the night session, Fabio hadn't set foot in the car up to this point.
The traditional parade of the drivers in oldtimer cars through the city center of Le Mans on Friday was nontheless an unforgetable positiv moment for all present. 
The positive vibe could not be ported to the actual race on Saturday at 3 p.m. as the young age of car #13 introduced itself again. Andrea was able to put alot of competitive rounds in which made spirits soar again. Sadly, the problems appeared already shortly after the driver change to Dodo. The Austrian had to pull into the pit several times to repair and ultimately exhange a faulty door. The spectacular accident involving the factory Toyota and Audi happened during this time. Fabio got into the Oreca-Toyota built LMP1-L car with a thus resulting substantial time gap and drove out into the sunset. He was able to pass all the LMP2 cars previously ahead of him lap after lap and the catch up to the competition looked very promising. The powertrain made itself known shorlty after Fabio having been in the pit for gas and returning to the traffic of the race. The pit mechanics did everything in their power but had to give up because of a similar defect that resulted in an exchange of the motor on Thursday. Just shy of 6 hours of race time REBELLION Racing lowerd the pit door of #13 signaling the forfeit. Fabio Leimer:
"Of course I'm disappointed to drop out of this race after such a short time. I had hoped to get much more race experience after such an exciting week. I will keep the parade and the fans as a truly memorable moment with me and am looking forward to maybe taking part next year! I have never given this many signatures in all of my career! Hopefully the #13 will seize to be so unlucky in the next race in Austin come September. I would like to take this moment and congratulate my fellow countryman Marcel Fässler on winning the race!"

Fabio Leimer ends Preliminary Tour of France with Practice in Le Mans

Fabio Leimer began his journey with an initial stop in Le Castellet in the south of France. There he enjoyed the Pirelli-test with the Lotus F1 Team. He left the representatives of both companies with very positive impressions. He continued on to the mandatory Le Mans simulator test close to Paris. Starting with this year, all rookie drivers to the 24 hour race must undergo this formation. He got to know the virtual course (13,5 km) in several different conditions during 8 hours. He had to alternate with another rookie that had alot of problems as opposed to Fabio. The final destination of the tour was the real Le Mans, situated 200 km southwest of Paris, where he was received by his LMP1 Team, REBELLION Racing. He had to finish several administrative tasks before he was finally able to get into the car on sunday morning. Some electronic issues had to be taken care of during the first 2 hours of the practice. All in all the Rothrist resident was able to finish ample laps to officially take part in the race on June 14th and 15th. This is a prerequisite for every entrant, for him or her to have at least successfully completed 10 full laps prior to the race. His fellow teammates Andrea Belicchi and Dominik Kraihamer mainly tested the new Oreca-Toyota R-One in the afternoon practice session. Fabio only hopped in the car towards the end and the focus was on testing fuel saving strategies, to comply with the FIA regulations. The race annually attracts prominent participants, for instance the US actor Patrick Dempsey who is Fabio's pit neighbor this year. Regretfully, the practice session was terminated by a red flag that was triggered by his sister car's crash.

Fabio Leimer:
"It was a long and exhausting week with a multitude of tasks. I passed the "initiation" and can finally take part in the 24 hours of Le Mans. I'm so looking forward to this, as I have been following this race ever since I was a small child!" External link