Gene signed by Ferrari - 22nd November 19:13pm GMT

Ferrari announces that it has signed an agreement with the driver Marc Gené who will join Scuderia Ferrari as from today, for the 2005 race season, as a test driver, working alongside test driver Luca Badoer.

GENE'S PROFILE:
Date of birth 29 March 1974
Nationality Spanish
Races contested 36
Victories -

For two years - 1999 and 2000 - Marc Gené drove for Minardi, but due to the competitiveness of the car it was difficult to show his potential. In 1999 he celebrated his biggest success with Minardi at the Nurburgring, where he finished in sixth position and scored his first championship point. He drew attention to himself after spending time in British Formula 3 and the Formula 3000 championships; in 1998 he won the Formula Open Fortuna in Spain.

Naturally no reserve driver wants one of his fellow team mates too have to miss a race, but in 2003 Marc was handed his biggest chance as he was brought in to take over the race seat of Ralf Schumacher, after the German suffered a heavy accident in testing and complained of headaches during free training on the Friday: “I thought I was dreaming, as I was woken by a phone call and the voice on the other end told me that I would have to replace Ralf for the race”, remembers Marc.

Marc Gené qualified in a respectable fifth position and was able to hold his position until the chequered flag fell. Marc was able to take valuable points for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team, in the battle for the Constructors’ Championship. “That was the best result of my Formula One career, and I am very happy. It’s not really a surprise, as I was driving one of the best cars on the grid.”

Marc has more to offer than just pure driving talent and a steady pace during testing. In 1995 he graduated from the University of Buckingham with a degree in Economics. He also loves languages. “I love to study”, he explained. Along side his native Spanish and Catalan, Marc also speaks German, English, Italian and French.