(c) 'Who is Who' by Steve Small, 2000

Родился: 29.03.1974 Сабаделл, Барселона Сезонов в Ф1: 3 Лет в Ф1: 6 Гран При: 36 Старты: 36 Победы: - подряд: Подиумы: - подряд: Поул-позиции: - подряд: Первый ряд: - подряд: Быстрые круги: - подряд: Лучший финиш: 5 Лучший старт: 5 Дубли: Хет-трики: Лидирование старт/финиш: Большие шлемы: Круги: 1738 - лидирования: Километры: 8541.35 - лидирования: Очки: 5 - за один сезон: 4 - подряд:

Ф1: 1999-2004

Год	Команда	Шасси
1999	Minardi Team	Minardi M01
2000	Telefónica Minardi Fondmetal	Minardi M02
2003	BMW WilliamsF1 Team	Williams FW25
2004	BMW WilliamsF1 Team	Williams FW26

The Spaniard had taken the Italian Superformula championship in 1994, but his step up to British Formula 3 the following year proved somewhat disappointing when he struggled in the wake of his team-mate Helio Castro-Neves. In mitigation, Marc was at this stage still studying at university, which naturally curtailed the amount of time he could devote to his racing career.

Budget problems kept him out of action for much of 1996, but he managed to gain a place in the Pacific F3000 team at the start of 1997. Unfortunately an accident in the second round at Pau left Gené with a cracked vertebra, which sidelined him for a month, and when he was fit to return his place in the team had gone. Although he was able to find another berth with Nordic for a couple of races his season lay in tatters.

So it was back to his day job as an accountant in Spain and competition in the less pressurised atmosphere of the Open Fortuna by Nissan single-seater series. Driving for Adrian Campos, Marc swept to a convincing championship win, chalking up six victories from twelve races. In truth there wasn't a huge amount of competition for him to beat, but it was to give his career a massive boost.

With the Spanish communications giant Telefonica backing Minardi in 1999, Marc was suddenly a shock candidate for a place with the Faenza team and immediately impressed the Minardi hierarchy with his hard work and willingness to learn.

Certainly he was not outclassed by his more experienced team-mate Badoer, and he had the great satisfaction of bringing his car into sixth place at the European Grand Prix. This single point pushed the little Italian team above the mega-rich British American Racing to ensure that, for one season at least, they were not bottom of the pile.

(c) 'Who is Who' by Steve Small, 2000