Rahel Frey

Rahel Frey is a racing driver from Switzerland, born 23rd of February 1986 in Niederbipp, the village in Bern canton.

Early days were full of action

As a girl, Rahel was very active and she tried out many sports but also ballet. Her father is a former racing driver, so Frey as a teenager started to compete in karting after she got go-kart as a birthday present. She was thrilled with racing so it wasn’t a surprise when Rahel gave up her dream to become a helicopter pilot in the Swiss army and decided to become a professional driver. But before going into the real racing world, Rahel Frey had to finish a school as that was a condition set by her parents.

Rahel Frey, Audi racing driver

Good results at the national level

Frey progressed through the national levels of racing before she entered an international scene. Her talent was spotted by many after Rahel regularly was at the top half of the standings. In 2004 she got a call for testing in Formula Renault 2.0. After she was impressive in tests, he debuted in Formula Renault and took third place in her first race while in his second start managed to take a win. She was 4th overall that year while in 2005 Rahel finished 3rd in the Swiss Formula Renault Drivers championship.

Video - Lap around Nurburgring

Ups and downs in Formula 3

In 2006, Rahel Frey moved up to European Formula Renault Championship and again did well before moving to the International Formula Master in 2007. She was unlucky that year as the mechanical failures of her car didn’t allow her to show all that she has. At the end of the year, she got a call from DTM Audi to make tests what helped her to earn a contract with Volkswagen.

Frey has competed in Formula Renault and German Formula 3

The following year Rahel Frey competed in German Formula 3 but failed to impress. Later she told that 2008 was probably her worst season but the things improved in 2009. Changing the team and a car, the results improved. She won the race at Nurburgring and became the first to score a victory in the Formula 3 race.

Member of all-female team in 24 Hours of Le Mans

Rahel will remember the year of 2010 after her debut in 24 Hours of Le Mans. She drove for Matech Competition in the all-female drivers line-up, sharing a seat of Ford GT1 with Natacha Gachnang and Cyndie Allemann. Unfortunately, the Swiss girls were forced to retire on lap 59.

Swiss racing ladies before the 24 Hours of Le Mans

For the same team, Rahel has competed as a guest in GT1 World Championship while in Scirocco R-Cup she appeared as a guest in Volkswagen’s team. At the end of the year, Frey passed the test with DTM Audi and earned a drive in the popular German touring cars racing series.

Two years in DTM

Her rookie year in DTM was one to forget. Driving for Team Phoenix, Frey failed to score a single point, with 12th place at Oschersleben as her best result. Anyway, she picked up some experience and improved in 2012. Driving for Team Abt, she scored her first points at Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia where she took 7th position.

Rahel Frey spent two seasons with DTM Audi teams

Best days in her racing career arrived with Audi R8 LMS

Rahel left DTM before the start of 2013 but remained with Audi and Abt Racing. She switched to ADAC GT Masters and finished 19th overall after she has collected 27 points out of 15 races. She also appeared in the endurance races at Nurburgring, competed in Audi R8 LMS Cup in China where she scored one win and was 4th overall and drove five races in Blancpain Endurance Series.

Rachel Frey presents Audi R8 LMS at Geneva Motor Show

In 2014, Frey still was committed to the duties with Audi. In China, she managed to improve and to take 3rd position in the championship while in ADAC GT Masters the results still weren’t as good. Driving for YACO Racing, Rachel earned only four points while at 12 Hours of Bathurst she was 5th in Class A, driving alongside well-known names – Rene Rast and Laurens Vanthoor.

Rahel Frey and Philip Geipel

Frey continues to improve

The season of 2015 brought a huge improvement in ADAC GT Masters for Frey. Rahel scored 92 points, won her first race, had three podium finishes at the end of the year she was 10th overall. Driving in Audi Cup in China she again won her class finishing 5th, announcing that she could go further in 2016, still driving an Audi.

Rahel Frey out of motorsports likes sports in general and good food.

Photo: adac-motorsport.de rahelfrey.ch gettyimages.com speed-magazine.de fourtitude.com sport-auto.ch