The former French World Cup winning goalkeeper Fabian Barthez will continue his racing career in the Blancpain GT Series in 2018 after becoming Team AKKA-ASP’s third confirmed driver in the #89 Mercedes-AMG GT3 machine.
Barthez will partner Swiss racer Philippe Giauque and Frenchman Eric Debard in the Endurance Cup races, and it will also reunite him once more with the team owner that gave him his first taste of international motorsport back in 2008, Jérôme Policand.
Policand gave Barthez a drive in the French Porsche Carrera Cup that season, and has been an integral part of the Frenchman’s career, which has seen him race in many international categories, with some successes along the way.
He claimed the Gentlemen Drivers title alongside Gilles Duqueine in the 2011 French GT Championship, again under the guidance of Policand, while in 2014 he made his 24 Hours of Le Mans debut, racing alongside Anthony Pons and Soheil Ayari in a LMGTE Am Ferrari.
For the past two seasons, Barthez has been competing in the European Le Mans Series and 24 Hours of Le Mans in LMP2 machinery with the team he set up with former Formula 1 race winner Olivier Panis, but he stepped down from the driving seat ahead of the 2018 season to return to GT racing.
