Klaus Abbelen

Klaus Abbelen (born 15 September 1960) is a German former racing driver and businessman. Abbelen was a regular participant in races sanctioned at the Nürburgring, including the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie and the Nürburgring 24 Hours. With his team Frikadelli Racing, he won the 2023 24 Hours of Nürburgring as a team principal.^[1]

Klaus Abbelen
Abbelen in 2009
Born	(1960-09-15) 15 September 1960 (age 65) Tönisvorst, West Germany
Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie career
Current team	Frikadelli Racing
Racing licence	FIA Bronze
Car number	97
Previous series
2003–04	FIA GT Championship
Championship titles
2000	Euro GT Series

He owns his family's business Abbelen GmbH, a German Frikadelle manufacturer.^[2] Abbelen was also married to German racing driver Sabine Schmitz before her death in 2021.^[3]

Racing career

Abbelen started his endurance career in 1999, joining class A in the Ferrari Porsche Challenge in a Porsche, finishing second in his class.^[4] In 2002, Abbelen attempted to run the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, but failed to get in. In the same year, Abbelen joined the A Class in the Euro GT Series, where he joined Team W&A, placing 3rd overall.

In 2003, Abbelen joined multiple series, beginning with the Euro GT Series. Then, he joined the French GT Championship, driving a Porsche 911 for Chateau Sport for 2 races along with racer Stéphane Ortelli.^[5] The pair would fail to reach podium and would settle for a 41st in the final standings. Abbelen would then join Zwaan's Racing in the FIA GT Championship, driving their Chrysler Viper with Arjan van der Zwaan and Robert van der Zwaan. In 7 races, the team would fail to reach podium, finishing the championship 19th in points. Abbelen would then move to the Porsche Supercup, racing for DeWalt Racing driving their Porsche 911 for a single race.

In 2004, Abbelen ran in the Le Mans Endurance Series, driving a Saleen S7-R for Konrad Motorsport in one race. In 2004, Abbelen returned to Zwaan's Racing in the FIA GT Championship before not making podium again.

In 2006, he and Sabine Schmitz drove the #97 Porsche 997 in the VLN endurance racing series on the Nürburgring, entered by Land Motorsport.

Abbelen competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona for the first time in 2016, racing alongside Patrick Huisman, Sven Müller, Frank Stippler, and his wife Sabine Schmitz.^[2] On race day, the crew finished 12th in the GTD class.

Abbelen announced his retirement ahead of the NLS8 round in the 2025 Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie. After suffering an early end to his race with a gearbox issue, he momentarily postponed his retirement to compete in the next round in NLS9 with the aim of both finishing a race as a proper sendoff and completing all four hours of the race as a solo entry.^[6][7]

Frikadelli Racing

Frikadelli Racing's Ferrari 296 GT3 at the Nürburgring in 2024.

Abbelen owns and is the co-founder of Eifel-based sports car racing team Frikadelli Racing.^[2][8] He and his wife Sabine Schmitz founded the team together and were partners in the operation until Schmitz's death in 2021.^[9]

One of Frikadelli Racing's most notable achievements came in 2023, when the team scored a breakthrough victory at the 2023 24 Hours of Nürburgring with a Ferrari 296 GT3, driven by Earl Bamber, Nicky Catsburg, Felipe Fernández Laser, and David Pittard.^[1] It was the first victory in the event for Ferrari, and the first for a non-German manufacturer since 2002, when Zakspeed won the event with a Chrysler Viper GTS-R.^[10]