Marcelo Kesselmann

Marcelo was born in Campo Grande, a state capital in central Brazil. Coming from a well-connected and affluent family, he was able to find sponsors and fund his career quite easily. The young maned wolf started out driving karts, eventually winning the regionals and moving on to the larger events in the southeast. His big opportunity came in 2014, when his father managed to pull some strings and arranged him an unofficial USF2000 test, where Marcelo impressed the team owners and secured a drive for that season. After finishing 3rd in the standings, Kesselmann bumped up to (Pro Mawzda) in 2015 and then to (Indy Lights) for 2016. While his debut season was lukewarm at best, finishing a distant 12th, Marcelo managed to fight for the championship in 2017, finishing runner-up after recovering from a string of retirements early in the season. This upturn in results attracted the attention of a few IndyFur teams, landing the Brazilian driver a seat for 2018. Kesselmann kept his momentum for his debut IndyFur season, getting good results right from the start. His first podium came at the Texas Motor Speedway, followed by his maiden win in Elkhart Lake. In the very next race, at the Iowa Speedway, Marcelo was injured after being clipped by another driver and crashing into the wall at Turn 1. Fortunately, he was able to return two races later, at Mid-Ohio, though slower and more cautious than before. Kesselmann eventually returned to his pre-wreck form, finishing 5th and 2nd in Portland and Sonoma respectively. This put him in a respectable 7th on the standings and earned him the RotY award. However, due to his hospitalization and bad pace immediately after returning, the maned wolf's contract was not renewed for 2019, leaving Kesselmann with several options for his racing career's future.