Basseng began his career in karting. In 1997 he began competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany for the UPS Porsche Junior Team, finishing third in the 1998 standings.[1] He raced in the Renault Sport Clio Trophy in 2001 and 2002 and won the German Clio Cup in 2003.
In 2004, Basseng began to compete in the VLN Nürburgring Endurance Championship, where he has claimed 25 overall wins. The driver also competed part-time at the FIA GT3 European Championship, FIA GT Championship, Le Mans Series, American Le Mans Series and ADAC GT Masters. In 2008, the Belgian raced full-time at the American Le Mans Series in a Porsche 911 for Farnbacher Loles and VICI Racing.
He began racing in the new FIA GT1 World Championship in 2010 for the All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport team, for which he also serves as team manager. On 26 July 2010, Marc Basseng achieved the lap record in a Pagani Zonda R on the Nürburgring Nordschleife.[2] In 2011 he finished 5th in the standings for Münnich, sharing his ride with Markus Winkelhock. In 2012 he claimed the world championship with Winkelhock, managing to win a race and finishing 10 times in the podium.
Basseng moved with Münnich Motorsport to the World Touring Car Championship for 2013.[3] As he was the reigning FIA GT1 World Champion he was ruled to be ineligible for the Yokohama Independents' Trophy.[4] He qualified eighth for the season opening Race of Italy and was battling for sixth place in race one with Gabriele Tarquini before dropping out of contention when he served a drive–through penalty for not having all his wheels down on the ground at the three-minute warning on the grid.[5] He started second for race two but dropped down to fourth before challenging Tarquini for third on the last lap
The Koenigsegg CCX is a mid-engined roadster from Swedish car manufacturer Koenigsegg. The CCX has been engineered to comply with the U.S. regulation and market demands and is a newer design that replaced the Koenigsegg CCR.
CCX is an abbreviation for Competition Coupé X, the X commemorating the 10th anniversary (X being the Roman numeral for ten) of the completion and test drive of the first CC vehicle in 1996.
The CCX was first unveiled on February 28, 2006 at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show although its existence was announced earlier. A derivative known as the CCXR is available, the main difference being that CCXR's engine is tuned to run on biofuel. The different fuel and tune allows the CCXR to produce 25% more power than the CCX.
Koenigsegg began the CCX project with the aim of entering the world market, though particularly the United States car market. Development engineer Magnus Jaasund said "We wanted to go into the world market, but we couldn't do it with the old car." To sell cars to the North American market many alterations were made to the design of the CCR; the previously used Ford Modular engine was replaced by a Koenigsegg engine designed to run on 91 octane fuel, readily available in the United States, and to meet the Californian emission standards.
The front bumper of the CCX is designed to be safer in low speed collisions than previous Koenigseggs and the whole body is 3.46 in (88 millimeters) longer to comply with the United States' rear impact regulations. Additionally the CCX can display United States or European number plates.
The CCX is 1.6 in (41 mm) taller than the CCR and, combined with the carbon fiber reinforced plastic sports seats by Sparco, the CCX allows for 2 in (51 mm) of extra headroom that Autoweek reviewer Mark Vaughn hypothesizes is "to accommodate U.S. NBA stars." The electronic control unit has also received an upgrade over the CCR meaning that the CCX is without physical fuses and it is lighter than the previous system.
-Acceleration: 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in 3.2 seconds, 0-200km/h (124 mph) in 9.8 seconds
-Top speed: over 395 km/h (245 mph)
-Braking distance: 100--0 km/h (62--0 mph) in 32 m
On 15 June 2008, a standard fully equipped CCX was independently timed by sport auto in achieving a record 0-186-0 mph (0-300--0 km/h) in 29.2 seconds, beating the Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR 722 Edition, the Lamborghini Murciélago LP640, the Porsche 997 GT2, the Alpina B6 S (based on the BMW 6 Series), and the Corvette Z06.
Previous Koenigsegg models were powered by Ford Modular V8 engines sourced from the U.S. Though also based on the Ford Modular architecture the engine of the CCX was thoroughly re-engineered by Koenigsegg themselves and is assembled at the Koenigsegg factory. The engine block for the dual overhead camshaft, 4 valve per cylinder 4.7 liter 288 cu in (4,719 cc) V8 is cast for them by Grainger & Worrall, a British company that produces drivetrain components for Formula One cars. The engine block is made of 356 Aluminium that has undergone a T7 heat treatment, a form of accelerated precipitation strengthening. The aluminium alloy is stronger than the previous engine and allows a thinner, thus lighter, engine block that will withstand higher cylinder pressures. The engine is boosted by two centrifugal superchargers that provide 17.5 psi (1.2 bar) of boost with an 8.2:1 compression ratio. The engine produces 806 bhp (601 kW; 817 PS) at 6900 rpm and 678 lb·ft (919 N·m) of torque at 5700 rpm on 91 octane (U.S. rating) gasoline. The engine is lubricated with a dry sump system with a separate oil pump, the pistons are cooled by oil sprayed onto them and the oil itself has an external cooler. The CCX does 14 mpg (17 l/100 km) in combined cycle and 18 mpg (13 l/100 km) in highway travel.