Chantal Kroll is a Swiss driver who competes mainly in the Creventic 24H Series with her family team, currently known as Hofor Racing. She was one of the championship’s class driver champions in 2016 and 2017.
The Hofor team consists of Chantal, her father Michael and her uncle Martin Kroll, with various other guest drivers. Michael founded the team in 2004 and Chantal joined at the end of 2005, racing a Porsche 964.
In 2012, she drove in the 24-hour races in Dubai and at the Nürburgring, in a BMW M3 E46. She and her team-mates won their class at the Dubai race. The team consisted of the three Kroll drivers, Raffi Bader and team owner, Bernd Küpper. The car ran under the Hofor Racing banner for the Nürburgring race; the Krolls were joined by Roland Eggimann this time. Hofor fielded two cars. Chantal’s did not finish, failing in the last two hours.
In 2013, she was third in class in the Barcelona 24 Hours, in the BMW. The Hofor and Küpper teams joined forces, with Chantal and Martin making up the Kroll contingent. The other drivers were Bernd Küpper and Richard Feller. They were 20th overall. This followed a joint Hofor-Küpper run in the Dubai 24 Hours, which led to a class win and 35th place.
She also drove in the Nürburgring 24 Hours. There were two Hofor BMWs entered and she drove in both of them, finishing fourth and fifth in class SP6 and 80th and 87th overall.
In 2014, she entered the Zolder 24 Hours for the first time, and was third overall in a Porsche 997. This was her best-ever finish. The Porsche was run by Belgium Racing. Chantal and Michael joined three other Belgian drivers.
She also drove in the Nürburgring and Dubai races in BMWs. At the Nürburgring, she and her team drove in two separate cars again, finishing in both. Hofor Racing’s second car, a BMW CSL, was 50th, defeating Hofor 1, a GTR, which was 72nd. In Dubai in January, there was just one Hofor-Küpper car, featuring Chantal, which finished 54th.
In 2015, she was once more active in the 24-Hour Series, winning the Ladies' Cup comfortably. She also scored class wins in the Dubai, Mugello and Paul Ricard races, doubling up for Hofor-Küpper in the BMW and a Mercedes SLS AMG. Overall, the BMW was the more successful car, with the Paul Ricard class win and three second places at Zandvoort, Catalunya and Brno. The team was third overall in class A5.There was also a class win at Dubai, running in a different group. The Mercedes scored a class win at Mugello.
Despite only winning their class in one race in 2016, Chantal's team were the overall winners of the 24 Hour Series for class A6, after several podiums. This time it was the Mercedes that was the more competitive of the two Hofor cars. Chantal did not drive in the BMW that year.
Their class win came right at the start of the season, in Dubai. It was another personal best for Chantal: a fourth place. She was also second at Mugello and Brno, and third at Zandvoort and Paul Ricard.
A four-driver Hofor team, including Chantal, was second in class in the Nürburgring 24 Hours, driving a BMW M3 CSL. They were 51st overall.
The Hofor Mercedes team defended their title in 2017, despite only managing one class win again. Their best was a third overall at the Portimao circuit, where they won the A6-Am class and were third overall in A6. The team was seventh in Dubai, fifth at Mugello and fourth at the Red Bull Ring. Chantal was once more the ladies’ champion
Chantal’s 2018 season started disappointingly, with a retirement for the Mercedes in the Dubai 24 Hours. The car was taken out by another Mercedes and badly damaged. Later, she and her team-mates were seventh at Navarra, then third in class at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, this time driving a BMW M3.
The Hofor Mercedes was back in action at the Dubai 24 Hours in 2019, but the team had to retire due to accident damage. Chantal acted as team manager for the rest of the year as she was pregnant. Her daughter Amelie was born in October.
The Hofor Mercedes was back in action at the Dubai 24 Hours in 2019, but the team had to retire due to accident damage. Chantal acted as team manager for the rest of the year as she was pregnant. Her daughter Amelie was born in October.
She drove two different Hofor cars in 2022. For the Nurburgring 24 Hours, she drove a BMW M3 E46 with a family team, including her husband, winning her class and finishing 66th overall. Later in the year, she drove a Mercedes AMG for the Catalunya 24H Series race, finishing eighth in the GT3 class.
The Hofor Mercedes appeared in the Mugello, Spa and Barcelona rounds of the 24H Series, with Chantal as part of the driving line-up. They were sixth and seventh at Mugello, fourteenth and thirteenth at Spa and 17th at Barcelona. Chantal was second in the ladies' standings and the team was 19th in the GT class.
(Image copyright Chantal Kroll/Hofor Racing)
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