Jean-Pierre Wimille
Jean-Pierre Wimille
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Jean-Pierre Wimille (26 February 1908 – 28 January 1949) was a Grand Prix motor racing driver and a member of the French Resistance during World War II.
Contents
1 Biography
1.1 Career
1.2 World War II
1.3 Post World War II
2 Racing record
2.1 Complete European Championship results
2.2 Post WWII Grandes Épreuves results
2.3 24 Hours of Le Mans results
3 References
3.1 Bibliography
4 External links
Biography[edit]
Born in Paris, France to a father who loved motor sports and was employed as the motoring correspondent for the Petit Parisien newspaper, Jean-Pierre Wimille developed a fascination with racing cars at a young age. He was 22 years old when he made his Grand Prix debut, driving a Bugatti 37A at the 1930 French Grand Prix in Pau.
Career[edit]
Driving a Bugatti T51, in 1932 he won the La Turbie hill climb, the Grand Prix de Lorraine and the Grand Prix d'Oran. In 1934 he was the victor at the Algerian Grand Prix in Algiers driving a Bugatti T59 and in January 1936 he finished second in the South African Grand Prix held at the Prince George Circuit in East London, South Africa then won the French Grand Prix in his home country.
Still in France, that same year he won the Deauville Grand Prix, a race held on the city's streets. Wimille won in his Bugatti T59 in an accident-marred race that killed drivers Raymond Chambost and Marcel Lehoux in separate incidents.[1] Of the 16 cars that started the race, only three managed to finish.
In 1936, Wimille traveled to Long Island, New York to compete in the Vanderbilt Cup where he finished 2nd, behind the winner, Tazio Nuvolari. He also competed in the 24 hours of Le Mans endurance race, winning in 1937 and again in 1939.
World War II[edit]
When World War II came, following the Nazi occupation Wimille and fellow Grand Prix race drivers Robert Benoist and William Grover-Williams joined the Special Operations Executive, which aided the French Resistance. Of the three, Wimille was the only one to survive.
Post World War II[edit]
Jean-Pierre Wimille married Christiane de la Fressange with whom he had a son, François born in 1946. At the end of the War, he became the No. 1 driver for the Alfa Romeo team between 1946 and 1948, winning several Grand Prix races including his second French Grand Prix.
From 1946 on, Wimille built and designed cars in Paris under the brand-name Wimille. Between 1946 and 1950 around eight cars were built, at first with Citroën-engines, later with Ford V8-engines.
Jean-Pierre Wimille died at the wheel of Simca-Gordini during practice runs for the 1949 Buenos Aires Grand Prix.[2] He is buried in the Cimetière de Passy in Paris. There is a memorial to him at the Porte Dauphine on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne in Paris.
Racing record[edit]
Some of Jean-Pierre Wimille's race victories:
1932:
- Grand Prix de Lorraine
- Grand Prix d'Oran
1934:
Grand Prix of Algeria – Bugatti T59
1936:
French Grand Prix – Bugatti T57G
Grand Prix de la Marne – Bugatti T57G
Deauville Grand Prix – Bugatti T59
Grand Prix du Comminges – Bugatti T59/57
1937:
Pau Grand Prix – Bugatti T57G (The Tank)
Grand Prix de Böne – Bugatti T57
24 hours of Le Mans – Bugatti T57G driving with Robert Benoist
Grand Prix de la Marne – Bugatti T57
1939:
- Coupe de Paris
- Grand Prix du Centenaire Luxembourg – Bugatti T57S45
24 hours of Le Mans – Bugatti T57C driving with Pierre Veyron
Post War – 1945:
- Coupe des Prisonniers – Bugatti sprint car
1946:
- Coupe de la Résistance – Alfa Romeo 308
Grand Prix du Roussillon – Alfa Romeo 308- Grand Prix de Bourgogne – Alfa Romeo 308
Grand Prix des Nations – Geneva (Heat 1) – Alfa Romeo 158
1947:
Swiss Grand Prix – Alfa Romeo 158
Belgian Grand Prix – Alfa Romeo 158- Coupe de Paris
1948:
- Grand Prix de Rosario – Simca- Gordini 15
French Grand Prix – Alfa Romeo 158
Italian Grand Prix – Alfa Romeo 158- Autodrome Grand Prix – Alfa Romeo 158/47
Complete European Championship results[edit]
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | EDC | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1931 | J.-P. Wimille | Bugatti T51 | Bugatti 2.3 L8 | ITA 4 | FRA Ret | BEL Ret | 4th | 14 | ||||
1932 | J-P. Wimille | Alfa Romeo Monza | Alfa Romeo 2.3 L8 | ITA | FRA Ret | GER | 16th | 21 | ||||
1935 | Automobiles E. Bugatti | Bugatti T59 | Bugatti 3.3 L8 | MON | FRA | BEL Ret | GER | SUI | ITA Ret | ESP 4 | 18th | 49 |
1936 | Automobiles E. Bugatti | Bugatti T59 | Bugatti 3.3 L8 | MON 6 | GER Ret | 14th | 26 | |||||
Bugatti T59/50B | Bugatti 4.7 L8 | SUI Ret | ITA | |||||||||
1938 | Automobiles E. Bugatti | Bugatti T59/50B3 | Bugatti 3.0 L8 | FRA Ret | GER | 11th | 25 | |||||
Alfa Corse | Alfa Romeo Tipo 312 | Alfa Romeo 3.0 V12 | SUI 7 | ITA Ret | ||||||||
Source:[3] |
Post WWII Grandes Épreuves results[edit]
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1947 | Alfa Corse | Alfa Romeo 158 | Alfa Romeo 158 1.5 L8s | SUI 1 | BEL 1 | ITA | FRA | |
1948 | Equipe Gordini | Simca-Gordini T11 | Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4s | MON Ret | ||||
Alfa Corse | Alfa Romeo 158 | Alfa Romeo 158 1.5 L8s | SUI 2 | FRA 1 | ITA 1 | GBR |
24 Hours of Le Mans results[edit]
Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1937 | Roger Labric | Robert Benoist | Bugatti Type 57 | 5.0 | 243 | 1st | 1st |
1939 | Jean-Pierre Wimille | Pierre Veyron | Bugatti Type 57 | 8.0 | 248 | 1st | 1st |
Source:[4] |
References[edit]
^ "Disaster in Deauville; the 1936 Grand Prix"..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em
^ "Jean-Pierre Wimille: The man who would have been champion..." grandprix.com. Retrieved 2007-04-26.
^ "THE GOLDEN ERA – OF GRAND PRIX RACING". kolumbus.fi. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
^ "All Results of Jean-Pierre Wimille". Retrieved October 20, 2017.
Bibliography[edit]
- Paris, Jean-Michel and Mearns, William D: "Jean-Pierre Wimille: à bientôt la revanche", Editions Drivers, Toulouse, 2002,
ISBN 2-9516357-5-3 - Saward, Joe: "The Grand Prix Saboteurs", Morienval Press, London, 2006,
ISBN 978-0-9554868-0-7
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jean-Pierre Wimille. |
Grand Prix History – Hall of Fame, Jean-Pierre Wimille- Jean-Pierre Wimille grave photos at Cimetière de Passy [1] [2]
Preceded by Johnny Hindmarsh Luis Fontés | Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1937 with: Robert Benoist | Succeeded by Eugène Chaboud Jean Trémoulet |
Preceded by Eugène Chaboud Jean Trémoulet | Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1939 with: Pierre Veyron | Succeeded by Luigi Chinetti Peter Mitchell-Thomson |
Categories:
- 1908 births
- 1949 deaths
- French Resistance members
- Légion d'honneur recipients
- French racing drivers
- Grand Prix drivers
- Bugatti people
- Racing drivers killed while racing
- 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
- 24 Hours of Le Mans winning drivers
- Sport deaths in Argentina
- Burials at Passy Cemetery
- French Special Operations Executive personnel
(window.RLQ=window.RLQ||).push(function()mw.config.set("wgPageParseReport":"limitreport":"cputime":"0.328","walltime":"0.420","ppvisitednodes":"value":1933,"limit":1000000,"ppgeneratednodes":"value":0,"limit":1500000,"postexpandincludesize":"value":40216,"limit":2097152,"templateargumentsize":"value":2798,"limit":2097152,"expansiondepth":"value":12,"limit":40,"expensivefunctioncount":"value":5,"limit":500,"unstrip-depth":"value":1,"limit":20,"unstrip-size":"value":13022,"limit":5000000,"entityaccesscount":"value":1,"limit":400,"timingprofile":["100.00% 302.912 1 -total"," 36.55% 110.719 1 Template:Reflist"," 31.43% 95.207 4 Template:Cite_web"," 11.89% 36.012 2 Template:ISBN"," 10.09% 30.564 1 Template:Authority_control"," 9.90% 29.988 1 Template:Commons_category"," 9.70% 29.395 3 Template:Tooltip"," 9.60% 29.081 2 Template:Succession_box"," 8.59% 26.021 1 Template:Commons"," 7.92% 24.004 1 Template:Sister_project"],"scribunto":"limitreport-timeusage":"value":"0.117","limit":"10.000","limitreport-memusage":"value":2974624,"limit":52428800,"cachereport":"origin":"mw1258","timestamp":"20181101175848","ttl":1900800,"transientcontent":false);mw.config.set("wgBackendResponseTime":102,"wgHostname":"mw1327"););