Jean-Pierre Beltoise

Jean-Pierre Beltoise

Beltoise in 1969
Nationality France French
Born (1937-04-26)26 April 1937
Paris, France
Died 5 January 2015(2015-01-05) (aged 77)
Dakar, Senegal
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Active years19621964
First race1962 250cc French Grand Prix
Last race1964 50 cc French Grand Prix
Team(s)Kreidler
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
8 0 1 0 0
Formula One World Championship career
Active years 19671974
Teams Matra, BRM
Entries 88 (86 starts)
Championships 0
Wins 1
Podiums 8
Career points 77
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 4
First entry 1967 Monaco Grand Prix
First win 1972 Monaco Grand Prix
Last win 1972 Monaco Grand Prix
Last entry 1974 United States Grand Prix

Jean-Pierre Maurice Georges Beltoise (26 April 1937 – 5 January 2015) was a French Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver who raced for the Matra and BRM teams. François Cevert was his brother-in-law (his wife's brother). He competed in 88 Grands Prix achieving one win and eight podium finishes.

Early career

Beltoise won 11 national motorcycle titles in three years.[1] He competed in international Grand Prix motorcycle racing from the 1962 to 1964 seasons in the 50, 125, 250 and 500 cc classes. His best finish was a sixth place in the 1964 50 cc World Championship.[2]

In 1963 he was racing a 1.1-litre René Bonnet sports car. His career almost ended with a huge crash in the Reims 12-hour sports car endurance race, in which he suffered a broken arm, so severely damaged, that its movement was permanently restricted.[3] However he returned in 1965 and won the Reims Formula 3 race, after which he graduated to Formula 2 for the following season.

Formula One

In a Matra car during practice for the 1968 German Grand Prix.
Beltoise at the 1968 Dutch Grand Prix.

In 1966, Beltoise drove in the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring in a Formula Two (F2) one litre Matra MS5-Cosworth. He finished one lap down but won the F2 class.[4] However, it was his only Grand Prix that season.[4] In 1967 Beltoise competed in three Grands Prix with a Formula Two Matra MS7 1.6 litre Cosworth, and finished seventh at both Watkins Glen and Mexico City.[4] He also won the 1967 Buenos Aires Grand Prix, which was not part of the World Championship calendar. In 1968 Beltoise began the season again with an F2 car but from the second race onward had Formula One machinery and finished second in the 1968 Dutch Grand Prix. In 1969 he was placed in Ken Tyrrell's Matra team, whilst the works V12 engine was developed[3] driving alongside Jackie Stewart, and finished second in the French grand Prix. Beltoise returned to the works Matra team for both 1970 and 1971. In 1971, racing in the Matra sports car team, he was involved in the accident in which Ignazio Giunti died during the 1000 km Buenos Aires, and his international racing license was suspended for some time.

In 1971 Matra signed Chris Amon[3] as team leader which frustrated Beltoise's ambitions.[3] For 1972 he moved to the BRM team and won what turned out to be his only and BRM's final Formula One victory at the 1972 Monaco Grand Prix in heavy rain. He spent three seasons with BRM, without much success and finally retired from Formula 1 at the end of the 1974 season.

Later career

He later did most of the testing for the Ligier F1 team, although a proposed Formula One drive for 1976 went instead to Jacques Laffite[3] and he thereafter turned his attention to touring car racing in France, twice winning the French title for BMW before entering rallycross in an Alpine-Renault with which he won the French title. In 1981 he returned to touring cars and raced for Peugeot throughout the 1980s. He was also a regular ice racer. His two sons, Anthony and Julien, are both race drivers.

In fiction, Beltoise frequently appeared in the Michel Vaillant series of comic books, amongst others being part of the winning Vaillante Le Mans team.

Death

Beltoise died at his holiday home in Dakar, Senegal, on 5 January 2015, aged 77, following two strokes.[5]

Motorcycle Grand Prix results

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6
Points 8 6 4 3 2 1

(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Class Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Points Rank Wins
1962 250cc Moto Morini ESP
-
FRA
5
IOM
-
NED
-
BEL
-
GER
-
ULS
-
DDR
-
NAT
-
ARG
-
2 20th 0
1963 50cc Kreidler ESP
-
GER
-
FRA
5
IOM
-
NED
-
BEL
6
FIN
-
ARG
-
JPN
-
3 11th 0
125cc Bultaco ESP
-
GER
-
FRA
-
IOM
-
NED
-
BEL
6
ULS
-
DDR
-
FIN
-
NAT
-
ARG
-
JPN
-
1 20th 0
1964 50cc Kreidler USA
5
ESP
-
FRA
3
IOM
-
NED
-
BEL
-
GER
-
FIN
-
JPN
-
6 6th 0
125cc Bultaco USA
5
ESP
-
FRA
5
IOM
-
NED
-
GER
-
DDR
-
ULS
-
FIN
-
NAT
-
JPN
-
4 13th 0

[2]

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Yr Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 WDC Points
1966 Matra Sports Matra MS5 (F2) Cosworth Straight-4 MON BEL FRA GBR NED GER
8
ITA USA MEX NC 0
1967 Matra Sports Matra MS7 (F2) Cosworth Straight-4 RSA MON
DNQ
NED BEL FRA GBR GER CAN ITA USA
7
MEX
7
NC 0
1968 Matra Sports Matra MS7 (F2) Cosworth Straight-4 RSA
6
9th 11
Matra MS11 Matra V12 MON
Ret
BEL
8
NED
2
FRA
9
GBR
Ret
GER
Ret
ITA
5
CAN
Ret
USA
Ret
MEX
Ret
Matra International Matra MS10 Cosworth V8 ESP
5
1969 Matra International Matra MS10 Cosworth V8 RSA
6
5th 21
Matra MS80 ESP
3
MON
Ret
NED
8
FRA
2
GER
12*
ITA
3
CAN
4
USA
Ret
MEX
5
Matra MS84 GBR
9
1970 Equipe Matra Elf Matra-Simca MS120 Matra V12 RSA
4
ESP
Ret
MON
Ret
BEL
3
NED
5
FRA
13
GBR
Ret
GER
Ret
AUT
6
ITA
3
CAN
8
USA
Ret
MEX
5
9th 16
1971 Equipe Matra Sports Matra-Simca MS120B Matra V12 RSA ESP
6
MON
Ret
NED
9
FRA
7
GBR
7
GER AUT ITA CAN
Ret
USA
8
22nd 1
1972 Marlboro BRM BRM P160B BRM V12 ARG RSA
Ret
ESP
Ret
MON
1
BEL
Ret
FRA
15
11th 9
BRM P160C GBR
11
GER
9
AUT
8
BRM P180 ITA
8
CAN
Ret
USA
Ret
1973 Marlboro BRM BRM P160D BRM V12 ARG
Ret
BRA
Ret
RSA
Ret
10th 9
BRM P160E ESP
5
BEL
Ret
MON
Ret
SWE
Ret
FRA
11
GBR
Ret
NED
5
GER
Ret
AUT
5
ITA
13
CAN
4
USA
9
1974 Team Motul BRM BRM P160E BRM V12 ARG
5
BRA
10
13th 10
BRM P201 RSA
2
ESP
Ret
BEL
5
MON
Ret
SWE
Ret
NED
Ret
FRA
10
GBR
12
GER
Ret
AUT
Ret
ITA
Ret
CAN
NC
USA
DNQ

[6]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jean-Pierre Beltoise.
  1. grandprix.com
  2. 1 2 Jean Pierre Beltoise career statistics at MotoGP.com
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Small, Steve (1994). The Complete Guinness Grand Prix Who's Who. Guinness. p. 54. ISBN 0851127029.
  4. 1 2 3 Small, Steve (1994). The Complete Guinness Grand Prix Who's Who. Guinness. p. 55. ISBN 0851127029.
  5. "Jean-Pierre Beltoise, ex-F1 driver and 1972 Monaco GP winner, dies". Autosport.com. Haymarket. 5 January 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  6. Jean-Pierre Beltoise career statistics at formula1.com Archived April 21, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
None
French Formula Three
Champion

1965
Succeeded by
Johnny Servoz-Gavin
Preceded by
Peter Revson
Monaco Formula Three
Race Winner

1966
Succeeded by
Henri Pescarolo
Preceded by
Jacky Ickx
European Formula Two
Champion

1968
Succeeded by
Johnny Servoz-Gavin
Preceded by
None
French Touring Car Champion
1976–1977
Succeeded by
Lucien Guitteny
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/13/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.