Jean-Pierre Wimille
Wimille after winning the 1936 Grand Prix de Deauville
Nationality French
Born(1908-02-26)26 February 1908
Paris, France
Died28 January 1949(1949-01-28) (aged 40)
Buenos Aires, Argentina

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. Before the war he drove for the French Bugatti team and after the war for the Italian Alfa Romeo. He died in a crash at the 1949 Buenos Aires Grand Prix.[1] He is considered the best driver of his time and one of the greatest French drivers of all time. Five times World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio himself had taken him as a model.

Biography

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

Jean Pierre Wimille in 1948.

In 1931, Wimille finished second at the Monte Carlo Rally, driving a Lorraine-Dietrich.[2] 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.[3] 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

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.

In 1940, Wimille also developed with Marcel Lesurque an electric car able to reach 50 km/h.[4]

Post World War II

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. He had a long-standing affair with French singer Juliette Greco, whom he met in 1947 at the Tabou in Paris.[5]

Wimille 1948

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 when he lost control of his Simca-Gordini and crashed into a tree during practice runs for the 1949 Buenos Aires Grand Prix.[1] 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

Some of Jean-Pierre Wimille's race victories:

1932:

  • Grand Prix de Lorraine
  • Grand Prix d'Oran

1934:

1936:

1937:

1939:

Post War – 1945:

  • Coupe des Prisonniers – Bugatti sprint car

1946:

1947:

1948:

Complete European Championship results

(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		 6th 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:[6]

Post WWII Grandes Épreuves results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4
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 1.4 L4 MON
Ret
Alfa Corse Alfa Romeo 158 Alfa Romeo 158 1.5 L8s SUI
2		 FRA
1		 ITA
1

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1937 France Roger Labric France Robert Benoist Bugatti Type 57 5.0 243 1st 1st
1939 France Jean-Pierre Wimille France Pierre Veyron Bugatti Type 57 8.0 248 1st 1st
Source:[7]

References

  1. 1 2 "Jean-Pierre Wimille: The man who would have been champion..." grandprix.com. Archived from the original on 30 January 2013. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  2. ↑ Shacki. "Final results Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo 1931". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  3. ↑ "Disaster in Deauville; the 1936 Grand Prix". 5 March 2016.
  4. ↑ Dhers, Gilles. "Jean-Pierre Wimille, mort aux portes de la Formule 1". Libération (in French). Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  5. ↑ "Obituary: Juliette Gréco dies aged 93". bbc.com.
  6. ↑ "THE GOLDEN ERA – OF GRAND PRIX RACING". kolumbus.fi. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  7. ↑ "All Results of Jean-Pierre Wimille". Retrieved 20 October 2017.

Bibliography

  • 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
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