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Jean-Pierre Beltoise

French racing driver (1937–2015)

Jean-Pierre Beltoise
Beltoise in 1968
Nationality	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 years 1962–1964 First race 1962 250cc French Grand Prix Last race 1964 50 cc French Grand Prix Team(s) Kreidler Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 8 0 1 0 0 16

Formula One World Championship career
Active years	1967–1974
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 (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃.pjɛʁ bɛl.twaz]; 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. He competed in 88 Grands Prix achieving a single victory, at the 1972 Monaco Grand Prix, and a total of eight podium finishes.

Early career[edit]

Beltoise won 11 French national motorcycle road racing titles in three years.^[1] He competed in international Grand Prix motorcycle racing from the 1962to1964 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 1964 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[edit]

In 1966, Beltoise drove in the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring 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]In1967 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, although he was allowed to compete while on appeal.

For 1972, he moved to the BRM team and won what turned out to be his only and BRM's final championship-qualifying Formula One victory at the 1972 Monaco Grand Prix in heavy rain. In that same year, Jean-Pierre won a non-championship race in the end of the F1 season, at Brands Hatch, thus marking the last two victories of BRM make in Formula One. He spent three seasons with BRM, and finally retired from Formula 1 at the end of the 1974 season.

Later career[edit]

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[edit]

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

Racing record[edit]

Motorcycle Grand Prix results[edit]

(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

^[2]

24 Hours of Le Mans results[edit]

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1963	Automobiles René Bonnet	Claude Bobrowski	René Bonnet Aérodjet LM6	P 3.0	269	11th	4th
1964	Société Automobiles René Bonnet	Gérard Laureau	René Bonnet Aérodjet	P 3.0	54	DNF	DNF
1966	Matra Sports SARL	Johnny Servoz-Gavin	Matra M620	P 2.0	112	DNF	DNF
1967	Equipe Matra Sports	Johnny Servoz-Gavin	Matra MS630	P 2.0	155	DNF	DNF
1969	Equipe Matra Elf	Piers Courage	Matra MS650	P 3.0	368	4th	2nd
1970	Equipe Matra-Simca	Henri Pescarolo	Matra-Simca MS660	P 3.0	79	DNF	DNF
1971	Equipe Matra-Simca	Chris Amon	Matra-Simca MS660	P 3.0	263	DNF	DNF
1972	Equipe Matra-Simca	Chris Amon	Matra-Simca MS670	S 3.0	1	DNF	DNF
1973	Equipe Matra-Simca Shell	François Cevert	Matra-Simca MS670B	S 3.0	157	DNF	DNF
1974	Equipe Gitanes	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Matra-Simca MS680	S 3.0	104	DNF	DNF
1975	Gitanes Automobiles Ligier	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Ligier JS2-Ford Cosworth	S 3.0	36	DNF	DNF
1976	Inaltera	Henri Pescarolo	Inaltera LM-Ford Cosworth	GTP	305	8th	1st
1977	Inaltera	Al Holbert	Inaltera LM77-Ford Cosworth	S +2.0	275	13th	5th
1979	ITT Oceanic Jean Rondeau	Henri Pescarolo	Rondeau M379-Ford Cosworth	S +2.0	279	10th	2nd
Source:[6]

Complete European Formula Two Championship results[edit]

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

^‡ Graded drivers not eligible for European Formula Two Championship points

Complete Formula One World Championship results[edit]

(key) (races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Notes

• ^1 – In the 1969 German Grand Prix, Beltoise was classified 12th on the circuit but was the 6th Formula One car behind six Formula 2 cars, thus scoring one World Championship point.

Non-Championship Formula One results[edit]

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

References[edit]

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