André Wicky (22 May 1928 – 14 May 2016) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

racing driver, active from the late 1950s to the late 1970s. He was mainly involved in

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is ...

, as an entrant and team owner as well as a driver, but also took part in several non-championship

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

races during the 1960s.

Career

Wicky entered the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

and

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

with an

AC Ace AC Ace is a car which was produced by AC Cars of Thames Ditton, England, from 1953 until 1963. History AC came back to the market after the Second World War with the 2-Litre range of cars in 1947, but it was with the Ace sports car of 1953 th ...

, winning the 2.0 GT class in 1960. He returned to Le Mans in 1966, and raced every year until 1975, campaigning Porsches. From 1969, he drove for his own team, the Wicky Racing Team, and his best overall result was 17th in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

, driving a

Porsche 908 The Porsche 908 was a racing car from Porsche, introduced in 1968 to continue the Porsche 906-Porsche 910-Porsche 907 series of models designed by Helmuth Bott (chassis) and Hans Mezger (engine) under the leadership of racing chief Ferdinand Piëc ...

. The same year,

Walter Brun Walter Brun (born 20 October 1942) is a Swiss former racing driver and founder of Brun Motorsport. He also co-founded the Formula One team EuroBrun with Giampaolo Pavanello. Racing record 24 Hours of Le Mans results Complete British Saloon C ...

finished seventh in a Wicky Porsche. Occasionally Wicky campaigned other marques besides Porsche; in 1974 he entered a BMW 3.0CSL for Brun, although it retired after one lap, and a

De Tomaso Pantera The De Tomaso Pantera is a mid-engine sports car produced by Italian automobile manufacturer De Tomaso from 1971 to 1992. Italian for "Panther", the Pantera was the automaker's most popular model, with over 7,000 manufactured over its twenty-year ...

for Max Cohen-Olivar and Philippe Carron, which retired after 16 laps. From 1961, he participated in occasional Formula One races, first with a

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T53, but this car suffered engine failures in every race that Wicky entered. At the 1963 Mediterranean Grand Prix, he drove a Lotus 24 for

Scuderia Filipinetti Scuderia Filipinetti (also French name ''Ecurie Filipinetti'') was a Swiss motor racing team that competed in sports car racing and occasionally in Formula One between 1962 and 1973. It was founded by Georges Filipinetti (1907-1973) to support Swi ...

, and achieved his best Formula One result of ninth from 11th on the grid. He subsequently bought the Lotus and entered it in the next two Syracuse Grands Prix, but found little success with the car, only able to repeat his ninth-place finish in the 1965 race, albeit a distant last.John Thompson, "The Formula One Record Book", Frewin, 1974, pp.214-215.

Racing record

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete Formula One non-championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wicky, Andre 1928 births 2016 deaths Swiss racing drivers Swiss Formula One drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers Sportspeople from Lausanne 12 Hours of Reims drivers