Bernardus Marinus "Ben" Pon (9 December 1936 – 30 September 2019) was a Dutch

vintner A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to deter ...

and Olympian and

motor racing Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

driver. He competed in one

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, ...

race, the

1962 Dutch Grand Prix The 1962 Dutch Grand Prix was the eleventh time the Dutch Grand Prix (or Grote Prijs van Nederland) motor race was held. The race also held the honorary designation of the 22nd European Grand Prix. It was run to Formula One regulations on 20 May ...

, but had a far longer career 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 ...

, before turning his back on the track to concentrate on the

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

trade. He also represented the Netherlands in clay pigeon shooting at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

, finishing 31st in the skeet event.

Life

His father, Ben Pon, Sr., was an importer of

Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in German (meaning "beetle"), in parts of the English-speaking world the Bug, and known by many other nicknames in other languages—is a two-door, rear-engine economy car, ...

s into the United States, and is considered to be the "father" of the

Volkswagen Type 2 The Volkswagen Type 2, known officially (depending on body type) as the Transporter, Kombi or Microbus, or, informally, as the Bus (US), Camper (UK) or Bulli (Germany), is a forward control light commercial vehicle introduced in 1950 by the Ge ...

due to his initial interest and input into the project. Ben Pon was a personal friend of Formula One driver Carel Godin de Beaufort. It was de Beaufort's own

Ecurie Maarsbergen Ecurie Maarsbergen (French for ''Stable Maarsbergen'') was a name used by Dutch racing driver Carel Godin de Beaufort to enter his own cars in Formula One and sports car racing between 1957 and 1964.Commonly the vehicles were entered for de Beauf ...

privateer team that provided a

Porsche 787 The Porsche 787 is a Formula One (F1) racing car built and raced by Porsche for one year in 1961. History In October 1958 the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) announced that for the 1961 Formula One season, engine capacity would ...

for him to race at

Zandvoort Zandvoort () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is one of the major beach resorts of the Netherlands; it has a long sandy beach. It is bordered by coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park and the Amsterdam ...

, in his home Grand Prix on 20 May 1962. He failed to finish the race due to an accident, which flipped his car over, throwing Pon out of the cockpit and into a shrubbery. In response, Pon vowed never again to race single-seaters, and in the years that followed he remained true to his word, while achieving many successes in

also driving a

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...

. Pon retired from professional sports car racing in 1965. After his retirement in the sports arena, Pon turned his attention to the wine trade. He was known for his Bernardus Winery in

Carmel Valley, California Carmel Valley is an unincorporated community in Monterey County, California, United States. The term "Carmel Valley" generally refers to the Carmel River watershed east of California State Route 1, and not specifically to the smaller Carmel V ...

, and owned the oldest wine negotiating business in the Netherlands.

Racing record

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete Formula One World 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

External links

Bernadus Winery website

Who's Who of Volkswagen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pon, Ben 1936 births 2019 deaths Olympic shooters of the Netherlands Shooters at the 1972 Summer Olympics Dutch racing drivers Dutch Formula One drivers Ecurie Maarsbergen Formula One drivers Dutch male sport shooters Wine merchants Viticulturists 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers Sportspeople from Amersfoort People from Carmel Valley Village, California 12 Hours of Reims drivers Porsche Motorsports drivers