Claude Haldi (28 November 1942 – 25 December 2017) was a Swiss racing driver. He was known as a frequent competitor at 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 race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

, entering the race 22 times between 1968 and 1993. His endurance racing career was associated with Porsche, with 14 of his Le Mans entries in various Porsche models. He drove for the Porsche factory works teams of

Martini Racing Martini Racing is the name under which various motor racing teams race when sponsored by the Italian company Martini & Rossi, a distillery that produces Martini vermouth in Turin. Martini's sponsorship program began in 1958 as Martini Internat ...

in 1973 and

Rothmans Porsche Rothmans International plc was a British tobacco manufacturer. Its brands included Rothmans, Player's and Dunhill. Its international headquarters were in Hill Street, London and its international operations were run from Denham Place in Denham ...

in 1987. Beginning in 1985, he drove for the WM Peugeot team. He was a co-driver of the WM P88 which broke the top speed record at

Circuit de la Sarthe The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, is a semi-permanent motorsport race course, chiefly known as the venue for the 24 Ho ...

in 1988. Haldi also participated in

hill climbs Hillclimbing, also known as hill climbing, speed hillclimbing, or speed hill climbing, is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course. It is one of the oldest forms of motorsport, since the fir ...

and rallying. He won the

Group 4 Group 4 may refer to: *Group 4 element, chemical element classification *Group 4 (racing), classification for cars in auto racing and rallying * G4S, formerly Group 4 Securicor, a prominent British security company *IB Group 4 subjects The Group 4 ...

category of the European Hill Climb Championship in 1970 and the 1979 Swiss Rally Championship. Following his retirement from racing, Haldi became president of the

Vaud Vaud ( ; french: (Canton de) Vaud, ; german: (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms b ...

Automobile Club. In this position, he advocated against the Swiss ban on motorsport and proposed the creation of a

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, ...

circuit in Switzerland.

Racing record

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

1942 births 2017 deaths Swiss racing drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers Porsche Motorsports drivers Sportspeople from Lausanne {{Switzerland-autoracing-bio-stub