Christian Heins (January 16, 1935 – June 15, 1963) known as "Bino", was a Brazilian

sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

racing driver.

Life

Heins was born in São Paulo, Brazil, to a Brazilian

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

and an Italian mother. His maternal grandfather taught him to drive. He completed a course for foreigners at

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...

at Stuttgart and began his racing career at age 19.

Career

Early in his career, he was nicknamed "Comet" because he was faster than several of his more successful opponents. His first major event was the

Mille Miglia The Mille Miglia (, ''Thousand Miles'') was an open-road, motorsport endurance race established in 1927 by the young Counts Francesco Mazzotti and Aymo Maggi, which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 (thirteen before World ...

in 1956 with Eugenio Martins. The race ended the next year after the death of

Alfonso de Portago Alfonso Cabeza de Vaca y Leighton, 11th Marquess of Portago, GE (11 October 1928 – 12 May 1957), best known as Alfonso de Portago, was a Spanish aristocrat, racing and bobsleigh driver, jockey and pilot. Born in London to a prominent family ...

. In 1958, Heins survived a crash during the

version of the Belgian

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

. His car hit a stack of hay bales, became airborne, flipped and slid with his upper body exposed. He suffered only minor injuries. On returning to Brazil in 1960, he found that his trophies did not have a formal bill of sale and had been confiscated. Infuriated, his sister wrote to Brazilian president

Juscelino Kubitschek Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira (; 12 September 1902 – 22 August 1976), also known by his initials JK, was a prominent Brazilian politician who served as the 21st president of Brazil from 1956 to 1961. His term was marked by economic prosp ...

, asking for the trophies to be returned. Christian, along with his friend

Chico Landi Francisco Sacco Landi (July 14, 1907 – June 7, 1989), better known as Chico, was a racing driver from São Paulo, Brazil. He participated in six Formula One World Championship ''Grands Prix'', debuting on September 16, 1951. He scored a to ...

, won the

Mil Milhas Brasil The Mil Milhas Brasil (also known as the Mil Milhas Brasileiras or 1000 Miles of Brazil in Portuguese) is a sports car endurance race held annually in Brazil since 1956. The Mil Milhas has been held nearly every year since its inception and is ...

race later that year with a FNM JK. He won many races in this car between 1960 and 1962. Long distance races became more popular than sprints and soon Heins' influence formed the Willys team and created the

Alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

based

Willys Interlagos The Alpine A108 was a light-weight glass-fibre bodied, rear-engined two-door coupé produced for a young competition-oriented Dieppe based Renault dealer called Jean Rédélé. The car replaced the Alpine A106 and was based on mechanical components ...

. Heins and his team soon started winning every race they entered. Christian was recognized as one of Brazil's greatest drivers of the early 1960s. Eventually, the Interlagos and Willys were taken by Simca, then Ford, Chrysler and VW before closing in 1968.

Death

Heins was invited to race an Alpine M63 Renault in the

1963 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 31st Grand Prix of Endurance in the 24 Hours of Le Mans series and took place on 15 and 16 June 1963. It was also the tenth round of the 1963 World Sportscar Championship season. Despite good weather througho ...

and accepted, even though he was planning to retire. The car was painted with longitudinal bands of green and yellow and was equipped with a engine. Jose Rosinski was his co-driver. However, five hours into the race, the engine of the

Bruce McLaren Bruce Leslie McLaren (30 August 1937 – 2 June 1970) was a New Zealand racing car designer, driver, engineer, and inventor. His name lives on in the McLaren team which has been one of the most successful in Formula One championship history, ...

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Aston Martin DP214 blew up, causing 20 liters of oil to be spilled on the track. Drivers

Ninian Sanderson Ninian Sanderson (14 May 1925 – 1 October 1985) was a Scottish car dealer, sports car racing driver, and winner of the 1956 24 Hours of Le Mans. Racing career Sanderson was born in Glasgow. In common with many drivers of his era, he cut h ...

and Mike Salmon avoided the oil, but not

Roy Salvadori Roy Francesco Salvadori (12 May 1922 – 3 June 2012) was a British racing driver and team manager. He was born in Dovercourt, Essex, to parents of Italian descent. He graduated to Formula One by 1952 and competed regularly until 1962 for a s ...

; his Jaguar E-Type lightweight spun on the oil, became airborne, landed on its roof and burst into flames. Jean-Pierre Manzon in his

René Bonnet René Bonnet ( Vaumas, 27 December 1904 – 13 January 1983) was a French driver and automobile constructor. Early life The young René first learned about machines working with his father, a carpenter. By 1915, with most teachers conscripted, ...

Aerodjet LM6 hit the Jaguar and stopped in the middle of the track. Heins, who was leading his class at the time, was unable to avoid the wreck, swerved out of control and hit another vehicle. His car then spun into a lamp post and exploded into flames. Manzon and Salvadori were injured, but survived. Heins died at the scene from severe burns and massive head injuries. He was interred at the Cemetery of Redentor in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

on 27 June 1963.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heins, Christian Brazilian racing drivers 1935 births 1963 deaths Racing drivers who died while racing Racing drivers from São Paulo 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Sport deaths in France