Ecurie Lutetia was a French racing team founded by racing drivers

Eugène Chaboud Marius Eugène Chaboud (12 April 1907 – 28 December 1983) was a French racing driver. He participated in three Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, scoring one championship point. He also participated in numerous non-Championship ...

and Charles Pozzi. The team's name was derived from

Lutetia The Gallo-Roman town of ''Lutetia'' (''Lutetia Parisiorum'' in Latin, in French ''Lutèce'') was the predecessor of the modern-day city of Paris. It was founded in about the middle of the 3rd century BCE by the Parisii, a Gallic tribe. Trac ...

, a town that stood where

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

is now located, and the fact that Pozzi was born in Paris. Ecurie Lutetia entered two

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, ...

World Championship Grands Prix, but scored no points. They also participated in non-championship Formula One,

Formula Two Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009– 2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name ...

and Le Mans races between 1948 and 1950. However, Chaboud and Pozzi entered races under their own names more often than under Ecurie Lutetia.

Racing record

In 1948 and 1949, Ecurie Lutetia entered 12 Grands Prix in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Their drivers were

, Charles Pozzi, and

Pierre Meyrat Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

. Their best result were a 3rd and 4th place in the 1949 Salon Grand Prix. The team's first

entry was at the

1950 Belgian Grand Prix The 1950 Belgian Grand Prix, formally titled the ''Grand Prix Automobile de Belgique'', was a Formula One motor race held on 18 June 1950 at Spa-Francorchamps. It was race five of seven in the 1950 World Championship of Drivers. The 35-lap race w ...

. Eugène Chaboud drove a

Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago was a French automobile manufacturer based in Suresnes, Hauts de Seine, outside Paris. The company was owned and managed by Antonio Lago, an Italian engineer that acquired rights to the Talbot brand name after the demise of Darracq ...

T26C-DA. He qualified 11th, but retired from the race with a damaged oil pipe after 22 of 35 laps. Less than a week later, the team competed in 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 ...

. They entered two cars, both specially modified "S" variants of the

Delahaye 175 The Delahaye Type 175 is a luxury, bespoke, coachbuilt automobile manufactured by French automotive product manufacturer Delahaye. Production build numbers were formally recorded from early 1948 to mid 1951, validating that 107 cars were built. ...

. Charles Pozzi and Pierre Flahaut were behind the wheel of the first car, Gaston Serraud and André Guelfi were driving the second. Unfortunately, Serraud and Guelfi were unable to start the race due to a faulty

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

, and Pozzi and Flahaut were disqualified in the 15th hour of the race. They were also troubled by a water leak, but the reason for disqualification is unclear. Another week later, the first weekend of July 1950, Ecurie Lutetia entered the

1950 French Grand Prix The 1950 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 2 July 1950 at Reims-Gueux. It was race 6 of 7 in the 1950 World Championship of Drivers. The 64-lap race was won by Alfa Romeo driver Juan Manuel Fangio after he started from pole po ...

. Again, the driver was Eugène Chaboud, but unlike the previous Grand Prix, he drove a Talbot-Lago T26C model, not the twin-plug "DA" variant used by the Talbot works team. Chaboud qualified 10th, but did not start the race under his original entry. Instead, he shared the car of

Philippe Étancelin Philippe Étancelin (28 December 1896 – 13 October 1981) was a French Grand Prix motor racing driver who joined the new Formula One circuit at its inception. Biography Born in Rouen, Seine-Maritime, in Normandy, he worked as a merchant in the w ...

and together they finished 5th, scoring one

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

point.

Complete Formula One results

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

References

{{reflist Auto racing teams in France Formula One entrants 24 Hours of Le Mans teams