Jean-Jacques Grosman, known as Jean Achard (15 March 1918 – 14 July 1951) was a French race-car driver and journalist and a member of the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Biography

Achard was born in Paris on 14 July 1918. When the Nazis invaded France, Achard, like many Frenchmen, took up arms for the

, eventually becoming editor-in-chief of one of the many resistance newspapers, "Debout" (French for "On Our Feet"), which was founded by Claude Julien, another member of the French Resistance. Achard eventually became the Chairman of the ''Fédération nationale française des anciens combattants''("French National Federation of Former Combatants"). He made his racing debut in a supercharged Maserati 1500. Achard was successful in the 1946 and 1947 racing seasons, but in June 1947 he crashed on the first lap, while the V12 Delahaye 155 that he had used in 1946 was lent to Levegh for the race. Achard drove the Delahaye again on 13 July 1947. That same day, he had crashed at the Grand Prix de l’Albigeois at Albi, when one of the wheels from his

Delahaye Delahaye was a family-owned automobile manufacturing company, founded by Émile Delahaye in 1894 in Tours, France. Manufacturing was moved to Paris following incorporation with two unrelated brothers-in-law as equal partners in 1898. The compa ...

flew into the grandstands, killing a female spectator. He did not race again until 1951. In 1950, Achard decided to make a comeback. He brought

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 ...

Talbot-Lago T26C The T26C was a single-seater racing car with a box section chassis, an unsupercharged 4.5 litre straight six engine and a four speed Wilson preselector gearbox. The chassis and gearbox were derived from the company's 1930s racing cars and were sim ...

and he emigrated to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

in Brazil. That year he raced at

Interlagos Interlagos is a neighborhood located in the district of Socorro in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Its name comes from the fact that the region is located between two large reservoirs, Guarapiranga and Billings, built in the early 20th century ...

on 13 May, finishing 5th, and at Boavista on 24 June, finishing 3rd. Achard was even accepted into the 1951 running of the

Indy 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of India ...

, but he never made it to the race: he was killed in a hill climb event in Brazil.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Achard, Jean French newspaper editors French racing drivers French Resistance members 1918 births 1951 deaths