Josef Henri Charles Christiaens, sometimes spelt Joseph (16 June 1882 – 25 February 1919), was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

engineer,

racecar driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organi ...

and aviator.

Biography

Christiaens was born in

Saint-Josse-ten-Noode Saint-Josse-ten-Noode () or Sint-Joost-ten-Node (), often simply called Saint-Josse or Sint-Joost, is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the north-eastern part of the region, it is bordered by the C ...

on 16 June 1882 to a prosperous Belgian family. On 13 August 1905 he participated in the ''Coupe de Liedekerke et Williame'' race held near Dinant, Belgium. The race spanned 102.740 km, but Josef failed to complete the race. He also failed to qualify for the ''Il Coupe de Normandie'' with his

Vivinus Vivinus cars were made by Ateliers Vivinus S.A., a company founded in 1899 in Schaerbeek, Brussels. The company was renamed Automobiles Vivinus S.A. in 1908. The owner, Alexis Vivinus (1860-1929), had made bicycles in the 1890s and become an im ...

6 racecar on 29 August 1909. The Vivinus later gave Christiaens his first victory, winning the 2nd ''Coupe de Liedekerke et Williame'' in

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

, Belgium on 13 September 1909. He went on to take a string of victories in Europe and in the US. On 9 September 1916 Josef and his English Sunbeam racecar, became the first foreigner to enter the Indianapolis Motor Speedway "Harvest Classic", composing of three races held at 20, 50 and 100- distances.

Johnny Aitken Johnny Aitken (May 3, 1885 – October 15, 1918) was an American racecar driver from Indianapolis, who was active in the years prior to World War I. Aitken competed in the Indianapolis 500 three times. He started the race twice, in 1911 and 191 ...

, in a

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...

, came in first in all 3 distances. Josef's Sunbeam failed to start the race due to a broken crankshaft. When

Henri Farman Henri Farman (26 May 1874– 17 July 1958) was a British-French aviator and aircraft designer and manufacturer with his brother Maurice Farman. Before dedicating himself to aviation he gained fame as a sportsman, specifically in cycling and moto ...

flew the

Voisin Voisin (French for "neighbour") may refer to: Companies *Avions Voisin, the French automobile company :*Voisin Laboratoire, a car manufactured by Avions Voisin *Voisin (aircraft), the French aircraft manufacturer * Voisin, a Lyon-based chocolat ...

-designed biplane and took Ernest Archdeacon for a 1241-metre flight at

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

, Belgium on 30 May 1908, he was immediately captivated and inspired by the spirit of flying. In March 1910 Josef met Géo Chavez at Camp de Châlons, France and learnt to fly on a Farman plane from him. By 12 April in the same year, he is registered with licence N°7, becoming one of the first 11 pilots registered at the ''Aéro-Club de Belgique'' (Aero Club of Belgium). On 14 March 1911, Josef received much enthusiasm and assistance from the British Colonial Government in Singapore. a squad of Royal Engineers soldiers were dispatched to assemble and test the

Bristol Boxkite The Boxkite (officially the Bristol Biplane) was the first aircraft produced by the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company (later known as the Bristol Aeroplane Company). A pusher biplane based on the successful Farman III, it was one of the fi ...

. On 16 March 1911 Josef made history in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

as the first man to fly an aeroplane on the island. Josef died in a road accident while performing a test drive on a Sunbeam racecar near Moorfield Works on 25 February 1919 in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

, Staffordshire, England. Shortly after leaving the Works, his car crashed into a wall along Upper Villiers Street trying to avoid a horse-cart coming out of Fowler Street.This is not the case, he swerved and hit a cast iron stench pipe: the works photograph shows the car, with a large u shaped impact in the centre of the chassis. His passenger, Sunbeam mechanic Frank Bill was handicapped from that accident and given a job "for life" by the Sunbeam Company. It is Frank in the one picture wearing the flat cap, not Joseph. This mistake has been copied by numerous people on various websites. I can prove this to be the case, as I have copies of the works photographs {JohnHarrol
Sunbeam, Talbot, Darracq - Wolverhampton History & Heritage Society

Indy 500 results

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1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

, 9 , , 7 , , 91.210 , , 9 , , 6 , , 200 , , 9 , , Running , - !

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * J ...

, 14 , , 14 , , 86.080 , , 16 , , 4 , , 120 , , 0 , , Running , - , colspan="6", Totals , , 320 , , 9 , , , {, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" , - !Starts , 2 , - !Poles , 0 , - !Front Row , 0 , - !Wins , 0 , - !Top 5 , 1 , - !Top 10 , 2 , - !Retired , 0

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christiaens, Josef 1882 births 1919 deaths Aviation pioneers Belgian aviators 20th-century Belgian engineers Belgian racing drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers Racing drivers who died while racing Sport deaths in England People from Saint-Josse-ten-Noode