Willy Mairesse (1 October 1928 – 2 September 1969) was 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, ...
and sports-car driver from Belgium. He participated in 13 World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 19 June 1960. He achieved one
podium
A podium (plural podiums or podia) is a platform used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. It derives from the Greek ''πόδι'' (foot). In architecture a building can rest on a large podium. Podiums can also be used ...
and scored a total of seven championship points. He committed suicide in a hotel room 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 ...
after a crash at the
1968 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 36th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 28 and 29 September 1968 on the Circuit de la Sarthe, in Le Mans, France.
Originally scheduled for the weekend of 15 and 16 June, the race had to be delayed unti ...
forced an end to his career.
Peter Revson
Peter Jeffrey Revson (February 27, 1939 – March 22, 1974) was an American race car driver and heir to the Revlon cosmetics fortune. He was a two-time Formula One race winner and had success at the Indianapolis 500.
Background
Peter Revson w ...
once described the intensity of Mairesse before a race at
Spa, Belgium
Spa (; wa, Spå) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium, whose name became an eponym for mineral baths with supposed curative properties. It is situated in a valley in the Ardennes mountains south ...
. Revson looked into his car and saw Mairesse's "furrowed" face, beetled brows, and eyes which were almost tilted and their colour changed. "It was almost like looking at the devil."
Sports car driver
Mairesse won first place in the marathon rally
Liege-Rome-Liege in 1956.
Mairesse secured third place in the Grand Prix of
Monza in June 1959. Driving a
Ferrari, he placed behind
Alfonso Thiele and
Carlo Mario Abate
Carlo Maria Abate (10 July 1932 – 29 April 2019) was an Italian auto racing driver. He was one of the best Ferrari 250 GTO specialists. Abate preferred to be addressed as "Carlo Mario Abate" instead of his christened name.
Abate raced mostly fo ...
, both also in Ferraris. Mairesse and Mike Parkes of England finished second to
Phil Hill and
Olivier Gendebien
Olivier Jean Marie Fernand Gendebien (12 January 1924 – 2 October 1998) was a Belgian racing driver who was called "one of the greatest sportscar racers of all time".
Rally racer
Gendebien spent some years in the Belgian Congo. On his return ...
at the
1961 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 1961 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 29th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 10 and 11 June 1961. It was also the 4th round of the 1961 World Sportscar Championship. Ferrari and Maserati were the main title contenders, with Porsche an outs ...
. Driving a
Ferrari, Mairesse and Parkes also eclipsed the previous Le Mans record, covering 2,758.66 miles. In the 1963
12 Hours of Sebring Mairesse and
Nino Vacarella placed second after
Ludovico Scarfiotti
Ludovico Scarfiotti (18 October 1933 – 8 June 1968) was a Formula One and sports car driver from Italy. Just prior to entering Formula One, he won the 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans for Ferrari. He later participated in 12 World Championship F ...
and
John Surtees
John Surtees, (11 February 1934 – 10 March 2017) was a British Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver. On his way to become a seven-time Grand Prix motorcycle World Champion, he won his first title in 1956, and followed with ...
. Both teams drove Ferraris. Surtees and Mairesse won the 1000 km of the Nurburgring driving a Ferrari 250P. Thereafter, Surtees and Mairesse led for the 15 hours of the first 18 hours of the 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans before the car caught fire while Mairesse was driving. Mairesse escaped injury. Scarfiotti and
Lorenzo Bandini
Lorenzo Bandini (21 December 193510 May 1967) was an Italian motor racing driver who raced in Formula One for the Scuderia Centro Sud and Ferrari teams.
Career
Bandini was born in Barce in Cyrenaica, Libya,"Hulme Takes Monaco Race; Bandini S ...
won on the French circuit where
Christian Heins
Christian Heins (January 16, 1935 – June 15, 1963) known as "Bino", was a Brazilian sports car racing driver.
Life
Heins was born in São Paulo, Brazil, to a Brazilian entrepreneur and an Italian mother. His maternal grandfather taught him ...
had a fatal accident. Mairesse and Surtees retired after a motor fire. A young German
Red Cross
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...
worker was killed in August 1963 when the wheel of a Ferrari driven by Mairesse came off as his car overturned. Guenther Schneider, 19, was hit by a flying wheel during the running of the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring and died. Mairesse was triumphant in the 1964 Grand Prix of
Angola
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, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordina ...
, run at
Luanda
Luanda () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major Angola#Economy, industrial, Angola#Culture, cultural and Angola#Demographics, urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atl ...
. His average speed was 80.78 miles per hour. Mairesse piloted a Ferrari 250 LM to first place in the 500 km sportscar race of Spa in May 1965. He completed the race in 2 hours, 29 minutes, and 45.7 seconds. He achieved an average speed of 126.29. Mairesse and Jean Beurlys of France finished third at the
1965 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 33rd Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 19 and 20 June 1965. It was also the twelfth round of the World Sportscar Championship.
After the disappointing results of the previous year's race, Ford return ...
in a Ferrari 275 GTB winning the GT category in its debut at Le Mans, while
Masten Gregory
Masten Gregory (February 29, 1932 − November 8, 1985) was an American racing driver. He raced in Formula One between and , participating in 43 World Championship races, and numerous non-Championship races.
He was also a successful sports car r ...
and
Jochen Rindt
Jochen is a given name. Notable people with the name include:
*Jochen Asche, East German luger, competed during the 1960s
*Jochen Böhler (born 1969), German historian, specializing in the history of World War II
*Jochen Babock (born 1953), East G ...
won the race. In April 1966 Surtees and Parkes won the 1,000 kilometer
Monza Auto Race. Mairesse and Herbert Mueller of
Switzerland came in third in a
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
sports car, two laps behind. In May Mairesse and Mueller drove to victory in the
Targa Florio
The Targa Florio was a public road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 ...
, driving a
Porsche Carrera Carrera (''Spanish'' for "race" and "career") is a brand of Porsche automobile. The name commemorates the company's success in the Carrera Panamericana race.
The following vehicles have been called ''Carrera'':
* Porsche 356
* Porsche 904
* Por ...
6. Rain caused considerable attrition as only thirteen of seventy starters finished the race. Mairesse and Beurlys again drove a Ferrari to third place in the
1967 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 35th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 10 and 11 June 1967. It was also the seventh round of the 1967 World Sportscar Championship.
Dan Gurney and A. J. Foyt, driving a Ford Mk IV, won the race after ...
. This event was won by the American team
of
Dan Gurney
Daniel Sexton Gurney (April 13, 1931 – January 14, 2018) was an American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner who reached racing's highest levels starting in 1958. Gurney won races in the Formula One, Indy Car, NASCAR, Can-Am, ...
and
A. J. Foyt
Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. (born January 16, 1935) is an American retired auto racing driver who has raced in numerous genres of motorsports. His open wheel racing includes United States Automobile Club Champ cars, sprint cars, and midget cars. H ...
.
Formula One
Mairesse was third in the Grand Prix of Europe,
1960 Italian Grand Prix. This was the penultimate race of the 1960 Formula One World Championship. Run at the
Autodromo Nazionale Monza,
Phil Hill was victorious, with
Richie Ginther second, and Mairesse third, a lap down. Mairesse qualified fifth for the
1962 Belgian Grand Prix
The 1962 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on 17 June 1962. It was race 3 of 9 in both the 1962 World Championship of Drivers and the 1962 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. This race was notab ...
at
Spa. The pole was won by
Graham Hill in a
BRM. During the event Mairesse
and the
Lotus of
Trevor Taylor dueled for more than an hour, passing and repassing a number of times each lap. Mairesse was
cheered heartily by an enthusiastic partisan crowd. The two cars came together at more than 100 miles per hour in the long, sweeping,
left-hand Blanchimont turn. Mairesse's car went off to the left, careening into a hillside behind a ditch, and caught fire after flipping over. He was thrown out of his Ferrari and his shoes and the legs of his trousers were torn off. He was conscious, despite numerous scrapes, cuts, and burns. Mairesse was loaded into an ambulance and transported to a hospital, where he was reported to be in good spirits and without any serious injuries. Taylor and Mairesse made contact earlier in the season at the Grand Prix of
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
. In a race in which only twelve of twenty-one starters finished, Mairesse came in fourth in the
1962 Italian Grand Prix
The 1962 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monza on 16 September 1962. It was race 7 of 9 in both the 1962 World Championship of Drivers and the 1962 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 86-lap race was won by ...
. He was only a car length ahead of
Giancarlo Baghetti.
Out of Formula One in 1963, Phil Hill predicted a rough future for the Ferrari team. He said there was too much competition between Mairesse and Surtees. Specifically, he commented "they will harry each other so much that they will force each other to make mistakes". Mairesse's car crashed during the
1963 German Grand Prix. The Ferrari turned over multiple times after swerving off the track. He was rushed to the hospital with a broken arm. His teammate, Surtees, won the race, with
Jim Clark second in a Lotus.
Racing record
Complete Formula One World Championship results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
Non-Championship Formula One results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
(Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mairesse, Willy
1928 births
1969 suicides
Belgian racing drivers
Belgian Formula One drivers
Ferrari Formula One drivers
Ecurie Nationale Belge Formula One drivers
Team Lotus Formula One drivers
Scuderia Centro Sud Formula One drivers
24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
12 Hours of Reims drivers
World Sportscar Championship drivers
Suicides in Belgium
Place of birth missing