Christian Roger Xavier Marie Joseph Ghislain Goethals (4 August 1928 in Heule – 26 February 2003 in

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Regio ...

) was a

racing 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 organise ...

from

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. Goethals competed as an amateur in

sports car races Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

, driving a

Porsche Spyder The Porsche 550 is a racing sports car produced by Porsche from 1953 until 1956. In that time only 90 Porsche 550s were produced, and they quickly established dominance in the 1.1- and 1.5- liter classes. The Porsche 550 is a mid-engine car with ...

during the 1950s. His best results were a second-place finish with his brother in the 1956 1500cc class event in

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

, and a win in the same class the following year at Forez. Goethals acquired a

Cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ...

Climax Climax may refer to: Language arts * Climax (narrative), the point of highest tension in a narrative work * Climax (rhetoric), a figure of speech that lists items in order of importance Biology * Climax community, a biological community th ...

and entered it in the Formula Two class of the

1958 German Grand Prix The 1958 German Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 3 August 1958 at Nürburgring. It was race 8 of 11 in the 1958 World Championship of Drivers and race 7 of 10 in the 1958 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. To increase par ...

, but retired from the race. He did not participate in another Formula One Grand Prix, and returned to sports cars, with notable finishes in 1960 of fifth in the Buenos Aires 1000 km and second in the GP de Spa. He retired from racing later in the season. He established a racing team called ''Écurie Éperon d'Or'' to participate in the

where he raced in a Cooper T43.Formula 1 history showing every racer who ever used the Cooper T43
Goethals was the youngest child of René Goethals (1876-1928), a nobleman and mayor of Heule near

and of Jeanne Mols (1884-1968). He was married to Julie Opsomer.

Biography in the Literature

* Steve SMALL, ''Grand Prix Who is Who'', Travel Publishing, London 1999, . * * Humbert DE MARNIX DE SAINTE ALDEGONDE, ''État présent de la noblesse belge'', Annuaire 2007, Brussel, 2007 ''(in French)''
Short biography in Grand Prix Insider

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

)

References

1928 births 2003 deaths Belgian racing drivers Belgian Formula One drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers {{F1-bio-stub 12 Hours of Reims drivers