
Paul Frère (; 30 January 1917 – 23 February 2008) 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. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...
and
journalist
A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism.
Roles
Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
from Belgium. He participated in eleven World Championship
Formula One
Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
Grands Prix debuting on 22 June 1952 and achieving one podium finish with a total of eleven championship points. He drove in several non-Championship Formula One races, winning the
1952 Grand Prix des Frontières and
1960 VI South African Grand Prix.
He also won the
1960 24 Hours of Le Mans, driving for
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...
with fellow Belgian teammate
Olivier Gendebien.
Life
Frère was born at
Le Havre
Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...
in 1917.
He drove for the Ferrari works team, with
Peter Collins.
After retiring from active racing in 1960, he worked as an automotive journalist based in Europe (he was the European Editor for ''
Road & Track
''Road & Track'' (stylized as ''R&T'') is an American automotive enthusiast magazine first published 1947. It is owned by Hearst Magazines and is published six times per year. The editorial offices are located in New York City.
History
''Road ...
'' magazine). He had numerous acquaintances amongst vehicle design engineers, especially in Japan at
Honda
commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...
and
Mazda
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima (town), Fuchū, Hiroshima Prefecture, Hiroshima, Japan. The company was founded on January 30, 1920, as Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd. ...
and also worked as a consultant to automobile manufacturers. He also had the opportunity to test numerous road and racing cars as a journalist, one of the highlights being the
Audi R8 which he tested and demonstrated during a break in the proceedings of the Test Day of the
2003 24 Hours of Le Mans. At the time he was 86 years old, making him the oldest racing driver to drive a then-current sportscar.
Frère, along with
Piero Taruffi and
Denis Jenkinson, was one of the first writers to treat motor racing as a skill that could be analyzed, explained, and taught. His 1963 book, ''Sports Car and Competition Driving'' is still a standard reference in the field. It influenced the development of competition driving schools, such as those founded by
Jim Russell,
Bob Bondurant and many others.
Frère was an expert on Porsche cars, in particular the
Porsche 911
The Porsche 911 model series (pronounced ''Nine Eleven'' or in ) is a family of German two-door, high performance Rear-engine design, rear-engine sports cars, introduced in September 1964 by Porsche, Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. Now in it ...
, writing the definitive book on this series, ''The Porsche 911 Story''. He maintained a close relationship with Porsche over the years. He was also considered an advisor and expert on the 911 by Alois Ruf, a respected Porsche tuner and manufacturer as head of
Ruf Automobile
Ruf Automobile GmbH (stylized as RUF) is a German car manufacturer. Formerly using Porsche body in white, bodies in white to build cars, today they build vehicles on their own bodies and chassis. They also manufacture performance parts for vari ...
, who consulted Frère during the development of Ruf's RGT8 Model.
In 1967, Frère had a cameo appearance in ''
The Departure
The Departure was an English rock band from Northampton, formed in October 2003. Their debut album, '' Dirty Words'', was released 13 June 2005 by Parlophone. A second album, ''Inventions'', was expected to be released in early 2008, but was n ...
'', a Belgian film about a car-obsessed young man trying to get possession of a Porsche 911 for a race.
Only weeks before his 90th birthday in January 2007, he was badly injured in an accident near the
Nürburgring
The () is a 150,000-person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long configuration, built in the 1920s ...
and was hospitalized for 14 days in intensive care.
Frère died on 23 February 2008 in
Saint-Paul-de-Vence
Saint-Paul-de-Vence (, literally ''Saint-Paul of Vence''; ; ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. One of the oldest medieval towns on the French Riviera, Saint-Pau ...
(France). Turn 15 at the
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), informally referred to as Spa, is a Race track, motor-racing circuit located in Francorchamps, Stavelot, Wallonia, Belgium, about southeast of Spa, Belgium, Spa. It is the current venue of the Formula One ...
, formerly the first part of the ''Stavelot'' corner, has been renamed in his honour.
Rowing champion
Frère was also a successful rower winning three Belgian championships. In 1946 and 1947 he won the national title in a coxless four. In 1946, he also won it with the coxed four.
Racing record
Complete Formula One World Championship results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
Complete 12 Hours of Sebring results
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frere, Paul
1917 births
2008 deaths
Sportspeople from Le Havre
Belgian racing drivers
Belgian Formula One drivers
Hersham and Walton Motors Formula One drivers
Gordini Formula One drivers
Ferrari Formula One drivers
Motoring journalists
24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
24 Hours of Le Mans winning drivers
World Sportscar Championship drivers
24 Hours of Spa drivers
Ecurie Nationale Belge Formula One drivers
12 Hours of Reims drivers
Porsche Motorsports drivers