Pierre Maréchal
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Jean-Pierre Maréchal (4 October 1915 – 27 June 1949) was an engineer and racing driver who died after his
Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC () is a British manufacturer of Luxury car, luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Headed from 1947 by David Brown (entrepreneur ...
team car crashed in the first postwar running of the
24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...
endurance race. French-born, he settled in England and acquired British nationality.


Biographical Details

Son of the French entrepreneur, film producer and ''
Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...
'' survivor of the same name, Pierre Maréchal won his first races — at
Santander, Cantabria Santander ( , ; ) is the capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain. It has a population of 172,000 (2017). It is a port city located in the northern coast of the Iberian Peninsula, facing the Cantabrian Sea. It is believed to ha ...
, driving hydroplanes owned by family friend Count Soriano — at the age of 13. He was educated at
Downside School Downside School (formally The College of St Gregory the Great, Downside but simply referred to as Downside) is an 11–18 mixed, Roman Catholic, independent, day and boarding school in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Somerset, England. It was establish ...
, England. From there he joined Ford’s engineering training programme but chronic back pain soon forced him to abandon the course. At the onset of the Second World War he volunteered for the British army but was invalided out in 1940 because of the problems with his back. He then worked for Freddie Miles, of
Miles Aircraft Miles was the name used for aircraft and associated businesses of British engineer Frederick George Miles, who, with his wife – aviator and draughtswoman Maxine Blossom Miles, Maxine "Blossom" Miles (née Forbes-Robertson) – and his brother ...
, and finally opened a small auto engineering business in
Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...
, England. He ran a modified 6 ½ Litre
Bentley Speed Six The Bentley 6½ Litre and the high-performance Bentley Speed Six were rolling chassis produced by Bentley from 1926 to 1930. The Speed Six, introduced in 1928, became the most successful racing Bentley. Two Bentley Speed Sixes became known as th ...
after the war but declared a preference for his
Duesenberg Duesenberg Automobile & Motors Company, Inc. was an American race car, racing and luxury car, luxury automobile manufacturer founded in Indianapolis, Indiana, by brothers Fred Duesenberg, Fred and August Duesenberg in 1920. The company is kn ...
as a road car. He raced the Bentley, a rare short-chassis version thought to have been the pre-war factory racing team’s spare car, with "signal success."
Briggs Cunningham Briggs Swift Cunningham II (January 19, 1907 – July 2, 2003) was an American entrepreneur and sportsman. He is best known for skippering the yacht Columbia (1958 yacht), ''Columbia'' to victory in the 1958 America's Cup race, and for his effor ...
, the American millionaire racer, sports car constructor, and car collector, bought the car from Maréchal's widow and it was later acquired, together with the rest of Cunningham's collection, by Miles Collier. It is now displayed at the Revs Institute, formerly the Collier Automotive Museum, in
Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,115, down from 19,539 at the 2010 census. Naples is a principal city of the Collier County, Florida, Naples–Marc ...
, USA. Maréchal was a member of the class-winning ''Ecurie du Lapin Blanc'' HRG sports car team in the 1948
Spa 24 Hours The 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by CrowdStrike. History The Spa 24 Hours was conceived by Jules de Their and ...
race. At this event, for the first time in Europe, the team introduced radio communication between drivers and pit crew. The innovation enabled one of the drivers to repair his car on the circuit and helped the team to win the coveted Coupe du Roi. Maréchal's outstanding natural flair brought him to the attention of Leslie Johnson, who won the race outright in a prototype Aston Martin shared with St. John Horsfall. Johnson picked Maréchal to partner T.A.S.O. Mathieson in one of three prototype Aston Martin DB2s entered by the manufacturer for the 1949 Le Mans 24-hour race. ''Motor Sport'' magazine said that "his inclusion . . . in the works team of Aston-Martins making its debut at Le Mans was indicative of the high opinion of his driving held in knowledgeable circles." At Le Mans, Maréchal's car was well placed — 7th overall, 4th in the Index of Performance — when a brake line fractured, causing a brake fluid leak. He continued. With three hours left to run, he was without brakes but had improved to 4th overall. ''Motor Sport'' summarized his ensuing accident: "Alas, just as we hoped to see Maréchal press for his third place, it was reported at 1.05pm that the Aston Martin saloon had overturned at White House corner, Pierre being seriously hurt. His brakes had, it seems, been absent for many laps." The crash tore the engine from its mountings and flattened the roof, trapping Maréchal inside.
Delage Delage is a French luxury automobile and racecar company founded in 1905 by Louis Delâge in Levallois-Perret near Paris; it was acquired by Delahaye in 1935 and ceased operation in 1953. On 7 November 2019, the association "Les Amis de Dela ...
driver Louis Gérard, first on the scene, stopped to extricate him, losing two laps in the process. (Gérard would finish fourth.) Maréchal was taken to the nearby Delagenière clinic, where he succumbed to his injuries the next day. He was buried in his family's vault at Bailly, near Versailles. He was 33. The newspaper ''
Ouest-France ''Ouest-France'' ( ; French for "West-France") is a daily French newspaper known for its emphasis on both local and national news. The paper is produced in 47 different editions covering events in different French départements within the régi ...
'' noted: ''Le circuit 1949...fait une victime et un parmi les hommes les plus doués de ceux qui participèrent à l'épreuve.'' Maréchal left a wife, Brigid, née Macnamara — they had married in 1942; and a son, Christian. Several years later Brigid Maréchal married Leslie Johnson. Christian Maréchal became a journalist, advertising copywriter and creative director, and helped pioneer the UK
ultralight aviation Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and Aircraft flight control system, conventional three-a ...
market.


References

*''Latitude 41'' (publication of Association Française du Titanic) No. 23 *''Daily Telegraph'' newspaper, 23 August 2001 *''Le Mans 24 Hours'' Michael Gibson, 1962 *''Twenty-Four Hours at Le Mans'' J.A.Grégoire, 1957 *''The Le Mans Story'' Georges Fraichard, 1956 *''Motor Sport'' magazine, July 1949 *''Ouest-France'' newspaper, 28 June 1949 *Collier Automotive Museum, Naples, Florida, USA *''Classic and Sportscar'' magazine, June and February 1996 *''Flight Line'' (publication of the British Microlight Aircraft Association), Nov/Dec 1980, May/June and Sept/Oct 1981 *Program of the 34th Paris Air Show, 1981


External links


Mr Pierre Maréchal - Titanic Biography - Encyclopedia Titanica
at www.encyclopedia-titanica.org '' Encyclopedia Titanica'' biography of Maréchal's father with links to newspaper accounts of his escape from RMS Titanic
LAOS – Search Results – Work in Archive
at www.luerzersarchive.us
Lürzer's Archive ''Lürzer's Archive'' (also known as ''Luerzer’s Archive'') is a bi-monthly magazine for the advertising industry which features advertising campaigns for print and TV from around the world. The magazine was founded in 1984 and has a global circ ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marechal, Pierre 1915 births 1949 deaths English racing drivers French racing drivers Racing drivers who died while racing People educated at Downside School Sport deaths in France 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 20th-century English sportsmen