Jean-Pierre Beltoise

Jean-Pierre Beltoise Beltoise in 1969 Nationality French Born 26 April 1937 Paris, France Died 5 January 2015 (aged 77) Dakar, Senegal Motorcycle racing career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing Active years 1962–1964 First race 1962 250cc French Grand Prix Last race 1964 50 cc French Grand Prix Team(s) Kreidler Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 8 0 1 0 0 Formula One World Championship career Active years 1967–1974 Teams Matra, BRM Entries 88 (86 starts) Championships 0 Wins 1 Podiums 8 Career points 77 Pole positions 0 Fastest laps 4 First entry 1967 Monaco Grand Prix First win 1972 Monaco Grand Prix Last win 1972 Monaco Grand Prix Last entry 1974 United States Grand Prix

Jean-Pierre Maurice Georges Beltoise (26 April 1937 – 5 January 2015) was a French Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver who raced for the Matra and BRM teams. François Cevert was his brother-in-law (his wife's brother). He competed in 88 Grands Prix achieving one win and eight podium finishes.

Early career

Beltoise won 11 national motorcycle titles in three years.^[1] He competed in international Grand Prix motorcycle racing from the 1962 to 1964 seasons in the 50, 125, 250 and 500 cc classes. His best finish was a sixth place in the 1964 50 cc World Championship.^[2]

In 1963 he was racing a 1.1-litre Rene Bonnet sports car. His career almost ended with a huge crash in the Reims 12-hour sports car endurance race, in which he suffered a broken arm, so severely damaged, that its movement was permanently restricted.^[3] However he returned in 1965 and won the Reims Formula 3 race, after which he graduated to Formula 2 for the following season.

Formula One

In a Matra car during practice for the 1968 German Grand Prix.

Beltoise at the 1968 Dutch Grand Prix.

In 1966, Beltoise drove in the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring in a Formula Two (F2) one litre Matra MS5-Cosworth. He finished one lap down but won the F2 class.^[4] However, it was his only Grand Prix that season.^[4] In 1967 Beltoise competed in three Grands Prix with a Formula Two Matra MS7 1.6 litre Cosworth, and finished seventh at both Watkins Glen and Mexico City.^[4] He also won the 1967 Buenos Aires Grand Prix, which was not part of the World Championship calendar. In 1968 Beltoise began the season again with an F2 car but from the second race onward had Formula One machinery and finished second in the 1968 Dutch Grand Prix. In 1969 he was placed in Ken Tyrrell's Matra team, whilst the works V12 engine was developed^[3] driving alongside Jackie Stewart, and finished second in the French grand Prix. Beltoise returned to the works Matra team for both 1970 and 1971. In 1971, racing in the Matra sports car team, he was involved in the accident in which Ignazio Giunti died during the 1000 km Buenos Aires, and his international racing license was suspended for some time.

In 1971 Matra signed Chris Amon^[3] as team leader which frustrated Beltoise's ambitions.^[3] For 1972 he moved to the BRM team and won what turned out to be his only and BRM's final Formula One victory at the 1972 Monaco Grand Prix in heavy rain. He spent three seasons with BRM, without much success and finally retired from Formula 1 at the end of the 1974 season.

Later career

He later did most of the testing for the Ligier F1 team, although a proposed Formula One drive for 1976 went instead to Jacques Laffite^[3] and he thereafter turned his attention to touring car racing in France, twice winning the French title for BMW before entering rallycross in an Alpine-Renault with which he won the French title. In 1981 he returned to touring cars and raced for Peugeot throughout the 1980s. He was also a regular ice racer. His two sons, Anthony and Julien, are both race drivers.

In fiction, Beltoise frequently appeared in the Michel Vaillant series of comic books, amongst others being part of the winning Vaillante Le Mans team.

Death

Beltoise died at his holiday home in Dakar, Senegal, on 5 January 2015, aged 77, following two strokes.^[5]

Motorcycle Grand Prix results

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6
Points	8	6	4	3	2	1

(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Class	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Points	Rank	Wins
1962	250cc	Moto Morini	ESP -	FRA 5	IOM -	NED -	BEL -	GER -	ULS -	DDR -	NAT -	ARG -			2	20th	0
1963	50cc	Kreidler	ESP -	GER -	FRA 5	IOM -	NED -	BEL 6			FIN -		ARG -	JPN -	3	11th	0
	125cc	Bultaco	ESP -	GER -	FRA -	IOM -	NED -	BEL 6	ULS -	DDR -	FIN -	NAT -	ARG -	JPN -	1	20th	0
1964	50cc	Kreidler	USA 5	ESP -	FRA 3	IOM -	NED -	BEL -	GER -		FIN -		JPN -		6	6th	0
	125cc	Bultaco	USA 5	ESP -	FRA 5	IOM -	NED -	GER -	DDR -	ULS -	FIN -	NAT -	JPN -		4	13th	0

^[2]

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Yr	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	WDC	Points
1966	Matra Sports	Matra MS5 (F2)	Cosworth Straight-4	MON	BEL	FRA	GBR	NED	GER 8	ITA	USA	MEX							NC	0
1967	Matra Sports	Matra MS7 (F2)	Cosworth Straight-4	RSA	MON DNQ	NED	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	CAN	ITA	USA 7	MEX 7					NC	0
1968	Matra Sports	Matra MS7 (F2)	Cosworth Straight-4	RSA 6															9th	11
		Matra MS11	Matra V12			MON Ret	BEL 8	NED 2	FRA 9	GBR Ret	GER Ret	ITA 5	CAN Ret	USA Ret	MEX Ret
	Matra International	Matra MS10	Cosworth V8		ESP 5
1969	Matra International	Matra MS10	Cosworth V8	RSA 6															5th	21
		Matra MS80			ESP 3	MON Ret	NED 8	FRA 2		GER 12*	ITA 3	CAN 4	USA Ret	MEX 5
		Matra MS84							GBR 9
1970	Equipe Matra Elf	Matra-Simca MS120	Matra V12	RSA 4	ESP Ret	MON Ret	BEL 3	NED 5	FRA 13	GBR Ret	GER Ret	AUT 6	ITA 3	CAN 8	USA Ret	MEX 5			9th	16
1971	Equipe Matra Sports	Matra-Simca MS120B	Matra V12	RSA	ESP 6	MON Ret	NED 9	FRA 7	GBR 7	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN Ret	USA 8					22nd	1
1972	Marlboro BRM	BRM P160B	BRM V12	ARG	RSA Ret	ESP Ret	MON 1	BEL Ret	FRA 15										11th	9
		BRM P160C								GBR 11	GER 9	AUT 8
		BRM P180											ITA 8	CAN Ret	USA Ret
1973	Marlboro BRM	BRM P160D	BRM V12	ARG Ret	BRA Ret	RSA Ret													10th	9
		BRM P160E					ESP 5	BEL Ret	MON Ret	SWE Ret	FRA 11	GBR Ret	NED 5	GER Ret	AUT 5	ITA 13	CAN 4	USA 9
1974	Team Motul BRM	BRM P160E	BRM V12	ARG 5	BRA 10														13th	10
		BRM P201				RSA 2	ESP Ret	BEL 5	MON Ret	SWE Ret	NED Ret	FRA 10	GBR 12	GER Ret	AUT Ret	ITA Ret	CAN NC	USA DNQ

^[6]

• In the 1969 German Grand Prix, Beltoise was classified 12th on the circuit but was the 6th Formula One car behind six Formula 2 cars, thus scoring one World Championship point.

References

1. grandprix.com
2. Jean Pierre Beltoise career statistics at MotoGP.com
3. Small, Steve (1994). The Complete Guinness Grand Prix Who's Who. Guinness. p. 54. ISBN 0851127029.
4. Small, Steve (1994). The Complete Guinness Grand Prix Who's Who. Guinness. p. 55. ISBN 0851127029.
5. "Jean-Pierre Beltoise, ex-F1 driver and 1972 Monaco GP winner, dies". Autosport.com. Haymarket. 5 January 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
6. Jean-Pierre Beltoise career statistics at formula1.com Archived April 21, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.