Willy Mairesse

Willy Mairesse (1 October 1928 – 9 September 1969) was a Formula One and sports car driver from Belgium. He participated in 13 World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 19 June 1960. He achieved one podium, and scored a total of seven championship points. He committed suicide in a hotel room in Ostend after injury at the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans forced an end to his career.

Peter Revson once described the intensity of Mairesse before a race at Spa, Belgium. 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

Grand Prix

Grand Prix (French pronunciation: ​[ɡʁɑ̃pʁi], meaning Grand Prize; plural Grands Prix) may refer to:

Sports competitions

Le Mans

Le Mans (pronounced: [lə mɑ̃]) is a city in France, located on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Mans. Le Mans is a part of the Pays de la Loire region.

Its inhabitants are called Manceaux and Mancelles. Since 1923, the city has hosted the internationally famous 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance sports car race.

History

First mentioned by Claudius Ptolemy, the Roman city Vindinium was the capital of the Aulerci, a sub tribe of the Aedui. Le Mans is also known as Civitas Cenomanorum (City of the Cenomani), or Cenomanus. Their city, seized by the Romans in 47 BC, was within the ancient Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis. A 3rd-century amphitheatre is still visible. The thermae were demolished during the crisis of the third century when workers were mobilized to build the city's defensive walls. The ancient wall around Le Mans is one of the most complete circuits of Gallo-Roman city walls to survive.

Ecurie Francorchamps

Ecurie Francorchamps was a Belgian motor racing team. They are principally known for running privateer cars in Formula One and sports car racing during the 1950s and 1970s. The team was founded by racing driver Jacques Swaters. Between 1952 and 1954 Ecurie Francorchamps raced in Formula One, and raced in sports cars into the 1970s.

Formula One

Ecurie Francorchamps raced in Formula One between 1952 and 1954, and campaigned Ferrari cars. They won one race. Ecurie Francorchamps made their début at the 1952 Belgian Grand Prix with Charles de Tornaco as their driver. De Tornaco finished seventh at that event, retired from the 1952 Dutch Grand Prix, and failed to qualify for the 1952 Italian Grand Prix. Roger Laurent drove the team's Ferrari in the 1952 German Grand Prix, where he finished sixth. In 1953 Swaters and de Tornaco both entered the 1953 Belgian Grand Prix but neither started the race. Swaters finished seventh in the 1953 German Grand Prix, and retired from the 1953 Swiss Grand Prix because he spun off during the first lap. In 1954 Swaters retired in Belgium because his engine failed. He finished eighth in Switzerland and failed to finish in Spain, when his engine failed again. The team's single victory came when owner Jacques Swaters won the non-Championship Avusrennen in 1953.

Jacques Swaters

Jacques Swaters (30 October 1926 – 10 December 2010) was a racing driver from Belgium and former team owner of Ecurie Francorchamps and Ecurie Nationale Belge.

Racing career

Swaters made his debut in the 24 Hours of Spa in an MG co-driven by his friend and racer-turned-journalist Paul Frère, entered under the Ecurie Francorchamps banner. In 1950 Swaters, Frère and André Pilette established Écurie Belgique, a banner in which they prepared cars for themselves and other Belgian races, both in Grand Prix and sports car racing. Swaters himself raced a yellow Talbot-Lago in several events, including two World Championship rounds, the 1951 German and Italian Grands Prix.

However, in 1952, Swaters, another Belgian Charles de Tornaco and British driver Geoff Richardson, restarted Ecurie Francorchamps, a racing stable mainly associated with Ferrari. Swaters drove the team Ferrari 500 in a small number of events, but did manage to take a victory at the 1953 Avusrennen, a Formula 2 race. Richardson was signed to drive the prototype Zethrin Rennsport. As a driver, Swaters later concentrated on sports car racing, driving a Jaguar C-Type and a D-Type.