Lucien Bianchi
Born |
Milan, Italy | 10 November 1934
---|---|
Died |
30 March 1969 34) Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France | (aged
Formula One World Championship career | |
Nationality | Belgian |
Active years | 1959 – 1963, 1965, 1968 |
Teams | ENB, UDT Laystall, Reg Parnell, Scuderia Centro Sud, Cooper |
Entries | 19 (17 starts) |
Championships | 0 |
Wins | 0 |
Podiums | 1 |
Career points | 6 |
Pole positions | 0 |
Fastest laps | 0 |
First entry | 1959 Monaco Grand Prix |
Last entry | 1968 Mexican Grand Prix |
Lucien Bianchi (10 November 1934 – 30 March 1969), born Luciano Bianchi, was an Italian-Belgian racing driver who raced for the Cooper, ENB, UDT Laystall and Scuderia Centro Sud teams in Formula One. He entered a total of 19 Formula One World Championship races, scoring six points and had a best finish of third at the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix.
He died in a testing crash in preparation for the 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Personal life
Bianchi was born in Milan, Italy, but moved to Belgium in 1946 when he was still a child, with his father who was a race mechanic working, before the Second World War, in the Alfa Romeo competition department.[1] His grandnephew, Jules Bianchi, who made his Formula One debut with the Marussia team for the 2013 season competing under the French flag, also died as a result of injuries sustained in a racing accident.
Racing career
Lucien Bianchi's first race event was at the Alpine Rally in 1951. He won the 1957, 1958 and 1959 Tour de France as well as the Paris 1000 sports car race in the latter two years.
He entered Formula One in 1959, although only with sporadic appearances at first. He drove various cars under the banner of the ENB team, including a Cooper T51, a Lotus 18 and an Emeryson. After a couple of races for the UDT Laystall team in 1961, driving another Lotus, he returned to ENB for whom he drove their ENB-Maserati. He finally secured a more regular drive in Formula One in 1968, with the Cooper-BRM team, although success was elusive despite a bright start. Bianchi managed his best Formula One performance, finishing third at the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix, in his first race for Cooper.[2]
Bianchi also raced touring cars, sports cars and rally cars, being successful in all disciplines, his biggest victories coming in the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans, behind the wheel of a Ford GT40 with Pedro RodrĂguez and at Sebring in 1962 with Jo Bonnier. He was also leading the London-Sydney Marathon when his CitroĂ«n DS collided with a non-competing car.
He was killed when his Alfa Romeo T33 spun into a telegraph pole during Le Mans testing in 1969.
Formula One World Championship results
(key)
Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | WDC | Pts. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1959 | Equipe National Belge | Cooper T51 (F2) | Climax V8 | MON DNQ |
500 | NED | FRA | GBR | GER | POR | ITA | USA | NC | 0 | |||
1960 | Equipe National Belge | Cooper T51 | Climax Straight-4 | ARG | MON | 500 | NED | BEL 6 |
24th | 1 | |||||||
Fred Tuck Cars | Cooper T51 | Climax Straight-4 | FRA Ret |
GBR Ret |
POR | ITA | USA | ||||||||||
1961 | Equipe National Belge | Emeryson 1001 | Maserati Straight-4 | MON DNQ |
NED | NC | 0 | ||||||||||
Lotus 18 | Climax Straight-4 | BEL Ret |
|||||||||||||||
UDT Laystall Racing Team | Lotus 18/21 | Climax Straight-4 | FRA Ret |
GBR Ret |
GER | ITA | USA | ||||||||||
1962 | Equipe National Belge | Lotus 18/21 | Climax Straight-4 | NED | MON | BEL 9 |
FRA | GBR | NC | 0 | |||||||
ENB | Maserati Straight-4 | GER 16 |
ITA | USA | RSA | ||||||||||||
1963 | Reg Parnell Racing | Lola Mk4 | Climax V8 | MON | BEL Ret |
NED | FRA | GBR | GER | ITA | USA | MEX | RSA | NC | 0 | ||
1965 | Scuderia Centro Sud | BRM P57 | BRM V8 | RSA | MON | BEL 12 |
FRA | GBR | NED | GER | ITA | USA | MEX | NC | 0 | ||
1968 | Cooper Car Co. | Cooper T86B | BRM V12 | RSA | ESP | MON 3 |
BEL 6 |
NED Ret |
FRA | GBR | GER Ret |
ITA | CAN NC |
USA NC |
MEX Ret |
17th | 5 |
References
- ↑ "Lucien Bianchi brief obituary". Autocar. Vol. 130 (nbr 3816). 3 April 1969. p. 25.
- ↑ "Lucien Bianchi 1968 Results". Formula. Formula One Administration Ltd. Archived from the original on 17 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-07.
External links
- GrandPrix.com — Bianchi's entry at GrandPrix.com
Sporting positions | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by Dan Gurney A. J. Foyt |
Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1968 with: Pedro RodrĂguez |
Succeeded by Jacky Ickx Jackie Oliver |
|