| Jean-Pierre Wimille | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Name: | Jean-Pierre Wimille | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Date: | 26 February 1908 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Place: | 16th arrondissement of Paris, France | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Death Place: | Buenos Aires, Argentina | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Titles: | Major victories 24 Hours of Le Mans (1937, 1939) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Jean-Pierre Wimille (26 February 1908 – 28 January 1949) was a French racing driver and a member of the French Resistance during World War II.[1] He was a two-time victor of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, winning in 1937 and 1939. He is generally regarded as one of the best French drivers of his era.
Wimille was born in Paris, France to a father who was employed as the motoring correspondent for the Petit Parisien newspaper. Jean-Pierre Wimille developed a fascination with racing cars at a young age. He was 22 years old when he made his Grand Prix debut, driving a Bugatti 37A at the 1930 French Grand Prix in Pau.
In 1931, Wimille finished second at the Monte Carlo Rally, driving a Lorraine-Dietrich.[2] Driving a Bugatti T51, in 1932 he won the La Turbie hill climb, the Grand Prix de Lorraine and the Grand Prix d'Oran. In 1934 he was the victor at the Algerian Grand Prix in Algiers driving a Bugatti T59 and in January 1936 he finished second in the South African Grand Prix held at the Prince George Circuit in East London, South Africa then won the French Grand Prix in his home country.
Still in France, that same year Wimille won the Deauville Grand Prix, a race held on the city's streets. He won in his Bugatti T59 in an accident-marred race that killed drivers Raymond Chambost and Marcel Lehoux in separate incidents.[3] Of the 16 cars that started the race, only three managed to finish.
In 1936, Wimille traveled to Long Island, New York to compete in the Vanderbilt Cup where he finished second, behind the winner, Tazio Nuvolari.[4] He also competed in the 24 hours of Le Mans endurance race, winning in 1937 and again in 1939. In 1940, Wimille developed with Marcel Lesurque an electric car able to reach 50 km/h.[5]
When World War II came, and following the German occupation of France in 1940, Wimille and fellow Grand Prix race drivers Robert Benoist and William Grover-Williams joined the Special Operations Executive, which aided the French Resistance. Of the three, Wimille was the only one to survive.
Wimille married Christiane de la Fressange with whom he had a son, François, born in 1946. At the end of the War, he became the No. 1 driver for the Alfa Romeo team between 1946 and 1948, winning several Grand Prix races including his second French Grand Prix. He had a long-standing affair with French singer Juliette Greco, whom he met in 1947 at the Tabou in Paris.[6]
From 1946 on, Wimille built and designed cars in Paris under the brand-name Wimille. Between 1946 and 1950 around eight cars were built, at first with Citroën engines, later with Ford V8 engines.
Wimille died when he lost control of his Simca-Gordini and crashed into a tree during practice runs for the 1949 Buenos Aires Grand Prix. He is buried in the Cimetière de Passy in Paris. There is a memorial to him at the Porte Dauphine on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne in Paris.
Some of Jean-Pierre Wimille's race victories:
1932:
1934:
1936:
1937:
1939:
Post War – 1945:
1946:
1947:
1948:
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Pts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 | nowrap | J.-P. Wimille | nowrap | Bugatti T51 | nowrap | Bugatti 2.3 L8 | ITA 4 | FRA Ret | BEL Ret | 6th | 14 | ||||
| 1932 | nowrap | J-P. Wimille | nowrap | Alfa Romeo Monza | nowrap | Alfa Romeo 2.3 L8 | ITA | FRA Ret | GER | 16th | 21 | ||||
| 1935 | nowrap | Automobiles E. Bugatti | nowrap | Bugatti T59 | nowrap | Bugatti 3.3 L8 | MON | FRA | BEL Ret | GER | SUI | ITA Ret | ESP 4 | 18th | 49 |
| 1936 | Automobiles E. Bugatti | nowrap | Bugatti T59 | nowrap | Bugatti 3.3 L8 | MON 6 | GER Ret | 14th | 26 | ||||||
| nowrap | Bugatti T59/50B | nowrap | Bugatti 4.7 L8 | SUI Ret | ITA | ||||||||||
| 1938 | nowrap | Automobiles E. Bugatti | nowrap | Bugatti T59/50B3 | nowrap | Bugatti 3.0 L8 | FRA Ret | GER | 11th | 25 | |||||
| nowrap | Alfa Corse | nowrap | Alfa Romeo Tipo 312 | nowrap | Alfa Romeo 3.0 V12 | SUI 7 | ITA Ret | ||||||||
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 | nowrap | Alfa Corse | nowrap | Alfa Romeo 158 | nowrap | Alfa Romeo 158 1.5 L8s | SUI 1 | BEL 1 | ITA | FRA |
| 1948 | nowrap | Equipe Gordini | nowrap | Simca-Gordini T11 | nowrap | Simca-Gordini 1.4 L4 | MON Ret | |||
| nowrap | Alfa Corse | nowrap | Alfa Romeo 158 | nowrap | Alfa Romeo 158 1.5 L8s | SUI 2 | FRA 1 | ITA 1 | ||
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1937 |  Roger Labric | Robert Benoist | Bugatti Type 57 | 5.0 | 243 | 1st | 1st | |
| 1939 | Jean-Pierre Wimille | Pierre Veyron | Bugatti Type 57 | 8.0 | 248 | 1st | 1st | |
