Pierre Dieudonné Explained

Pierre Dieudonné (born 24 March 1947 in Brussels) is a Belgian auto racing driver and motoring journalist.

Career

He spent a large part of his career competing in touring car racing. He twice finished third in the European Touring Car Championship in 1977 and 1979. He won two consecutive Spa 24 Hours in 1974 and 1975 with a BMW 3.0 CSi. He won the title again in 1981 alongside Tom Walkinshaw in a Mazda RX-7.

In 1987 he competed in the inaugural World Touring Car Championship for the Eggenberger Motorsport works Ford team driving the RS Cosworth and RS500 versions of the Ford Sierra. His teammates for the championship were West German pair Klaus Ludwig and Klaus Niedzwiedz and Englishman Steve Soper, who was his regular co-driver. He won Round 8 of the championship, the Bob Jane T-Marts 500 at the Calder Park Raceway in Australia, which was run on a combined road course and the NASCAR-style "Thunderdome" high-banked oval, driving with Soper, and finished fifth in the championship (Dieudonné and Soper had won the Bathurst 1000 in Australia the week before the Calder race, but were disqualified for illegal wheel arch modifications).[1] He finished third in the ETCC in the 1988 season, again for Eggenberger. Dieudonné competed in one round of the 1989 British Touring Car Championship for JQF Engineering with Chris Hodgetts in a Ford Sierra RS500.[2] That same year he was a 1989 24 Hours of Le Mans GTP Class winner with Hodgetts and David Kennedy for Mazdaspeed. The 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans saw him finish eighth for Mazdaspeed in a Mazda 787 in the C2 Class.

Dieudonné also made the trip to Australia on other occasions to drive in the Bathurst 1000. After the 1987 disqualification, he returned in 1988 to drive a Sierra alongside Andrew Bagnall (Bagnall's Sierra was an Andy Rouse 'kit car', Rouse being the pioneer of racing Sierras in Europe and one of the main Sierra's rivals to the Eggenberger team). After Dieudonné qualified the car in 7th place, the car ran into overheating problems and only lasted nine of the scheduled 161 laps. He returned in 1989 to drive an Eggenberger built Sierra for Allan Moffat Racing with Gregg Hansford, the pair qualified 14th but the car was out after only 30 laps. Again racing for Moffat in 1990, "The Dude" (as he was known in Australia) drove both team cars, recording a DNF in the car he shared with Hansford and Niedzwiedz, and 10th in the teams lead car with Niedzwiedz and Biela in what was his last race at the Mount Panorama Circuit.[3] [4] [5]

Career results

SeasonSeriesPositionCarTeam
1973European Formula Super Vee Championship21st
1975B.A.R.C. BP Super Visco British F3 Championship9thMarch 753-BMWBang & Olufsen Team Michel Vaillant
1975Italian Formula Three ChampionshipNCMarch 753-BMWBang & Olufsen Team Michel Vaillant
1976B.A.R.C. BP Super Visco British F3 Championship18thMarch 743-ToyotaDr. Joseph Ehrlich
1976B.R.D.C. Shellsport British F3 Championship21stMarch 743-ToyotaDr. Joseph Ehrlich
1976European Touring Car Championship1stBMW 3.0 CSLLuigi Racing
1977European Touring Car Championship3rdBMW 3.0 CSLLuigi Racing
1977B.R.D.C. Vandervell British F3 Championship25thEhrlich ES6-ToyotaDr. Joseph Ehrlich
1979European Touring Car Championship3rdBMW 3.0 CSLLuigi Racing
1980Belgian Touring Car Championship1stMazda RX-7Tom Walkinshaw Racing
1982World Sportscar Championship70thFerrari 512BB LM
URD C81-BMW
Prancing Horse Farm Racing
URD Junior
1985European Touring Car Championship9thVolvo 240TEggenberger Motorsport
1985World Sportscar Championship93rdCheetah G604-Aston MartinCheetah Switzerland
1986FIA Touring Car Championship12thFord Sierra XR4TiEggenberger Motorsport
1987World Touring Car Championship5thFord Sierra RS Cosworth
Ford Sierra RS500
Eggenberger Motorsport
1988European Touring Car Championship3rdFord Sierra RS500Eggenberger Motorsport
1988Belgian Touring Car Championship Div 225thSuzuki Swift GTiSuzuki Belgium
1989British Touring Car Championship50thFord Sierra RS500JQF Engineering
1989World Sportscar Championship46thMazda 767BMazdaspeed
1989Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft37thFord Sierra RS500Ringshausen Motorsport
1990Australian Endurance Championship41stFord Sierra RS500Allan Moffat Racing
1990All Japan Sports Prototype Car Endurance Championship26thMazda 767B
Mazda 787
Mazdaspeed
1991All Japan Sports Prototype Car Endurance Championship33rdMazda 787BMazdaspeed
1991World Sportscar Championship34thMazda 787BMazdaspeed

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

YearTeamCar1234567891011DCPoints
1987 Ford Texaco Racing TeamFord Sierra RS CosworthMNZ
DSQ
JAR
ovr:4
cls:1
DIJ
ovr:4
cls:2
NUR
Ret
SPA
Ret
5th193
Ford Sierra RS500BNO
ovr:2
cls:2
SIL
ovr:13
cls:4
BAT
DSQ
CLD
ovr:1
cls:1
WEL
ovr:3
cls:2
FJI
ovr:5
cls:3
Silverstone shows overall results for all cars. For registered WTCC cars, Dieudonné finished 7th in points and 2nd in class.

Complete Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

‡ Endurance driver.

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

YearTeamCo-DriversCarClassLaps
1977 Luigi Racing Jean Xhenceval
Spartaco Dini
BMW 3.0 CSLIMSA2948th1st
1980 JMS Racing
Charles Pozzi
Jean Xhenceval
Hervé Regout
Ferrari 512BB/LMIMSA31210th3rd
1981 Rennod Racing Jean Xhenceval
Jean-Paul Libert
Ferrari 512BB/LMIMSA3209th3rd
1982 Prancing Horse Farm Racing Carson Baird
Jean-Paul Libert
Ferrari 512BB/LMIMSA GTX3226th3rd
1984 Mazdaspeed Takashi Yorino
Yojiro Terada
Mazda 727CC226120th6th
1986 Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd. David Kennedy
Mark Galvin
Mazda 757GTP137DNFDNF
1987 Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd. David Kennedy
Mark Galvin
Mazda 757GTP3197th1st
1988 Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd. Yojiro Terada
David Kennedy
Mazda 757GTP33715th1st
1989 Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd. David Kennedy
Chris Hodgetts
Mazda 767BGTP3687th1st
1990 Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd. Stefan Johansson
David Kennedy
Mazda 787C2147DNFDNF
1991 Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd.
Oreca
Takashi Yorino
Yojiro Terada
Mazda 787C23468th8th

Complete Spa 24 Hour results

YearTeamCo-DriversCarClassLaps
1974 Luigi Racing Jean Xhenceval
Alain Peltier
BMW 3.0 CSiDiv.41941st1st
1975 Luigi Racing Jean Xhenceval
Hughes de Fierlant
BMW 3.0 CSiDiv.43001st1st
1976 Luigi Racing Jean Xhenceval
Martino Finotto
BMW 3.0 CSLDiv.4NADNFDNF
1977 Luigi BMW Racing with Castrol Jean XhencevalBMW 530i US+2500NADNFDNF
1978 Luigi Racing Lotto Jo De Gheldere
J.P. Wielemans
BMW 530i US+25002819th7th
1979 Team Willeme Thierry Boutsen
Philippe Bervoets
BMW 530i+2500NADNFDNF
1980 Juma Eddy Joosen
Dirk Vermeersch
BMW 530i+25004252nd2nd
1981 Tom Walkinshaw Racing Tom WalkinshawMazda RX-7-25004561st1st
1982 Team Motul Jaguar Jeff Allam
Pete Lovett
Jaguar XJSDiv.3(9th Hour)DNFDNF
1983 TWR Jaguar Racing with Motul Tom WalkinshawJaguar XJSDiv.3(11th Hour)DNFDNF
1984 GTM Engineering Michel Delcourt
Philippe Bervoets
Jean-Marie Baert
Volvo 240TDiv.342215th15th
1985 Eggenberger Motorsport Carlo Rossi
Didier Theys
Volvo 240TDiv.34894th4th
1986 Eggenberger Motorsport Siegfried Müller Jr
Manuel Reuter
Ford Sierra XR4TiDiv.335DNFDNF
1987 Eggenberger Motorsport Steve Soper
Philippe Streiff
Ford Sierra RS CosworthDiv.3322DNFDNF
1988 Eggenberger Motorsport Klaus Ludwig
Thierry Boutsen
Ford Sierra RS500Div.35062nd1st

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

YearTeamCo-DriversCarClassLaps
1987 Ford Texaco Racing Team Steve SoperFord Sierra RS5001161DSQDSQ
1988 Andrew Bagnall Andrew BagnallFord Sierra RS500A9DNFDNF
1989 Allan Moffat Enterprises Gregg HansfordFord Sierra RS500A30DNFDNF
1990 Allan Moffat Enterprises Frank Biela
Klaus Niedzwiedz
Ford Sierra RS500115110th10th
Gregg Hansford
Klaus Niedzwiedz
Ford Sierra RS5001138DNFDNF

External links

Notes and References

  1. Normoyle. Steve. The Great Race 7. The Great Race: Tooheys 1000 Bathurst Sunday Sept 30 1990. 1988. Chevron Publishing. Hornsby. 1031-6124.
  2. http://www.btcc.net/html/history_standings.php?season_id=32 Official 1989 BTCC standings
  3. Normoyle. Steve. The Great Race 8. The Great Race: Tooheys 1000 Bathurst Sunday Sept 30 1990. 1989. Chevron Publishing. Hornsby. 1031-6124.
  4. Normoyle. Steve. The Great Race 9. The Great Race: Tooheys 1000 Bathurst Sunday Sept 30 1990. 1990. Chevron Publishing. Hornsby. 1031-6124.
  5. Normoyle. Steve. The Great Race 10. The Great Race: Tooheys 1000 Bathurst Sunday Sept 30 1990. 1991. Chevron Publishing. Hornsby. 1031-6124.