Raymond Sommer Explained

Raymond Sommer

Birth Name:

Pierre Raymond Sommer

Birth Date:

31 August 1906

Birth Place:

Mouzon, Ardennes, France

Death Place:

Cadours, Haute-Garonne, France

Titles:

Major victories
24 Hours of Le Mans (1932, 1933)

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Nationality:

French

Team(S):

Ferrari, Talbot-Lago (works and non-works)

Races:

Championships:

Wins:

Podiums:

Points:

Poles:

Fastest Laps:

Last Race:

1950 Italian Grand Prix

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Total Champ Races:

Years In Champ:

Best Champ Pos:

10th (1936)

First Champ Race:

1936 Vanderbilt Cup (Westbury)

Champ Wins:

Champ Podiums:

Champ Poles:

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Years:	–, –,
Teams:	de Costier, privateer, Chinetti
Best Finish:	1st
Class Wins:	2

Pierre Raymond Sommer (31 August 1906 – 10 September 1950)^[1] was a French racing driver.^[2] He raced both before and after WWII with some success, particularly in endurance racing. He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race in both and, and although he did not reach the finishing line in any subsequent appearance at the Le Mans, he did lead each event until 1938. Sommer was also competitive at the highest level in Grand Prix motor racing, but did not win a race. He won the French Grand Prix in 1936, but the event that year was run as a sports car race.

After European racing resumed in the late 1940s, Sommer again won a number of sports car and minor Grand Prix events, and finished in fourth place in the 1950 Monaco Grand Prix, the second round of the newly-instituted Formula One World Drivers' Championship. He was killed toward the end of 1950, when his car overturned during a race at the Circuit de Cadours.

Biography

Sommer was born in Mouzon in France, to a wealthy Sedan carpet-making family. His father, Roger Sommer, broke the Wright Brothers' record for the longest flight in 1909. It was not until 1931 that Raymond started to display daredevil tendencies of his own, entering motor races in a privateer Chrysler Imperial. The following year, he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, despite having to drive over 20 hours solo after his teammate, Luigi Chinetti, retired ill. During the 1930s, Sommer was to dominate the French endurance classic, winning again in 1933 driving an Alfa Romeo alongside Tazio Nuvolari. He also led every race until 1938, only to suffer a mechanical failure, once when 12 laps in the lead. Sommer traveled to Long Island, New York, to compete in the 1936 Vanderbilt Cup where he finished fourth behind the winner, Nuvolari.^[3]

Although a regular top-10 finisher in Grands Épreuves Sommer never won a race. At the time, the German manufacturers Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union were the dominant force in Grand Prix racing, together with the French Bugatti team. Sommer turned to sports cars once more, and in 1936 he won the French Grand Prix with Jean-Pierre Wimille, and the Spa 24 Hours endurance race with co-driver Francesco Severi. More wins came his way including at the "Marseilles Three Hours" at Miramas, the Grand Prix de Tunisie and La Turbie hill climb competition in 1938 and 1939 with Alfa Romeo 308 until the outbreak of World War II, where he played an active part in the French Resistance movement.

Following the war, Sommer claimed victory in the 1946 René Le Bègue Cup race at Saint-Cloud. At the 1947 Turin Grand Prix in Valentino Park he won the first ever Grand Prix for Enzo Ferrari as an independent constructor. The following season, Sommer switched from the Ferrari team, again for a privately owned car, this time a Talbot-Lago. In 1950, the Formula One World Championship began and Sommer drove in two Grand Prix races for Ferrari and three in a privately entered Talbot-Lago, retiring in all but one.

In July 1950 he won the Aix les Bains Circuit du Lac Grand Prix with a Ferrari 166.

In September 1950, he entered the Haute-Garonne Grand Prix^[4] in Cadours, France, where the steering failed on his 1100 cc Cooper and the car overturned at a corner. Sommer, wearing his traditional canvas helmet, was instantly killed.

Motorsports career results

Notable career wins

French Grand Prix 1936
Grand Prix de Marseilles 1932, 1937, 1946
Grand Prix de Tunisie 1937
Grand Prix de L'U.M.F. 1935
Gran Premio del Valentino 1947
Madrid Grand Prix 1949
Spa 24 Hours 1936
Turin Grand Prix 1947
24 Hours of Le Mans 1932, 1933

European Championship results

(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
1935	nowrap	R. Sommer	nowrap	Alfa Romeo Tipo B/P3	nowrap	Alfa Romeo 2.9 L8	MON		BEL	GER				7th	39
	nowrap	Scuderia Subalpina	nowrap	Maserati 6C-34	nowrap	Maserati 3.7 L8		FRA
	nowrap	R. Sommer	nowrap	Alfa Romeo Tipo B/P3	nowrap	Alfa Romeo 3.2 L8					SUI	ITA	ESP
1936	nowrap	R. Sommer	nowrap	Alfa Romeo Tipo B/P3	nowrap	Alfa Romeo 3.2 L8	MON	GER	SUI	ITA				5th	21
1937	nowrap	Scuderia Ferrari	nowrap		nowrap	Alfa Romeo 4.1 V12	BEL			SUI	ITA			6th	27
1937	nowrap	R. Sommer	nowrap	Alfa Romeo 8C-35	nowrap	Alfa Romeo 3.8 L8		GER	MON					6th	27
1939	nowrap	R. Sommer	nowrap	Alfa Romeo Tipo 308	nowrap	Alfa Romeo 3.0 L8	BEL	FRA	GER	SUI				9th	23

Post-WWII Grandes Épreuves results

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

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5
1947	nowrap	Scuderia Milano	nowrap	Maserati 4CL	Maserati 4CL 1.5 L4 s	SUI
	Raymond Sommer	nowrap	Maserati 4CM		BEL
	nowrap	Maserati 4CL			ITA
	nowrap	CTA-Arsenal	nowrap	CTA-Arsenal 1.5 V8 s				FRA
1948	nowrap	Equipe Gordini	nowrap	Simca Gordini T15	nowrap	Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4 s	MON	SUI
	nowrap	Centre d'Etudes T.A.	nowrap	Maserati 4CM	nowrap	Maserati 4CL 1.5 L4 s			FRA
	nowrap	Scuderia Ferrari	nowrap	Ferrari 125	nowrap	Ferrari 125 F1 1.5 V12 s				ITA
1949	nowrap	Raymond Sommer	nowrap	Talbot-Lago T26C	nowrap	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	GBR	BEL	SUI	FRA
1949	nowrap	Scuderia Ferrari	nowrap	Ferrari 125	nowrap	Ferrari 125 F1 1.5 V12 s					ITA

FIA World Drivers' Championship results

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

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	7	Pts
1950		nowrap	Ferrari 125	nowrap	Ferrari 125 1.5 V12 s	GBR	MON	500			16th	3
	nowrap	Ferrari 166 F2	nowrap	Ferrari 166 2.0 V12				SUI
	nowrap	Raymond Sommer	nowrap	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6				BEL	ITA
	nowrap	Automobiles Talbot-Darracq SA	nowrap	Talbot-Lago T26C-GS					FRA

Formula One non-championship results

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

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	12	13	14	15	16
1950	nowrap		nowrap	Ferrari 125	nowrap	Ferrari 125 1.5 V12 s	PAU	RIC	SRM
	nowrap	Raymond Sommer	nowrap	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6				PAR	EMP	BAR	JER	ALB	NAT	NOT	ULS	PES	STT
	nowrap	Automobiles Talbot-Darracq SA	nowrap	Talbot-Lago T26C-DA									*NED*
	nowrap	BRM Ltd	nowrap	BRM P15	nowrap	BRM P15 1.5 V16 s													INT	GOO	PEN

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps
1931	H. de Costier (private entrant)	Jean Delemer	Chrysler 80	5.0	14	DNF (Radiator)
1932	Raymond Sommer	Luigi Chinetti	Alfa Romeo 8C 2300LM	3.0	218	1st	1st
1933	Raymond Sommer	Tazio Nuvolari	Alfa Romeo 8C 2300MM	3.0	233	1st	1st
1934	Raymond Sommer	Dr. Pierre Félix	Alfa Romeo 8C 2300	3.0	14	DNF
1935	Raymond Sommer	Raymond de Saugé Desttrez	Alfa Romeo 8C 2300	3.0	69	DNF
1937	Raymond Sommer	Giovanni Battista Guidotti	Alfa Romeo 8C 2900A Spider	5.0	11	DNF
1938	Raymond Sommer	Clemente Biondetti	Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring	5.0	219	DNF
1939	Raymond Sommer	Prince Bira	Alfa Romeo 6C 2500SS	3.0	173	DNF (Engine)
1950	Luigi Chinetti	Dorino Serafini	Ferrari 195S Coupé	S 3.0	82	DNF (Electrics)

External links

Raymond Sommer profile at Grand Prix encyclopedia

Notes and References

Web site: Motorsport Memorial - Raymond Sommer . 22 March 2023 . Motorsport Memorial.
Web site: Driver – Raymond Sommer. chicanef1.com. December 12, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20170705212238/http://chicanef1.com/indiv.pl?name=Raymond%20Sommer&type=D. July 5, 2017. dead.
Web site: Raymond Sommer . 2024-03-23 . www.champcarstats.com.
Motor Sport, October 1950, Page 525: Obituary.