View source for Jean-Pierre Wimille

Jean-Pierre Wimille (26 February 1908 – 28 January 1949) was a Grand Prix motor racing driver and a member of the French Resistance during World War II.

Born in Paris, France to a father who loved motor sports and 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.

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 he won the Deauville Grand Prix, a race held on the city's streets. Wimille won in his Bugatti T59 in an accident-marred race that killed drivers Raymond Chambost and Marcel Lehoux in separate incidents. 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 2nd, behind the winner, Tazio Nuvolari. He also competed in the 24 hours of Le Mans endurance race, winning in 1937 and again in 1939.

When World War II came, following the Nazi occupation 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.

Jean-Pierre 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. Jean-Pierre Wimille died at the wheel of Simca-Gordini during practice runs for the 1949 Buenos Aires Grand Prix.[1] He is buried in the Cimetière de Passy in Paris. There is a large 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:

Grand Prix de Lorraine 

Grand Prix d'Oran 


1934:

Grand Prix of Algeria - Bugatti T59 


1936:

French Grand Prix - Bugatti T57G 

Grand Prix de la Marne - Bugatti T57G 

Deauville Grand Prix - Bugatti T59 

Grand Prix du Comminges - Bugatti T59/57

 
1937:

Grand Prix de Pau - Bugatti T57G (The Tank) 

Grand Prix de Böne - Bugatti T57 

24 hours of Le Mans - Bugatti T57G driving with [[Robert Benoist]]
 
Grand Prix de la Marne - Bugatti T57 


1939:

Coupe de Paris 

Grand Prix du Centenaire Luxembourg - Bugatti T57S45 

24 hours of Le Mans - Bugatti T57C driving with Pierre Veyron 


Post War - 1945:

Coupe des Prisonniers - Bugatti sprint car 


1946:

Coupe de la Résistance - Alfa Romeo 308 

Grand Prix du Roussillon - Alfa Romeo 308 

Grand Prix de Bourgogne - Alfa Romeo 308 

Grand Prix des Nations - Geneva (Heat 1) - Alfa Romeo 158 


1947:

Swiss Grand Prix - Alfa Romeo 158 

Belgian Grand Prix - Alfa Romeo 158 

Coupe de Paris 


1948:

Grand Prix de Rosario - Simca- Gordini 15 

French Grand Prix - Alfa Romeo 158 

Italian Grand Prix - Alfa Romeo 158 

Autodrome Grand Prix - Alfa Romeo 158/47 

 


Bibliography

Paris, Jean-Michel and Mearns, William D: "Jean-Pierre Wimille: à bientôt la revanche", Editions Drivers, Toulouse, 2002, ISBN 2-9516357-5-3 

Saward, Joe: "The Grand Prix Saboteurs", Morienval Press, London, 2006, ISBN 978-0-9554868-0-7