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'''Robert Marcel Charles Benoist''', (March 20, 1895 &ndash; September 9, 1944) was a [[France|French]] [[Grand Prix motor racing]] driver and war hero.

==Early life==
Born near [[Rambouillet]], [[Île-de-France (région)|Île-de-France]], [[France]], Robert Benoist was the son of [[Rothschild family|Baron Henri de Rothschild]]'s gamekeeper. As a young man, Benoist served during [[World War I]] in the French infantry, then as a fighter pilot in the new ''Armée de l'Air'' and ultimately as a flying instructor.

==Grand Prix Driver==
Looking for excitement in the post-war world, Benoist joined the ''de Marçay'' car company as a test driver. He then moved on to [[Salmson]] and was very successful in cyclecar races before being signed to drive for [[Delage]] in 1924. The next year, teamed with [[Albert Divo]], he won the [[French Grand Prix]] in the race that claimed the life of [[Italy|Italian]] racing star [[Antonio Ascari]].

In 1927, driving a Delage 15-S-8, he won the [[French Grand Prix|French]], [[Spanish Grand Prix|Spanish]], [[Italian Grand Prix|Italian]] and [[British Grand Prix]] races, earning the season championship title for the French manufacturer. He is the only driver ever to win these major Grand Prix races in the same year and his accomplishment earned him the [[Légion d'honneur|Legion of Honor]] from the French government.

When the Delage company dropped out of racing, Robert Benoist was without a job and was appointed manager of the Banville Garage in Paris. He did occasional races for the [[Bugatti]] team, finishing second in the 1928 [[San Sebastián]] Grand Prix in [[Spain]]. The following year he teamed up with [[Attilio Marinoni]] to win the [[Spa 24 Hours]] race in [[Belgium]], driving an [[Alfa Romeo in motorsport|Alfa Romeo]]. At the end of the season he retired until 1934, when he made a comeback with the [[Bugatti]] team. He was soon made head of the competition department and masterminded the company's Le Mans programme. In 1937 he partnered with [[Jean-Pierre Wimille]] to win the [[24 hours of Le Mans]]<ref>{{cite web
| url= http://www.grandprix.com/ft/ftjs016.html
| title= ''Jean-Pierre Wimille''
| publisher= Grandprix.com
| accessdate=2007-03-17}}</ref> endurance race. Following that victory, Benoist retired permanently, but continued to run Bugatti's racing department until called up into the French Air Force.

==World War II==
In addition to [[Jean-Pierre Wimille]], Robert Benoist became good friends with another Grand Prix driver, [[William Grover-Williams]].<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.forix.com/8w/rb-w-jpw.html
|title=''A different danger - three champions at war''
|publisher=''8W''
|author=Richard Armstrong
|accessdate=2007-03-18}}</ref> When [[World War II]] broke out and France was occupied, these three race drivers all escaped to [[England]] where they joined the [[Special Operations Executive]] as secret agents<ref name="soe">{{cite web
| url= http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/releases/2003/may22/soe.htm
| title= ''Special Operations Executive (SOE) files''
| publisher= The National Archives UK
| accessdate=2007-03-17}}</ref> to return to France to assist the [[French Resistance]]. Parachuted into France, Benoist helped organize sabotage cells and with [[William Grover-Williams]] moved weapons from air-drops in the [[Rambouillet]] forest to his home at Auffargis for storage and distribution.

In June 1943, the "Prosper" network in [[Paris]] collapsed as a result of an informant and its leaders, [[Francis Suttill]] and [[Andrée Borrel]], were arrested by the [[Gestapo]]. In August, Benoist's home was raided by the Gestapo and Grover-Williams was captured and executed at the [[Sachsenhausen concentration camp]].

===Capture and escape===
Three days later, Robert Benoist was apprehended in Paris. While being driven to Gestapo headquarters, Benoist leaped from the moving vehicle and escaped,<ref name="soe"/> eventually being smuggled back to [[England]] via the [[Underground resistance|underground]].

===New missions===
Benoist would later return to France on a second mission, lasting from October 1943 to February 1944, after which he returned to [[London]] for a short time before going back to France in March to work in the [[Nantes]] area with fellow [[Special Operations Executive|SOE]] agent [[Denise Bloch]].

Robert Benoist was arrested on June 18, 1944 and shipped to [[Buchenwald]] [[concentration camp]] where he was executed three months later, on September 11.

==Testimony==
Following [[Germany]]'s surrender, on September 9, 1945 (the date of the first anniversary of his death) the "''Coupe Robert Benoist''" automobile race was held in Paris in his memory.

Captain Robert Benoist is recorded on the [[Brookwood Memorial]] in [[Surrey]], [[England]] and as one of the SOE agents who died for the liberation of France, he is listed on the "Roll of Honor" on the [[Valençay SOE Memorial]] in the town of [[Valençay]], in the [[Indre]] {{lang|fr|departement}} of France.

In his honor, the village of Auffargis named a street after him and it is there in the churchyard cemetery on "Allée Robert Benoist" that fellow pioneer race driver, [[Ferenc Szisz]] is buried.

==Bibliography==
*''Au volant: Cours pratique de conduite automobile'', Bernard-Précy, Robert Benoist, Paris, Ed. Tallandier 1933
* Foot, MRD: ''SOE in France'' (HMSO, London 1966)
* Ryan Robert: ''Early One Morning'' , Headline 2002 ISBN 074726872X
* Pernod Alain: ''Grand Prix de France, un si�cle en histoires'' , ed. ETAI, 2006, ISBN 2-7268-8657-4
* Saward, Joe: "The Grand Prix Saboteurs", Morienval Press, London, 2006, ISBN 978-0-9554868-0-7

==References==
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{{succession box|title=[[List of 24 Hours of Le Mans winners|Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans]] |before= [[John Stuart Hindmarsh|Johnny Hindmarsh]]<br>[[Luis Fontés]]|after= [[Eugène Chaboud]]<br>[[Jean Trémoulet]]|years= {{24hLM|1937}} <small>with:</small><br>[[Jean-Pierre Wimille]]}}
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{{24 Hours of Le Mans winners}}