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Best known as a sports car racing ace of international repute, winning Le Mans for Ferrari on four occasions (1958, 1960, 1961 and 1962), this former wartime resistance fighter came from an aristocratic background. It was during a four-year spell in the Belgian Congo, clearing virgin forest for what was to become the residential area of Stanleyville, that he met a friend who would introduce him to the ways of motorsport as a rally navigator. His Ferrari F1 outings were widely regarded as a reward for his prowess at the wheel of the Scuderia's sports cars; in 1958 and 1961 his works Ferrari ran at Spa carrying the Belgian national yellow livery under the Equipe Nationale Belge banner. Spa in 1961 marked the occasion of his sole front-row Grand Prix start. Just over a year later he retired from racing, only to be faced with the tragedy of his wife's death a short time afterwards. He subsequently based himself in the USA where he became involved in the cattle rearing business in a big way. |
