1964 Reims 12 hours, the Beltoise crash

I have some questions, maybe you can help me:

What was happen to JP-B, that he crashed so fataly during the 1964 Reims 12 hours race?

Does one have some photos from the car before and after the accident?

How long did he need to recover again?

During the 1964 12 Heures de Reims, at 1 am, Beltoise was struggling with Mauro Bianchi's Alpine; as he was to overtake him his car slidded on oil and benzine, left the road, crashed and bursted into flames. JPB was, "thanks" to him, throwed at some 30 meters. It took a lot of time to find him as everybody thought he was still in the burning car. He had 16 fractures and left elbow completely broken. He stayed three days in a coma and after that it take him some seven months before leaving hospital. He never recovered the full use of his elbow which was locked in the best position to drive.


At the moment I have no picture of his car at Reims but on this one you can see it with N°55 at Le Mans the same year. As at Reims Beltoise shared it with Gérard Laureau.


The remains of the René Bonnet 1150cc after the crash.
Both pictures from M.Louche book "Un siècle de grands pilotes français".

I know, that, when he was in hospital, he arrange that Patrick Depailler will drive his motorbike in several national races. Depailler won in Cognac (if I am right), driving the Beltoise Bultaco.

See picture below

Beltoise's accident took place in la courbe Annie Bousquet, as seen above in that picture taken 15 days ago

One year after he won the F3 race

Image by Michel Mathieu

I know, that, when he was in hospital, he arrange that Patrick Depailler will drive his motorbike in several national races. Depailler won in Cognac (if I am right), driving the Beltoise Bultaco.

I am quite sure that this is not a picture of JPB's Bultaco as both his 125 and 250's had the factory fairing which is quite different from this one. This looks more like the TSS125 of Claude Vigreux that Patrick may have ridden after the accidental death of Vigreux at Mettet. Vigreux had only taken his Metisse-G50 and my ex-works Derbi there since I could not go (we used to go to the races together). The Bultaco TSS stayed home and had this modified fairing. Also JPB's TSS had different shocks (Armstrong) while Vigreux's bike had the stock ones as seen on this picture.

After the horrendous crash at Reims, Beltoise came back a year later (shortly before the Reims F3 win in the MATRA) and drove his 250 Bultaco TSS at Pau but lost it big time and crashed heavily against the curb on top of the hill at the base of the railroad station. The bike was so damaged that the crushed rims were touching the Oldani brakes! Fortunately Jean-Pierre was not hurt, just a few bruises. I helped pick him up off the road and he was dazed, but mostly unhurt. This was his last bike race if I recall.
I was at Cognac as a participating racer in the smaller classes and do not remember Patrick winning there, but again my memories are quite vague by now. I DO remember that they gave us a lot of Martell cognac bottles when we set a new lap record in each class.
Regards,

T54

I have mentioned this before relative to J-PB here on TNF but Tim Parnell - his erstwhile team manager at BRM - always reckons that if he'd only had full use of BOTH arms, Beltoise could have been a true Great...

DCN

Doug,
Beltoise was a true great on motorcycles and I am convinced that he would have had been right up there with the Hailwoods and Agostinis if he did persevere. From 50cc drives on the semi-works Itom, then the works Kreidler 12-speed, to his rides on the 250 Morini Rebello, 250 Aermacchi, 125 and 250 TSS Bultacos and Matchless G50, he was simply unbeatable in national as well as international meets. His crash at Pau was due to an oily track from a blown 4-banger a lap before, as he very rarely "lost it".
The drives in the Matra MS11 with the big cumbersome V12 were also quite impressive as well as how close he was to win at Clermond with the V8, save for a flat in the last lap. He also had extraordinary control on the wet, and I remember a ride in his Elva from paris to Orly in the rain that was especially impressive, knowing that the SP Sport of the era were not the keenest on slick pavement...

Jean-Pierre is responsible in great part, along with Jose Rosinski, Gerard Crombac and Jean Lucas, for the late 1960's new rise in interest in motorsports in France, in a country which had been psychologically beaten under British domination in auto and bike racing for many years. Through his motivation and his various dynamic columns as a journalist for Moto-Revue, Sport Auto and Champion, and through his persuasion of Jean-Luc Lagardere and the advent of MATRA, he allowed the progression of others by the names of Cevert, Weber, Jaussaud and the "first wave" of French GP drivers.
Unfortunately, the "politically korrekt" era also began in the early 1970's, and some did not take kindly that he expressed himself very frankly in certain situations, and he was later sidelined by the powerful hypocrite now in place.
I personally owe a lot to Jean-Pierre, not the least for some driving lessons that made me progress a lot more rapidly by his keen understanding of what it takes to go fast safely, something that was quite new then, when most believed that speed was only related to the size of one's cojones. Jean-Piere was also very kind to all, and took the telephone to obtain for me the oil and tire contracts I needed to persevere.
A true great he is for me.
Regards,

T54

T54

Always very nice to read about your past connections with all these drivers! (Very curious about your identity).

I am still trying to find accurate details and race results of the motorcycle races in which Beltoise and Depailler competed. You once mentioned, in another thread, that the one will find these information in the journals "Moto-Revue" and "Scooter & Cyclomoteur". Do you perhaps know of any other sources/contacts that may be able to help one? National motorcycle racing federation, motorcycle racing clubs, etc??

Sorry, that I am so persistent on this issue, but it would be of real interest and value to me to find more exact details on these two racers. The chances that I'll find any of the above mentioned magazines here in Africa is very, very remote.



33 route d'orleans

Excellent photos!!

I am trying to figure out where his accident took place. "33 route d'orléans" mentions the "Courbe Annie Bousquet", but I cannot find any records mentioning this corner. The crash clearly happened somewhere between the Gueux corner and Muizon. But where? I have found a circuit map mentioning "Courbe de la Houvette", which is around the same place. Is that the same spot?

Who was Annie Bousquet anyway?

I have always had a very soft spot for JPB, despite the dreadful events in Buenos Aires. My abiding memories of him are, obviously, the 1972 Monaco GP, but also the 1973 RoC, the 1973 Victory Race (that he won!) and the 1974 South African GP where, unless I'm mistaken, he dragged that hopeless P201 up into second place.

He currently runs an advanced driving school and 4x4 race track in Trappes, not far from Paris.

Edward.

Originally posted by SEdward :

I am trying to figure out where his accident took place. "33 route d'orléans" mentions the "Courbe Annie Bousquet", but I cannot find any records mentioning this corner.


Check it out here and go to Reims.
On the map you can see where the Annie Bousquet curve is situated. Point on the name and you'll get an explication why..

Take my photo tour (Luc Ghys) and you'll find some pictures I took some 10 years ago. The picture "Bretelle sud" where the Village of Gueux can be seen in the background is in fact the Annie Bousquet curve.

Luc,

Perfect. Many thanks.

Edward.

Do you perhaps know of any other sources/contacts that may be able to help one? National motorcycle racing federation, motorcycle racing clubs, etc??

Route d'Orleans is actually the N20 south of Paris, where JPB had his original store called "Stand 14". There one could purchase used sporty automobiles and racing wear in the early days. Later, JPB sold this store to car dealer Pierre Landereau, himself an avid bike racer. Landereau participated to several Paris-Dakar rallies in the early 1980's on Yamahas as a private entry.

"Stand" means "pit garage" in Frog, and "14" was simply the postal code for the location. When Yves Morizot founded "Stand 21" in Dijon, he was following the same line of thinking (21000 is now the postal code for Dijon).

Annie Bousquet was really a famous lady driver in the early 1950's, mostly in rallies. She was sometimes partnered to Gilberte Thirion, another talented and better-known lady driver. Together, they won the King's Cup at the 24 Hours of Francorchamps, their n° 54 Fiat 1100 finishing 16th overall.

As far as documentation about Beltoise and Depailler's motorcycle career, I do have some documentation from old mags but hace had no time to consult them yet. I remember that by 1962 and as I was myself beginning my racing days, JPB was a star while Patrick was basically beginning in the same events I was competing in. JPB was already the # 1 driver in France.
The current FFM and the old clubs apparently have completely cleaned their shelves from vintage documents in the many moves they had to go through during the past 40 years. When Serge Pozzoli's "Moto-Revue" moved from the Rue de Clery offices, much of the old pictures and records were simply dumped. Reconstruction of such documents can only be done through private collections of magazines and photos, and now long research on the net.
Or, memories of old coots like me who have been extremely privileged to see a lot of it live.
Regards,

T54

Two further Depailler motocycle pics




and

Annie Bousquet (born Annie Schaffer, in Austria) lost her life in 1956 during the Reims 12 Heures race. She was driving a Porsche 550. Her car left the road in the bend before Muizon. About her Paul Frère wrote: "That one day Annie would be victim of her enthusiasm was alas an evidence for everybody, except for her." During her short apparition in the racing cars world, from 1952 to 1956, she had several accidents: in 1953 at Agen with a DB, in 1955 at Agadir (Maroc) with the 1500 Porsche, always in 1955 at Montlhéry during an attempt to broke the hour record (with the Porsche). At the begining of 1956 her husband was killed in a road accident but nothing could stop her racing. She was 34 when she died.


From La Vie de l'Auto

Originally posted by GIGLEUX
Annie Bousquet (born Annie Schaffer, in Austria)

In the 1964 Reims 12 hours.. my friends Andrea Vianini and Nasif Stefano WON..!!

..On board a Porsche customer, despite the cheat signals maked by "herr" Huschke Von Hastein.. ..the purpose of Von Hastein was the Official car Porsche catch and overpassing to my friends car!!

BUT he didn't make., Vianini-Stefano sayd "ha-ha-ha bye Herr Von Hastein" and won..

On Annie Bousquet, Paul Frère's comments that her driving was "an accident waiting to happen" was seconded by several other insiders. She was liked by her peers, and known as a "fair racer, but a little crazy".

Her fatal accident happened on the 17th lap, when her Porsche - that qualified full eleven seconds slower than its closest sister car - left the road before the Virage de Muizon at some 170 km/h, its left wheels running off the race track. The car fishtailed and barrel-rolled, ending in one of the wheat fields that surrounded the track. Bousquet was ejected during the rolls, and laid some fifteen meters or so from the car, bleeding profusely from skull fractures. She was taken to Centre Hospitalier Universitaire in Reims, where nothing could be done but asserting her death.

Significantly, the Porsche had just undergone a complete revision at the factory facilities in Zuffenhausen, and Bousquet drove it all the way from Stuttgart to Reims, in through the night. She arrived at the track just a few hours before the qualifying sessions...

A big thank you to all of you

Route d'Orleans is actually the N20 south of Paris, where JPB had his original store called "Stand 14". There one could purchase used sporty automobiles and racing wear in the early days. Later, JPB sold this store to car dealer Pierre Landereau, himself an avid bike racer. Landereau participated to several Paris-Dakar rallies in the early 1980's on Yamahas as a private entry.

"Stand" means "pit garage" in Frog, and "14" was simply the postal code for the location. When Yves Morizot founded "Stand 21" in Dijon, he was following the same line of thinking (21000 is now the postal code for Dijon).

Annie Bousquet was really a famous lady driver in the early 1950's, mostly in rallies. She was sometimes partnered to Gilberte Thirion, another talented and better-known lady driver. Together, they won the King's Cup at the 24 Hours of Francorchamps, their n° 54 Fiat 1100 finishing 16th overall.

As far as documentation about Beltoise and Depailler's motorcycle career, I do have some documentation from old mags but hace had no time to consult them yet. I remember that by 1962 and as I was myself beginning my racing days, JPB was a star while Patrick was basically beginning in the same events I was competing in. JPB was already the # 1 driver in France.
The current FFM and the old clubs apparently have completely cleaned their shelves from vintage documents in the many moves they had to go through during the past 40 years. When Serge Pozzoli's "Moto-Revue" moved from the Rue de Clery offices, much of the old pictures and records were simply dumped. Reconstruction of such documents can only be done through private collections of magazines and photos, and now long research on the net.
Or, memories of old coots like me who have been extremely privileged to see a lot of it live.
Regards,

T54

Slight error spotted here. 14 is a postcode for a "Departement" (equates to a UK county) in Normandy. Not being sure quite where the shop was I can only suggest that the correct post code for shop`s "Departement" would be 91.

Maybe it was mentioned before:

 

http://www.amis-du-c...cident-a-sur-le

 

http://yannick-v.blo...ms-gueux-4.html

 

Last link shows a photo of  'Courbe Annie Bousquet'

 

Question: was '33 route d'Orleans' a website (now defunct??)

 

Michael

Annie Bousquet was better known as Annie Soisbault. She was a regular member of the works Triumph rally team.

 

Fred

 

RUBBISH! - See below

Edited by Fred Gallagher, 06 January 2015 - 17:06.

Fred, I'm afraid you mix up two different women:

Annie Bousquet (1923? - 1956) and Annie Soisbault (1934 - 2012).

Ooops! Sorry.

 

I just got to my laptop after a stressful day (hole in the block of my 1939 Lancia Aprilia....) and posted without engaging my brain.

 

Embarassed of Farnham