Maybe this is something for Marcor to give some information on?
Ecurie Belge and Equipe National Belge were great racing teams of a few years back.
People often confuse one with the other.
Jaccques Swaters, a very good driver in his own right, seems to have been involved with both from time to time as owner? or patron? and the great Paul Frere seems to have driven for both teams.
What was the difference, or did one supercede the other?
The story behind Equipe Nationale Belge
Started by
ry6
, May 21 2001 18:49
29 replies to this topic
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#2
Marcor
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Posted 21 May 2001 - 23:54
Écurie Belge, Écurie Belgique, Écurie Francorchamps, Équipe Nationale Belge, ENB : the saga!
The story of the Ecurie Belge began at Lyon in September 1947. Johnny Claes, a businessman and trumpet player, son of a British mother and a Belgian father, met two British automobile racers, Leslie Brooke and George Abecassis, then in Lyon for the Coupe de Lyon. Fluent both in English and French, equally at ease with London and Brussels slang, he acted as casual interpreter. Johnny Claes tugged along, in the paddocks and by the racing track, in constant company of the two aces. He fell head over heels for the fascinating atmosphere of the Grand Prix Race and decided on the spot to become himself a racer. He bough a brand new Talbot-Lago T26C, chassis n° 110011, secured the expertise of the Bianchi (father and sons, yes ... Luciano and Mauro) mechanics and so... the Ecurie Belge is born.
In April 1949, his yellow-painted car (the Belgian colour) took part in the Paris Grand Prix and finished third, at four laps from the winner Etancelin, He would be seen at several European races, always coming back to Belgium for the Grand Prix. John Claes was last on the grid of the fist ever GP world championship - 13 May 1950, Silverstone. He was not really a winner but a runner.
On the same time, Jacques Swaters founded a little private garage in Brussels and began tuning Fiat 1100s. He started Ecurie Belgique, preparing such cars as BMW 328s, a Veritas and the MG for his friends Charles de Tornaco, André Pilette and Roger Laurent. In 1951, they bough a GP Lago Talbot, T26C 110006, from the Frenchman Georges Grignard. Amongst the entry forms received by the R.A.C.B. (Royal Automobile Club de Belgique) for the 1951 Belgian GP, a second yellow Talbot was present, running under the colours of the Ecurie Belgique.
Product of the pooled savings of four would-be champions, the Talbot would be driven in turn by each one of the four young ambitious men, Jacques Swaters, Charles de Tornaco, André Pilette and the motorcycle racer Roger Laurent.
Later on (in 1952), the Ecurie Belge would be renamed as Ecurie Francorchamps. The name had incurred the wrath of the RACB, which pompously announced that they couldn’t call themselves Ecurie Belge. The Swaters’s garage became Garage Francorchamps.
The Ecurie Francorchamps bought a Ferrari 500 F2 (chassis n°0208 F) and the first race hold at Chimay when the car went by the road from Modena to Belgium.
The 21 May 1952, the journalist Jacques Ickx (father of Jacky) announced that André Pilette would rejoin John Claes and Paul Frère in the Ecurie Belge. André Pilette took part in the 1952 GP d’Albi, still running on F1 regulations. His car was the Talbot-Lago DA T26C 110052 bought by John Claes in 1951. Pilette came off the road and destroyed the car.
Ecurie Francorchamps, with the commercial contact of Swaters, bough a Jaguar C type and the pair Swaters / Laurent finished 9th overall in The 1953 24H du Mans.
While driven by Laurent and de Tornaco, the Ferrari F2 had no real success. In June 1953 however Swaters scored the team’s one and only victory with the car, in the Berlin GP at AVUS. Sadly, in September 1953, de Tornaco was killed when he overturned the F2 Ferrari in practice for the Modena GP. There was no doctor present, let alone an ambulance, and de Tornaco went by car to the hospital, when he died of a fractured skull.
F1 returned for 1954 and the Ferrari 0208F gained a 2.5-litre engine and was campaigned by Swaters and Laurent. They had no real success, their best result being third in the Elaintarha Ajot and two more significant 5th in Syracuse (Laurent) and Berlin GP (Swaters). They fared better with Jaguar in sportscars race. At Reims in July, they finished 3rd behind 2 works D-types in the 12-hour race.
In January 1955, the dispersed elements of the Belgian Auto Sport namely Paul Frère, Jacques Swaters, Roger Laurent, André Pilette and Johnny Claes would finally converge and formed the Belgian National Team (Equipe Nationale Belge or E.N.B.). The projects met with a large scale support : the Press, Frenchspeaking and Dutchspeaking alike ; the R.A.C.B., about to take the new Ecurie under its wing ; many firms connected with the Motor Industry, petrol brands (Belgian Shell) and tyre manufacturers, to name but a few.
Its dual-purpose aimed at defending the Belgian colours in International events and launching young talents for the benefit of the constructors. Under the firm handling of newspaper « Les Sports » boss, Pierre Stasse, the Belgian National Team would be true to its word and became a champs nursery. But it was not forbidden that the members drove in official works cars and competed with the own National team. In 1955, John Claes, Roger Laurent and Jacques Swaters were entered by ENB and drove the cars of the team exclusively : a Jaguar C-type, two Ferrari 750 Monza and the old F1 Ferrari of Ecurie Francorchamps. Frère drove officials Ferrari F1 and sports cars Aston Martin. In the middle of the year Olivier Gendebien was also appointed in the team. André Pilette drove for the Team Gordini. John Claes was ill and took part with his co-driver, Lucien Bianchi - his own mechanic - in the rally Liège-Sofia-Liège on a Works Lancia. Consumed by his illness, he left the wheel with Bianchi, who made his first step as driver.
On 3 February 1956 John Claes the forerunner died. André Milhoux replaced him in the ENB. In March the ENB tested 14 drivers at Zandvoort. Amongst others Freddy Rousselle, Georges Harris, Léon Dernier (known as Eldé), Alain de Changy, Lucien Bianchi and Georges Hacquin would drive occasionally for the team. In the Belgian GP, André Pilette drove a Lancia-Ferrari D50 loaned to ENB and finished sixth and last. Paul Frère, retired from F1 racing, was at Francorchamps as a spectator (and journalist). Not for long... unable to resist the urge, he would first tentatively test the Lancia-Ferrari D50 but was an incredible runner up behind his occasional team mate Peter Collins.
In 1957, Willy Mairesse, after his excellent results with his own Mercedes 300SL, was incorporated in ENB. The team entered sometimes five cars in sports cars races. Swaters left the ENB because of internal and political problems and recreated Ecurie Francorchamps. In 1958 the Belgian drivers were outstandingly talented in Rally, Sports Car and sometimes single-seater.
The aim of the ENB was now the Grand Prix. In 1959 the team purchased two F2 Cooper (T51 F2-9-59 Climax FPF and F2-10-59 Climax FPF) and entered the cars in the F1 GP de Monaco where Lucien Bianchi and Alain de Chancy failed to qualify. At Pau Lucien scored a podium behind Maurice Trintignant and Bruce Mc Laren. Olivier Gendebien was recruited by Scuderia Ferrari and was entered in some GP as in 1956, 1957 and 1958. He now dreamed to a complete F1 season.
1960 began very well for the ENB. Paul Frère won the South African GP in the ENB Cooper T51 and Bianchi was fourth. The ENB bought an other Cooper (T53 F2-3-60). Back in Europe, the stable entered his three drivers Gendebien, Frère and Bianchi in the F2 Brussels GP on the new Heysel Circuit. F2 regulations foreshadowed the new F1 regulation of 1961. The ENB cars were good outsiders but not really winners. In the GP des Frontières, Lucien Bianchi scored a third place and his brother Mauro, also a very skilled mechanic, started in single-seater competition. Olivier Gendebien slammed the door on the Scuderia Ferrari and drove a Yeaman Credit Ltd Cooper F1 with good results : a second place in the ACF GP and a third place in Belgium. He also shared a Works-Ferrari entered by ENB with Paul Frère and won the 24-H of Le Mans. Frère stopped the competition after this triumph. In his National GP, Lucien Bianchi drove the Fred Tuck entered Cooper T51 F2-263-59. A first class mechanic, the Belgian intended with all his might to replace a broken joint keeping his Cooper grounded. The race was almost over when Bianchi got back on track. He finally classified sixth, 8 laps ahead but scored his first point in the World Championship. Equally new in F1, Willy (« Wild ») Mairesse has been trusted with a 280 HP Ferrari 256. Alas the day was to be forgotten : two young and promising drivers, Alan Stacey and Chris Bristow died after two bad crash.
In the end of 1960, ENB estimated that the Belgian aces had wait fruitlessly for a real F1 opportunity and that they deserved more than occasional appearances in GP. So The ENB purchased three Maserati-engined Emeryson for 1961. Built by Paul Emery, those cars were ordered essentially as the result of the performance of John Turner at the F2 event at Monthléry the previous October. Turner was running with the leaders when he spun off. He got back on the track and managed to make a rousing comeback drive to catch the leaders. This duly impressed one and all, especially with the car starting on the front row. Unfortunately, the comeback effort was greatly expedited by Turner not using the chicane… The performance impressed a responsible of the Equipe and it was the reason why ENB ordered three chassis for the new formula. Their aim was to enable Gendebien, Bianchi or Mairesse to win the F1 Championship. Nothing less ! ! !
Of course, they were totally wrong. The GP de Pau, on 3 April, saw the debut of the Maserati-engined Emerysons. At Pau - and subsequent events - they were bog slow, even in the hands of a driver as talented and skilled as Olivier Gendebien. Later use of the Climax FPF did little to improve things.
The Grand Prix de Bruxelles was run on the Heysel circuit, which ran through the site of the 1958 World's Fair. The event was arranged to be run in three heats, each heat being 22 laps. While the Porsche and Cooper outclassed the practice, the three ENB Emeryson-Maserati filled out the back of the grid. Overall, it was Brabham and McLaren first and second. In third was the fine effort of Tony Marsh, with the Emeryson of Lucien Bianchi a surprising fourth. The two other ENB drivers failed to finish. The results of the following races were not glorious. André Pilette with a Climax FPF-engines Emeryson was a far sixteen. ENB entered two cars for the Monaco GP. Lucien Bianchi and Olivier Gendebien were going to have to qualify to make the grid and of course they didn’t. The Emeryson cars were just slow. For the Belgian GP ENB entered a yellow-painted loan-Works Ferrari 156 (Gendebien) and still two Emeryson for the poor Bianchi and Mairesse. After the first practice ENB did a side deal which saw the Lotus 18's of Marsh and Seidel given a coat of yellow distemper and re-numbered for Mairesse and Bianchi respectively. Gendebien was on the top row but the two other in their usually places. Gendebien classified fourth behind the three official Ferrari’s drivers. The Emeryson was parked in a garage and the ENB repeated his politics of occasional investment. Mairesse drove a good Ferrari 156 in the German GP but retired in the end of the race.
The E.N.B. - Maserati
In 1962, the Ecurie Nationale Belge gathered the useable parts of the Emeryson which it had abused in 1961 and created the ENB-Maserati, comprising the Emeryson chassis n°1001, a Maserati 150S engine and a new body shell with a twin nostril air intake, in the sharknose Ferrari’s style. The bodywork was redesigned by Jacques Counes. The car was not enough powerful.
Lucien Bianchi drove the « new » car in the 1962 Grand Prix de Bruxelles, his home race, where he qualified nearly half-minute off the pace, and retired in the first heath with engine trouble. It then appeared at Pau, where Bianchi crashed, and in the German GP where he qualified it last, nearly 2 minutes off the pace, and finished 16th and last, two laps ahead the winner Graham Hill.
That was, unlucky, the end of the ENB-Maserati’s circuit career, not really the most glorious part of the ENB story !
The car later had some minor success in hill climbs. (30 May 1964 : 1st hill climb of Herbeumont (Belgium)- the winner was Nicolas Koob with the ex ENB-Maserati F1).
The story of the Ecurie Belge began at Lyon in September 1947. Johnny Claes, a businessman and trumpet player, son of a British mother and a Belgian father, met two British automobile racers, Leslie Brooke and George Abecassis, then in Lyon for the Coupe de Lyon. Fluent both in English and French, equally at ease with London and Brussels slang, he acted as casual interpreter. Johnny Claes tugged along, in the paddocks and by the racing track, in constant company of the two aces. He fell head over heels for the fascinating atmosphere of the Grand Prix Race and decided on the spot to become himself a racer. He bough a brand new Talbot-Lago T26C, chassis n° 110011, secured the expertise of the Bianchi (father and sons, yes ... Luciano and Mauro) mechanics and so... the Ecurie Belge is born.
In April 1949, his yellow-painted car (the Belgian colour) took part in the Paris Grand Prix and finished third, at four laps from the winner Etancelin, He would be seen at several European races, always coming back to Belgium for the Grand Prix. John Claes was last on the grid of the fist ever GP world championship - 13 May 1950, Silverstone. He was not really a winner but a runner.
On the same time, Jacques Swaters founded a little private garage in Brussels and began tuning Fiat 1100s. He started Ecurie Belgique, preparing such cars as BMW 328s, a Veritas and the MG for his friends Charles de Tornaco, André Pilette and Roger Laurent. In 1951, they bough a GP Lago Talbot, T26C 110006, from the Frenchman Georges Grignard. Amongst the entry forms received by the R.A.C.B. (Royal Automobile Club de Belgique) for the 1951 Belgian GP, a second yellow Talbot was present, running under the colours of the Ecurie Belgique.
Product of the pooled savings of four would-be champions, the Talbot would be driven in turn by each one of the four young ambitious men, Jacques Swaters, Charles de Tornaco, André Pilette and the motorcycle racer Roger Laurent.
Later on (in 1952), the Ecurie Belge would be renamed as Ecurie Francorchamps. The name had incurred the wrath of the RACB, which pompously announced that they couldn’t call themselves Ecurie Belge. The Swaters’s garage became Garage Francorchamps.
The Ecurie Francorchamps bought a Ferrari 500 F2 (chassis n°0208 F) and the first race hold at Chimay when the car went by the road from Modena to Belgium.
The 21 May 1952, the journalist Jacques Ickx (father of Jacky) announced that André Pilette would rejoin John Claes and Paul Frère in the Ecurie Belge. André Pilette took part in the 1952 GP d’Albi, still running on F1 regulations. His car was the Talbot-Lago DA T26C 110052 bought by John Claes in 1951. Pilette came off the road and destroyed the car.
Ecurie Francorchamps, with the commercial contact of Swaters, bough a Jaguar C type and the pair Swaters / Laurent finished 9th overall in The 1953 24H du Mans.
While driven by Laurent and de Tornaco, the Ferrari F2 had no real success. In June 1953 however Swaters scored the team’s one and only victory with the car, in the Berlin GP at AVUS. Sadly, in September 1953, de Tornaco was killed when he overturned the F2 Ferrari in practice for the Modena GP. There was no doctor present, let alone an ambulance, and de Tornaco went by car to the hospital, when he died of a fractured skull.
F1 returned for 1954 and the Ferrari 0208F gained a 2.5-litre engine and was campaigned by Swaters and Laurent. They had no real success, their best result being third in the Elaintarha Ajot and two more significant 5th in Syracuse (Laurent) and Berlin GP (Swaters). They fared better with Jaguar in sportscars race. At Reims in July, they finished 3rd behind 2 works D-types in the 12-hour race.
In January 1955, the dispersed elements of the Belgian Auto Sport namely Paul Frère, Jacques Swaters, Roger Laurent, André Pilette and Johnny Claes would finally converge and formed the Belgian National Team (Equipe Nationale Belge or E.N.B.). The projects met with a large scale support : the Press, Frenchspeaking and Dutchspeaking alike ; the R.A.C.B., about to take the new Ecurie under its wing ; many firms connected with the Motor Industry, petrol brands (Belgian Shell) and tyre manufacturers, to name but a few.
Its dual-purpose aimed at defending the Belgian colours in International events and launching young talents for the benefit of the constructors. Under the firm handling of newspaper « Les Sports » boss, Pierre Stasse, the Belgian National Team would be true to its word and became a champs nursery. But it was not forbidden that the members drove in official works cars and competed with the own National team. In 1955, John Claes, Roger Laurent and Jacques Swaters were entered by ENB and drove the cars of the team exclusively : a Jaguar C-type, two Ferrari 750 Monza and the old F1 Ferrari of Ecurie Francorchamps. Frère drove officials Ferrari F1 and sports cars Aston Martin. In the middle of the year Olivier Gendebien was also appointed in the team. André Pilette drove for the Team Gordini. John Claes was ill and took part with his co-driver, Lucien Bianchi - his own mechanic - in the rally Liège-Sofia-Liège on a Works Lancia. Consumed by his illness, he left the wheel with Bianchi, who made his first step as driver.
On 3 February 1956 John Claes the forerunner died. André Milhoux replaced him in the ENB. In March the ENB tested 14 drivers at Zandvoort. Amongst others Freddy Rousselle, Georges Harris, Léon Dernier (known as Eldé), Alain de Changy, Lucien Bianchi and Georges Hacquin would drive occasionally for the team. In the Belgian GP, André Pilette drove a Lancia-Ferrari D50 loaned to ENB and finished sixth and last. Paul Frère, retired from F1 racing, was at Francorchamps as a spectator (and journalist). Not for long... unable to resist the urge, he would first tentatively test the Lancia-Ferrari D50 but was an incredible runner up behind his occasional team mate Peter Collins.
In 1957, Willy Mairesse, after his excellent results with his own Mercedes 300SL, was incorporated in ENB. The team entered sometimes five cars in sports cars races. Swaters left the ENB because of internal and political problems and recreated Ecurie Francorchamps. In 1958 the Belgian drivers were outstandingly talented in Rally, Sports Car and sometimes single-seater.
The aim of the ENB was now the Grand Prix. In 1959 the team purchased two F2 Cooper (T51 F2-9-59 Climax FPF and F2-10-59 Climax FPF) and entered the cars in the F1 GP de Monaco where Lucien Bianchi and Alain de Chancy failed to qualify. At Pau Lucien scored a podium behind Maurice Trintignant and Bruce Mc Laren. Olivier Gendebien was recruited by Scuderia Ferrari and was entered in some GP as in 1956, 1957 and 1958. He now dreamed to a complete F1 season.
1960 began very well for the ENB. Paul Frère won the South African GP in the ENB Cooper T51 and Bianchi was fourth. The ENB bought an other Cooper (T53 F2-3-60). Back in Europe, the stable entered his three drivers Gendebien, Frère and Bianchi in the F2 Brussels GP on the new Heysel Circuit. F2 regulations foreshadowed the new F1 regulation of 1961. The ENB cars were good outsiders but not really winners. In the GP des Frontières, Lucien Bianchi scored a third place and his brother Mauro, also a very skilled mechanic, started in single-seater competition. Olivier Gendebien slammed the door on the Scuderia Ferrari and drove a Yeaman Credit Ltd Cooper F1 with good results : a second place in the ACF GP and a third place in Belgium. He also shared a Works-Ferrari entered by ENB with Paul Frère and won the 24-H of Le Mans. Frère stopped the competition after this triumph. In his National GP, Lucien Bianchi drove the Fred Tuck entered Cooper T51 F2-263-59. A first class mechanic, the Belgian intended with all his might to replace a broken joint keeping his Cooper grounded. The race was almost over when Bianchi got back on track. He finally classified sixth, 8 laps ahead but scored his first point in the World Championship. Equally new in F1, Willy (« Wild ») Mairesse has been trusted with a 280 HP Ferrari 256. Alas the day was to be forgotten : two young and promising drivers, Alan Stacey and Chris Bristow died after two bad crash.
In the end of 1960, ENB estimated that the Belgian aces had wait fruitlessly for a real F1 opportunity and that they deserved more than occasional appearances in GP. So The ENB purchased three Maserati-engined Emeryson for 1961. Built by Paul Emery, those cars were ordered essentially as the result of the performance of John Turner at the F2 event at Monthléry the previous October. Turner was running with the leaders when he spun off. He got back on the track and managed to make a rousing comeback drive to catch the leaders. This duly impressed one and all, especially with the car starting on the front row. Unfortunately, the comeback effort was greatly expedited by Turner not using the chicane… The performance impressed a responsible of the Equipe and it was the reason why ENB ordered three chassis for the new formula. Their aim was to enable Gendebien, Bianchi or Mairesse to win the F1 Championship. Nothing less ! ! !
Of course, they were totally wrong. The GP de Pau, on 3 April, saw the debut of the Maserati-engined Emerysons. At Pau - and subsequent events - they were bog slow, even in the hands of a driver as talented and skilled as Olivier Gendebien. Later use of the Climax FPF did little to improve things.
The Grand Prix de Bruxelles was run on the Heysel circuit, which ran through the site of the 1958 World's Fair. The event was arranged to be run in three heats, each heat being 22 laps. While the Porsche and Cooper outclassed the practice, the three ENB Emeryson-Maserati filled out the back of the grid. Overall, it was Brabham and McLaren first and second. In third was the fine effort of Tony Marsh, with the Emeryson of Lucien Bianchi a surprising fourth. The two other ENB drivers failed to finish. The results of the following races were not glorious. André Pilette with a Climax FPF-engines Emeryson was a far sixteen. ENB entered two cars for the Monaco GP. Lucien Bianchi and Olivier Gendebien were going to have to qualify to make the grid and of course they didn’t. The Emeryson cars were just slow. For the Belgian GP ENB entered a yellow-painted loan-Works Ferrari 156 (Gendebien) and still two Emeryson for the poor Bianchi and Mairesse. After the first practice ENB did a side deal which saw the Lotus 18's of Marsh and Seidel given a coat of yellow distemper and re-numbered for Mairesse and Bianchi respectively. Gendebien was on the top row but the two other in their usually places. Gendebien classified fourth behind the three official Ferrari’s drivers. The Emeryson was parked in a garage and the ENB repeated his politics of occasional investment. Mairesse drove a good Ferrari 156 in the German GP but retired in the end of the race.
The E.N.B. - Maserati
In 1962, the Ecurie Nationale Belge gathered the useable parts of the Emeryson which it had abused in 1961 and created the ENB-Maserati, comprising the Emeryson chassis n°1001, a Maserati 150S engine and a new body shell with a twin nostril air intake, in the sharknose Ferrari’s style. The bodywork was redesigned by Jacques Counes. The car was not enough powerful.
Lucien Bianchi drove the « new » car in the 1962 Grand Prix de Bruxelles, his home race, where he qualified nearly half-minute off the pace, and retired in the first heath with engine trouble. It then appeared at Pau, where Bianchi crashed, and in the German GP where he qualified it last, nearly 2 minutes off the pace, and finished 16th and last, two laps ahead the winner Graham Hill.
That was, unlucky, the end of the ENB-Maserati’s circuit career, not really the most glorious part of the ENB story !
The car later had some minor success in hill climbs. (30 May 1964 : 1st hill climb of Herbeumont (Belgium)- the winner was Nicolas Koob with the ex ENB-Maserati F1).
#3
cjpani
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Posted 22 May 2001 - 00:01
Damn....
Impressive Marcor, thanx for the read...
Impressive Marcor, thanx for the read...
#5
Marcor
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Posted 22 May 2001 - 00:37
It was a part of my reply for a previous 8W game, when we had to recognize Lucien Bianchi and the ENB-Maserati at the Nurburgring in the 1962 German GP.
#6
Boniver
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Posted 23 May 2001 - 07:54
Was the ENB the only Belgium F1 car after WOII
#7
Felix Muelas
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Posted 23 May 2001 - 08:43
The edition of the 8W Game where Marcor submitted that answer was August 2000, and can be found here
Of course, Marc managed to get full points, and ended up the edition winning it, tied up with Don Capps...
Somehow we selected, as "Why of the Month" Don's answer, so it's perfectly convenient that Marc has posted his own
For those of you who are never tempted to follow links, this is what Don had to say about the question, followed by our own views (courtesy of Racer.Demon).
Don Capps :
Why did I wince when I saw this photo? Please pass me an airsick bag… That is one ugly racing car. And an even uglier story.
This is not an ENB! It is an Emeryson (Mark 2) from the previous season that the Equipe Nationale Belge - ENB - had procured from Paul Emeryson.
The reason that Jacques Swaters - an otherwise reasonable person - ended up squandering the resources on such a dud came about as the result of an F2 driver - a certain John Turner - carving up the field in the prototype Emeryson F2 car at Montlhery. Swaters was hugely impressed and recommended that rather than buy customer cars from Lotus or Cooper, ENB purchase some of the fabulous Emeryson cars for their team.
What Swaters and team did not know at the time was the reason Turner was storming up through the grid in such a ferocious manner was that he was skipping the chicane every lap! Little wonder then that he was making such a dramatic run through the field. Naturally, Paul Emery did not refuse the check nor did he explain the real reason Turner was so quick.
When the cars arrived, it was soon apparent that they were not quite as rapid as the Turner car had been. After struggling at Pau, Brussels, and Siracusa then not qualifying at Monte Carlo the team finally realized that they had been had and secured several Lotus 18's for their drivers.
Rather than being used as landfill or some other appropriate use, the cars were generally handed about and used from time to time. In 1962, from the bits and pieces and the original cars, the folks at ENB used chassis '1001' as the basis of what was to be called the "ENB." They put that horrid bodywork on '1001' with the frightening nose further proving they had taken complete leave of their senses. Powered by the Maserati 150S engine, the car was a doomed puppy. The 150S engine worked well enough, but not very well when jammed in an Emeryson.
The ENB had three of the Emeryson cars inflicted upon it: '1001,' '1002,' and '1003.' The '1001' chassis was the beast upon which the team placed new bodywork and that wretched nose: the addition of the twin nostril nose cone only made a lousy car into a lousy, ugly car. Indeed, about the entire extent of turning the Emeryson into the 'ENB' was the bodywork. The mechanical bits were largely untouched and therefore it ran just as poorly as before.
At its only Championship appearance, it actually managed to finish the race. However, it record was otherwise abysmal at best. Lucien Bianchi received a measure of respect for manfully keeping a straight face while driving the dud and not doing anyone much harm as it wandered about the circuits it did serve upon.
While ENB was suffering through the Mark 2, Paul Emery was still on the hustle and find another 'patron' for his work, American Hugh Powell. The Mark 3 was intended to be a monocoque like the Lotus 25 (out of fiberglass no less), but Emery stayed with a spaceframe design which was (very) little more than a tarted up Mark 2 fixed to take a vee-eight. The cars were run during 1962 as Emeryson cars, but when Powell plunked down some serious dinero they became known as Scirocco cars. And performed just as poorly as ever.
Italo-Belgian Lucien Bianchi was a talented driver with whatever that special ability is that makes some drivers excellent endurance racers. He was successful in the Tour de France during the 1950's with several good performances and a GT class win, and won a number of endurance races: 1000km of Paris in 1960; Sebring in 1962 with Joakim Bonnier; 1968 Watkins Glen Six Hours with Jacky Ickx; and the 1968 Le Mans with Pedro Rodriguez. He also managed to get back into GP racing in 1968 with Cooper, but after an impressive initial few races, not even talent could turn back the lack of resources as the season started to go downhill for the team.
In 1969, Bianchi moved to Alfa Romeo and was killed when his car crashed during the test weekend. It was just as he was being realized as a talent and getting the opportunities he deserved.
Racer.Demon :
Who?
Lucien Bianchi
What?
ENB-Maserati 1962
Where?
Nürburgring
When?
1962 German GP (5 August 1962)
Why?
While in those glorious sportscar days of the fifties the bright yellow hue of the Belgian national team was often seen in front, the Grand Prix history of the Equipe Nationale Belge wasn't what you might call a bed of roses. A bed of nails would be closer to the truth, looking at the sort of machinery the ENB squad had at their disposal. Or to put it bluntly, put at their disposal themselves… For the single car that the team ever fielded under their own name had a poor service record to go with, the dismal Emeryson-Maserati 1000 series an embarrassment to no end.
To be fair, they were tricked into it. Having seen a creditable performance from the car at the end of 1960, in the Coupe du Salon F2 event at Montlhéry, ENB were encouraged to buy two of them. What they didn't know was that the driver, little known John Turner, had been cutting off a chicane at the back of the circuit to claw back his disadvantage to the leaders after an early spin. As soon as the cars were entered in serious events it became clear to the ENB that they'd been had. At Monaco, entered as wildcards for their first World Championship appearance, the cars were miles off the pace and had no chance in qualifying for the four remaining non-guaranteed grid spots (see July 2000 issue).
With the 1962 ENB-Maserati it was a different story. That particular disaster they could have seen coming from miles away - since the car was generally based on the 1961 Emeryson!
Founded in the disastrous 1955 season by Ecurie Francorchamps boss Jacques Swaters (the Belgian Ferrari importer until this very day) and Ecurie Belge patron Johnny Claes, the two teaming up on the instigation of Shell Belgium, the ENB ran an ancient ex-Swaters Ferrari 500 upgraded to F1 spec for Claes in the 1955 Dutch Grand Prix and several minor events as a side activity to running sportscars, its yellow Jaguar D-types and Ferrari 250GT cars becoming a familiar sight at Le Mans and other classic sportscar races. It was Belgium's finest crop that was employed by their national squad: Olivier Gendebien, Paul Frère (see February 2000 issue), Willy Mairesse, Lucien Bianchi, Alain de Changy and of course Claes and Swaters, respectable pilots themselves.
Swaters' Ecurie Francorchamps - the main force behind the ENB - goes back to 1948 when he and his best friend Charles de Tornaco bought a pre-war MG PB to compete in the Spa 24 hours. A law student held from a career at the bar through his interest in racing cars, Swaters finished fourth in class, sharing with Frère, but during those 24 hours had seen the sight of Luigi Chinetti's NART Ferrari 166 Barchetta quite a lot! It spurred his ambition to drive a Ferrari one day. What was he to know that he would also be selling them by the dozens…
After the Spa race, Jacques set up Ecurie Belgique, which ran assorted pre-war German cars such a Veritas and a BMW 328s for de Tornaco and his other pals André Pilette and Roger Laurent, who would remain faithful to Swaters throughout their international careers. In 1950, the squad went as far as buying a Talbot-Lago Grand Prix machine but as they wanted to enter the car in international events the the Belgian Auto Club RACB went wild over their Ecurie Belgique name. With a starting licence not forthcoming in case Swaters and de Tornaco did not change the name, they decided to rename the team into Ecurie Francorchamps. At the same time, the Brussels garage of Swaters was redubbed Garage Francorchamps.
In 1951, Jacques' ambition of driving a Ferrari finally became reality as he bought an F2 Ferrari 166, its previous owner being none less than Gianni Agnelli. The car changed hands several times over the years before Swaters decided to keep it himself. It wasn't to be the main car of the Ecurie's Grand Prix challenge. That privilege was granted to a brand-new Ferrari 500 (chassis 0208), which was to be fielded in F2 events over the next few years. Then, with the World Championship suddenly overturned to be run to F2 regs, Swaters, Laurent and de Tornaco found their car eligible for Championship events.
Still, it was intended to take part in minor traditionals such as the Grand Prix de Frontières. In fact, the 500 was ordered so that it would be finished just days before that very race in June 1952. But then typical Italian planning got in the way. In Motor Sport magazine, Swaters vividly recalls how it all nearly went wrong. With the car not ready in time for Swaters to transport it back to Belgium on the trailer he brought with him to Modena, there was only one alternative: drive it home himself. "I had a girlfriend with me in a little Citroen and we set off in convoy. Then there was no autostrada and no ring road around Milan. I drove through the Piazza Duomo to the applause of pedestrians. Of course, the Ferrari had no lights so I had to follow my girlfriend pretty closely. And I had no mudguards, no licence plates, no insurance - nothing!" You could hardly overlook a yellow-painted F2 Ferrari, its open exhausts crying all the way to the border, but this is the kind of story of which you would say: "Imagine that happening today." Suffice it to say: it wouldn't. As it happened then, and not today, the Italian customs enthousiastically waved him through to Switzerland. Then to be sure, at the border with Belgium, he ducked down in the cockpit and plainly drove under the barrier. He was expecting to be hunted down by dozens of police vehicles but nothing happened. The adventure ended by arriving in time at Chimay, only for Roger Laurent to crash on the opening lap…
The car - campaigned by Swaters, de Tornaco and Laurent, and in 2.5-litre guise by Claes in 1955 - remained in service for four more years. Sadly, it took Charles de Tornaco's life when he rolled it in the 1954 Modena GP. Without a doctor present, Charles was driven to the local hospital where he died of a fractured skull. On the other hand, Swaters took the team's only single-seater win with it in the Berlin GP at Avus in July 1953. About that time Jacques' business association with Ferrari started off. And the way it came to be was just as remarkable as Swaters' long journey home with the 500 just one year earlier. It began with a phone call from Ferrari general manager Gerolamo Gardini. "He called one day to say, 'We have sent a car to the Brussels Show and it is on a train somewhere. I have no time to deal with it, can you?' I went to the station, found the car on a wagon, sorted out the import details and took it to the Show. Gardini called again to say he could not come to Brussels and would I look after the stand? I did, and sold my first Ferrari. As a result, I was asked to become the Ferrari importer for Belgium. For 30 years I had no contract with Maranello - everything was done on a handshake with Enzo Ferrari. To begin with I took three or four cars per year, but in 1957 I took 17."
Meanwhile, the Ecurie Francorchamps gained its biggest successes by branching off into sportscars. While their most famous results were scored in Ferraris, it all started off with Jaguars, also in 1953. "Joska Bourgeois, the Belgian importer for Jaguar, was a good friend of ours. She was very close to the factory and introduced me to Lofty England. I ordered a C-type for Ecurie Francorchamps." They entered it for Le Mans, where the car (XKC 047) was serviced by two Jaguar mechanics on loan to the team. The duo of Laurent and de Tornaco weren't on the pace but did well to finish 9th, miles adrift of the winning works C-type combo of Tony Rolt and Duncan Hamilton. Three months later, de Tornaco was killed at Modena.
The following year, amidst general confusion concerning the admittance of their car crashed by a works mechanic on the way from Calais, Laurent and Swaters placed their brand-new car (flown in just in time from the Coventry factory) fourth overall. A wonderful result, since they were forced to start at the back, having been able to do just the two obligatory practice laps after a very late scrutineering. A couple of weeks later, they finished third in the Reims 12 hours, with only the works D-types ahead of them. In a fierce battle for the final podium spot Swaters beat Masten Gregory to the line in a C-type with a front wheel that hardly had any spokes intact…
Then in 1955 Swaters teamed up with Johnny Claes and André Pilette of the Ecurie Belge. As the team's supporter, Shell Belgium, wanted a more appropriate name to reflect the national pride that was behind the team, Swaters formed the Ecurie Nationale Belge. In their first year they finished second and third at Spa (Laurent trailing Swaters in a couple of newly-acquired Ferrari 750 Monzas) and did the same at the tragic Le Mans race, this time in a new Jaguar D-type (XKD 503). In 1956, another new D-type (XKB 573) brought Swaters and Freddy Rousselle fourth at Le Mans, while André Pilette placed second at Montlhéry. The same car then went on to finish fourth again at the 1957 Le Mans edition, Rousselle sharing with Frère. Swaters describes it as the best D-type he ever drove, although he himself drove a Ferrari 290MM with Alain de Changy that race, which turned out to be Swaters' last. He decided to concentrate on his booming garage business.
Fortunately, a young upstart named Olivier Gendebien had just joined the team and he had been doing miracles in the team's new Ferrari 250GT in both rally and sportscar events (see February 2000 issue). The squad interchanging between their 250GTs and a set of 500 Testa Rossa cars, their selection of fine Belgian drivers took impressive results during 1957 and 1958, by which times the ENB tag had been dropped again, cause of stir-up with Shell over a new general manager the oil company brought in. The Tour de France, the Tour of Sicily, the last Mille Miglia, Le Mans, the Reims 12 hours - completing the list of victories and top placings during those days would take up several pages. For instance, in 1959 Gendebien and Bianchi completed a Tour de France hat-trick, while in 1961 Willy Mairesse made it five in a row for the Ecurie Francorchamps. The team's sportscar fame continued well into the sixties, collecting Le Mans podium finishes on the trot until 1967, always in those bright yellow Ferraris. Famously, Swaters' repainted works 330P4 took on the mighty Fords in 1967, Mairesse and 'Beurlys' (Jean Blaton) finishing third, directly behind the works P4 of Parkes and Scarfiotti and the winning combination of Gurney and Foyt. The Ecurie's last Le Mans outing came in 1982 when Swaters entered a Ferrari 512BB-LM.
Back to the fifties, which in 1959 also saw a inconspicuous return to the Grand Prix scene (and of the ENB name), the team fielding two Cooper-Climax T51s for Bianchi and de Changy at the Monaco GP. They both failed to qualify. It was in stark contrast with team's sportscar form. The squad was back for 1960 for the Belgian GP, now with an elderly T45 for Bianchi to drive. The entry numbers being greatly reduced compared to 1959, Bianchi had no trouble in making the race, qualifying 14th out of 17 runners. Meanwhile, national hero Gendebien had been drafted in for the third BRP Cooper, alongside Brooks and the young Chris Bristow. While the race would end in drama, with both Bristow and Stacey getting killed (see October '99 game), Bianchi soldiered on to finish last. Only in this case last meant 6th and thus a point, ENB profiting from the new-for-1960 rule which replaced the fastest-lap point with a point for 6th place. It was the team's first and only World Championship point.
In France, Bianchi was back again but luckless as his transmission failed on lap 36, as Gendebien took a sensational second place for BRP with his new team-mate Henry Taylor (replacing Bristow) in an equally impressive fourth. Finishing off what had became some sort of a genuine GP season, the ENB continued in Britain, again failing to complete the race. After that, they were a no-show.
Then came 1961 and the new 1.5-litre rules, making the ENB Coopers obsolete on the spot, when suddenly the opportunity came up to acquire a set of slick Emeryson wheels. Oh, how misguided the decision was to go for the Maserati-engined Emerysons and not travel the safe route of becoming a Lotus customer, the Lotus 18 having become the trusted tool of many a privateer, including Rob Walker and the BRP.
At the hand-over the team and the people at the former Connaught factory - Paul Emery, Connaught director Dick Claydon, Connaught sponsor Alan Brown, driver Bianchi and ENB secretary-general Jo Liévin - were all laughs, but soon they found out the car's real character. After a few troubled but sometimes encouraging performances (mainly at their poorly-supported Brussels home event around the Heysel Expo complex), the team lined up the cars for their World Championship debut. It was a huge disaster. Gendebien, lured back to the old nest, and team regular Bianchi made fools of themselves at Monaco, not coming anywhere near meaningful times (see July 2000 issue). They wisely skipped Zandvoort (which - probably courtesy of ENB's absence! - still holds that strange record of each and every car finishing the race without a single pit stop) but were back at their home race at Spa. With Gendebien gladly taking the fourth Ferrari sharknose available (the prototype example with the 65-degree V6 unit Giancarlo Baghetti was later to star in, see August '99 issue), now on loan to ENB and thus painted in lively Belgian yellow, Willy Mairesse was taken on board for the second Emeryson. During practice, the Monaco trend continued unabatedly, the Emerysons being left for dead as the others pounded the track. Gendebien on the other hand was a serious pole contender and finally ended up third, pipped by von Trips on the final lap of Friday qualifying, with Hill doing a sensational sub-3-minute time on Saturday, taking pole in the process.
On the other end of the grid, Bianchi had been a whopping 27 seconds slower in his Emeryson while Mairesse had also practiced the Team Lotus spare, setting a time of 4.20.6. The ENB cars (with the exception of the yellow Ferrari of course) had been dreadfully slow, so what were they to do? Then, opportunistically, ENB struck deals with Seidel and Tony Marsh to hand over their Lotus 18s. The Englishman and the German were among the privateers given the boot after qualifying for showing a distinct lack of pace. So their cars were hastily painted yellow, as both Mairesse and Bianchi were waived through qualifying by the organizers. A very strange detour of becoming a Lotus privateer after all! On race day, it came out that it had all been to no avail as the local heroes found their Lotus 18s ill-prepared by their owners. They were both out by lap 9.
At the next race at Reims Bianchi had become a Lotus 18 regular after all as he teamed up with the UDT Laystall BRP team, replacing the unlucky Cliff Allison, who had seen his career come to a premature end with a serious practice crash at Spa. Lucien would also go on to do the British GP for BRP before he in turn was replaced by Masten Gregory at Monza. Meanwhile, Mairesse, who had already practiced a works Lotus at Spa, was in a one-off third works Lotus 21 at Reims before being given the fourth Ferrari 156 at the 'Ring.
Having wrestled through summer the ENB team was back at Monza with the Emeryson, hoping to have the car sorted out. This time, an ENB co-founder - now the new official owner of the car - volunteered to take the drive. With the race again held on the long 10kms track combining banking and road track an unusually high number of cars would be allowed on the grid. So no trouble there, right? In one of the best entered races in years (certainly compared to the 1960 edition!) 32 cars made the grid, the last one being local hero Roberto Lippi in the hapless De Tomaso-OSCA entered by Scuderia Settecolli (one of the mainstays from the local Italian Drivers Championship). One did not. It was André Pilette's Emeryson. The car was a stunning 25s off the pace, a full three seconds off Lippi's plainly dismal effort. It was the last time an Emeryson-Maserati tried to qualify for a World Championship event.
Or was it? The following season, they should have been happy to let Paul Emery's works team and Wolfgang Seidel get on with their now Climax-engined Emerysons. Clearly, they must have thought something else, and it was probably something along the lines of this: "Hey, we have this car sitting in our garage. Why not turn it into a championship-winning Ferrari sharknose-lookalike supercar?" And so they did. That is, they managed to pull off the sharknose-lookalike part…
Taking bits and pieces from the wrecked 1002 and 1003 chassis, they used the 1001 frame to build up their ENB-Maserati, shoeforking in the old 150S powerhorse by Maserati. Wildly parodying the twin-nostril air intake from the title-winning Ferrari 156, they paid some attentions to looks but forgot about the general aerodynamics. Underpowered from the start, the ENB-Maserati was a lost cause at its debut at the 1962 Brussels GP, Bianchi driving the monster. Lucien was nearly half a minute off the pace and retired in the first heat, the trusty old 150S not proving very trustworthy. At Pau Bianchi managed to get the car to qualify mid-field, but then followed on the 1961 tradition by crashing it during the race.
And so we come to the 1962 German GP, the scenery of our picture. This would be the first occasion on which the ENB-Maserati would take part in a World Championship event.
While Dan Gurney's Porsche had no trouble smashing the 9-minute mark Phil Hill had broken the previous year, Lucien Bianchi struggled to no end to set sub-11-minute times. Ultimately, his final time was 10.40.7, almost two minutes (!) slower than that of pole man Gurney. Oddly enough, non-qualifiers Tony Shelly and Wolfgang Seidel were faster (not by much, but enough), but they had not run the required minimum of five laps to have their times counted. The same applied to Trevor Taylor, who had set a time good enough for 21st on the grid. But after some heated argument he was allowed in - but at the back of the grid, right after Bianchi.
And that is why an Emeryson-Maserati did start a World Championship event after all, though thinly disguised as an ENB. The squad now being convinced the car was a dud, it sold the thing to Belgian hillclimber Nicolas Koob, who had some modest uphill success with it.
You would have thought we had seen the best part of Bianchi's Grand Prix career (and for the moment we certainly had), but the Italian-born Belgian was to be spotted in F1 cars until 1968, his final season in fact being the one coming closest to a regular full season. Before that, he had been a universally versatile racer, occupying himself with sportscars, GT racing and rallying, the occasional F1 drive, and sometimes F2, right down to F3. Especially in sportscar racing his services were in demand, since Milan-born Luciano was a very reliable driver. Next to being a regular in ENB's sportscar and rally squad, he capped several works drives for Porsche and Ferrari. In 1967 he even crossed the pond to qualify for the Indy 500! Having comfortably qualified on Pole Day, he flew back to Europe to take part in the Nürburgring 1000kms, almost winning for Porsche but for a cruel electrical failure on the very last lap. Having slipped to fourth across the line he was then told he had been bumped from the Indy grid. Being on the other side of the world on Bump Day was not quite the way to retaliate and take back his rightful place.
A year later he was finally given his full-time F1 break, replacing Brian Redman, but unfortunately the offer came from a Cooper team in steep decline. For the first time the team had been unable to attract star drivers, starting off the year with Redman and Ludovico Scarfiotti. To be seen from their disappointing grid positions, it was obvious that the year-old B-spec T86 tubs, now equipped with BRM power, were a shadow of the Maserati-engined cars that had flattered to deceive in the hands of Rindt and Pedro Rodriguez. Still Lucien did well to bring his car home in the points on his first two tries, his very first even getting him on the podium of the Monaco GP, although he was a very distant third, 4 laps down in a race of unseen attrition, but ahead of team mate Scarfiotti. At his home race, now with Redman coming back to act as his team mate, Bianchi again blew away his team mate in qualifying before going on to finish a creditable sixth. After that, first as a single entry, later paired with the similarly versatile Vic Elford (see January '99 issue), he was a tail-ender, only qualifying off the last row once, in Canada.
Mid-season, he momentarily relinquished his Cooper seat to Johnny Servoz-Gavin (in France) and Robin Widdows (in Britain), instead concentrating on his Le Mans assault. It proved to be a very wise decision. While his substitute Widdows was making up the numbers at Brands in his only Championship appearance, Bianchi was at the Sarthe with Pedro Rodriguez, taking the John Wyer Porsche to Lucien's greatest sporting moment: winning the Le Mans 24 Hours. It was the crowning of a very successful sportscar season in which he also took the Watkins Glen 6 Hours with Ickx (also for Wyer) and the Circuit of Mugello, this time on board a works Alfa.
The Alfa Romeo liaison continued into 1969, Lucien signing for Autodelta to race their T33 sportscar. Unfortunately his season got off to a slow start as his co-driver during the late-1968 London-Sydney Marathon rammed their leading Citroën into a non-competing vehicle, leaving Bianchi with a broken ankle. However, that shock was small pickings compared to the fate that awaited Lucien on the Mulsanne Straight during Le Mans testing, his T33 suddenly veering off the track into a telegraph pole. The Alfa exploded on impact, killing the luckless Bianchi on the spot. (md)
How?
Of course, a Ferrari! Look at the sharknose, the sleek lines, the number 21! The number 21? Whenever did a Ferrari 156 race with that number? Not ever. Which means we must go for an altogether different scenario. First we look at the track surroundings - could this be the 'Ring? Then we take a glance at the entry lists from 1961 and 1962. We find Bianchi in the ENB, who must be the one pictured since there are several sources quoting the ENB's nose job was copied from the all-conquering 156.
Of course, Marc managed to get full points, and ended up the edition winning it, tied up with Don Capps...
Somehow we selected, as "Why of the Month" Don's answer, so it's perfectly convenient that Marc has posted his own
For those of you who are never tempted to follow links, this is what Don had to say about the question, followed by our own views (courtesy of Racer.Demon).
Don Capps :
Why did I wince when I saw this photo? Please pass me an airsick bag… That is one ugly racing car. And an even uglier story.
This is not an ENB! It is an Emeryson (Mark 2) from the previous season that the Equipe Nationale Belge - ENB - had procured from Paul Emeryson.
The reason that Jacques Swaters - an otherwise reasonable person - ended up squandering the resources on such a dud came about as the result of an F2 driver - a certain John Turner - carving up the field in the prototype Emeryson F2 car at Montlhery. Swaters was hugely impressed and recommended that rather than buy customer cars from Lotus or Cooper, ENB purchase some of the fabulous Emeryson cars for their team.
What Swaters and team did not know at the time was the reason Turner was storming up through the grid in such a ferocious manner was that he was skipping the chicane every lap! Little wonder then that he was making such a dramatic run through the field. Naturally, Paul Emery did not refuse the check nor did he explain the real reason Turner was so quick.
When the cars arrived, it was soon apparent that they were not quite as rapid as the Turner car had been. After struggling at Pau, Brussels, and Siracusa then not qualifying at Monte Carlo the team finally realized that they had been had and secured several Lotus 18's for their drivers.
Rather than being used as landfill or some other appropriate use, the cars were generally handed about and used from time to time. In 1962, from the bits and pieces and the original cars, the folks at ENB used chassis '1001' as the basis of what was to be called the "ENB." They put that horrid bodywork on '1001' with the frightening nose further proving they had taken complete leave of their senses. Powered by the Maserati 150S engine, the car was a doomed puppy. The 150S engine worked well enough, but not very well when jammed in an Emeryson.
The ENB had three of the Emeryson cars inflicted upon it: '1001,' '1002,' and '1003.' The '1001' chassis was the beast upon which the team placed new bodywork and that wretched nose: the addition of the twin nostril nose cone only made a lousy car into a lousy, ugly car. Indeed, about the entire extent of turning the Emeryson into the 'ENB' was the bodywork. The mechanical bits were largely untouched and therefore it ran just as poorly as before.
At its only Championship appearance, it actually managed to finish the race. However, it record was otherwise abysmal at best. Lucien Bianchi received a measure of respect for manfully keeping a straight face while driving the dud and not doing anyone much harm as it wandered about the circuits it did serve upon.
While ENB was suffering through the Mark 2, Paul Emery was still on the hustle and find another 'patron' for his work, American Hugh Powell. The Mark 3 was intended to be a monocoque like the Lotus 25 (out of fiberglass no less), but Emery stayed with a spaceframe design which was (very) little more than a tarted up Mark 2 fixed to take a vee-eight. The cars were run during 1962 as Emeryson cars, but when Powell plunked down some serious dinero they became known as Scirocco cars. And performed just as poorly as ever.
Italo-Belgian Lucien Bianchi was a talented driver with whatever that special ability is that makes some drivers excellent endurance racers. He was successful in the Tour de France during the 1950's with several good performances and a GT class win, and won a number of endurance races: 1000km of Paris in 1960; Sebring in 1962 with Joakim Bonnier; 1968 Watkins Glen Six Hours with Jacky Ickx; and the 1968 Le Mans with Pedro Rodriguez. He also managed to get back into GP racing in 1968 with Cooper, but after an impressive initial few races, not even talent could turn back the lack of resources as the season started to go downhill for the team.
In 1969, Bianchi moved to Alfa Romeo and was killed when his car crashed during the test weekend. It was just as he was being realized as a talent and getting the opportunities he deserved.
Racer.Demon :
Who?
Lucien Bianchi
What?
ENB-Maserati 1962
Where?
Nürburgring
When?
1962 German GP (5 August 1962)
Why?
While in those glorious sportscar days of the fifties the bright yellow hue of the Belgian national team was often seen in front, the Grand Prix history of the Equipe Nationale Belge wasn't what you might call a bed of roses. A bed of nails would be closer to the truth, looking at the sort of machinery the ENB squad had at their disposal. Or to put it bluntly, put at their disposal themselves… For the single car that the team ever fielded under their own name had a poor service record to go with, the dismal Emeryson-Maserati 1000 series an embarrassment to no end.
To be fair, they were tricked into it. Having seen a creditable performance from the car at the end of 1960, in the Coupe du Salon F2 event at Montlhéry, ENB were encouraged to buy two of them. What they didn't know was that the driver, little known John Turner, had been cutting off a chicane at the back of the circuit to claw back his disadvantage to the leaders after an early spin. As soon as the cars were entered in serious events it became clear to the ENB that they'd been had. At Monaco, entered as wildcards for their first World Championship appearance, the cars were miles off the pace and had no chance in qualifying for the four remaining non-guaranteed grid spots (see July 2000 issue).
With the 1962 ENB-Maserati it was a different story. That particular disaster they could have seen coming from miles away - since the car was generally based on the 1961 Emeryson!
Founded in the disastrous 1955 season by Ecurie Francorchamps boss Jacques Swaters (the Belgian Ferrari importer until this very day) and Ecurie Belge patron Johnny Claes, the two teaming up on the instigation of Shell Belgium, the ENB ran an ancient ex-Swaters Ferrari 500 upgraded to F1 spec for Claes in the 1955 Dutch Grand Prix and several minor events as a side activity to running sportscars, its yellow Jaguar D-types and Ferrari 250GT cars becoming a familiar sight at Le Mans and other classic sportscar races. It was Belgium's finest crop that was employed by their national squad: Olivier Gendebien, Paul Frère (see February 2000 issue), Willy Mairesse, Lucien Bianchi, Alain de Changy and of course Claes and Swaters, respectable pilots themselves.
Swaters' Ecurie Francorchamps - the main force behind the ENB - goes back to 1948 when he and his best friend Charles de Tornaco bought a pre-war MG PB to compete in the Spa 24 hours. A law student held from a career at the bar through his interest in racing cars, Swaters finished fourth in class, sharing with Frère, but during those 24 hours had seen the sight of Luigi Chinetti's NART Ferrari 166 Barchetta quite a lot! It spurred his ambition to drive a Ferrari one day. What was he to know that he would also be selling them by the dozens…
After the Spa race, Jacques set up Ecurie Belgique, which ran assorted pre-war German cars such a Veritas and a BMW 328s for de Tornaco and his other pals André Pilette and Roger Laurent, who would remain faithful to Swaters throughout their international careers. In 1950, the squad went as far as buying a Talbot-Lago Grand Prix machine but as they wanted to enter the car in international events the the Belgian Auto Club RACB went wild over their Ecurie Belgique name. With a starting licence not forthcoming in case Swaters and de Tornaco did not change the name, they decided to rename the team into Ecurie Francorchamps. At the same time, the Brussels garage of Swaters was redubbed Garage Francorchamps.
In 1951, Jacques' ambition of driving a Ferrari finally became reality as he bought an F2 Ferrari 166, its previous owner being none less than Gianni Agnelli. The car changed hands several times over the years before Swaters decided to keep it himself. It wasn't to be the main car of the Ecurie's Grand Prix challenge. That privilege was granted to a brand-new Ferrari 500 (chassis 0208), which was to be fielded in F2 events over the next few years. Then, with the World Championship suddenly overturned to be run to F2 regs, Swaters, Laurent and de Tornaco found their car eligible for Championship events.
Still, it was intended to take part in minor traditionals such as the Grand Prix de Frontières. In fact, the 500 was ordered so that it would be finished just days before that very race in June 1952. But then typical Italian planning got in the way. In Motor Sport magazine, Swaters vividly recalls how it all nearly went wrong. With the car not ready in time for Swaters to transport it back to Belgium on the trailer he brought with him to Modena, there was only one alternative: drive it home himself. "I had a girlfriend with me in a little Citroen and we set off in convoy. Then there was no autostrada and no ring road around Milan. I drove through the Piazza Duomo to the applause of pedestrians. Of course, the Ferrari had no lights so I had to follow my girlfriend pretty closely. And I had no mudguards, no licence plates, no insurance - nothing!" You could hardly overlook a yellow-painted F2 Ferrari, its open exhausts crying all the way to the border, but this is the kind of story of which you would say: "Imagine that happening today." Suffice it to say: it wouldn't. As it happened then, and not today, the Italian customs enthousiastically waved him through to Switzerland. Then to be sure, at the border with Belgium, he ducked down in the cockpit and plainly drove under the barrier. He was expecting to be hunted down by dozens of police vehicles but nothing happened. The adventure ended by arriving in time at Chimay, only for Roger Laurent to crash on the opening lap…
The car - campaigned by Swaters, de Tornaco and Laurent, and in 2.5-litre guise by Claes in 1955 - remained in service for four more years. Sadly, it took Charles de Tornaco's life when he rolled it in the 1954 Modena GP. Without a doctor present, Charles was driven to the local hospital where he died of a fractured skull. On the other hand, Swaters took the team's only single-seater win with it in the Berlin GP at Avus in July 1953. About that time Jacques' business association with Ferrari started off. And the way it came to be was just as remarkable as Swaters' long journey home with the 500 just one year earlier. It began with a phone call from Ferrari general manager Gerolamo Gardini. "He called one day to say, 'We have sent a car to the Brussels Show and it is on a train somewhere. I have no time to deal with it, can you?' I went to the station, found the car on a wagon, sorted out the import details and took it to the Show. Gardini called again to say he could not come to Brussels and would I look after the stand? I did, and sold my first Ferrari. As a result, I was asked to become the Ferrari importer for Belgium. For 30 years I had no contract with Maranello - everything was done on a handshake with Enzo Ferrari. To begin with I took three or four cars per year, but in 1957 I took 17."
Meanwhile, the Ecurie Francorchamps gained its biggest successes by branching off into sportscars. While their most famous results were scored in Ferraris, it all started off with Jaguars, also in 1953. "Joska Bourgeois, the Belgian importer for Jaguar, was a good friend of ours. She was very close to the factory and introduced me to Lofty England. I ordered a C-type for Ecurie Francorchamps." They entered it for Le Mans, where the car (XKC 047) was serviced by two Jaguar mechanics on loan to the team. The duo of Laurent and de Tornaco weren't on the pace but did well to finish 9th, miles adrift of the winning works C-type combo of Tony Rolt and Duncan Hamilton. Three months later, de Tornaco was killed at Modena.
The following year, amidst general confusion concerning the admittance of their car crashed by a works mechanic on the way from Calais, Laurent and Swaters placed their brand-new car (flown in just in time from the Coventry factory) fourth overall. A wonderful result, since they were forced to start at the back, having been able to do just the two obligatory practice laps after a very late scrutineering. A couple of weeks later, they finished third in the Reims 12 hours, with only the works D-types ahead of them. In a fierce battle for the final podium spot Swaters beat Masten Gregory to the line in a C-type with a front wheel that hardly had any spokes intact…
Then in 1955 Swaters teamed up with Johnny Claes and André Pilette of the Ecurie Belge. As the team's supporter, Shell Belgium, wanted a more appropriate name to reflect the national pride that was behind the team, Swaters formed the Ecurie Nationale Belge. In their first year they finished second and third at Spa (Laurent trailing Swaters in a couple of newly-acquired Ferrari 750 Monzas) and did the same at the tragic Le Mans race, this time in a new Jaguar D-type (XKD 503). In 1956, another new D-type (XKB 573) brought Swaters and Freddy Rousselle fourth at Le Mans, while André Pilette placed second at Montlhéry. The same car then went on to finish fourth again at the 1957 Le Mans edition, Rousselle sharing with Frère. Swaters describes it as the best D-type he ever drove, although he himself drove a Ferrari 290MM with Alain de Changy that race, which turned out to be Swaters' last. He decided to concentrate on his booming garage business.
Fortunately, a young upstart named Olivier Gendebien had just joined the team and he had been doing miracles in the team's new Ferrari 250GT in both rally and sportscar events (see February 2000 issue). The squad interchanging between their 250GTs and a set of 500 Testa Rossa cars, their selection of fine Belgian drivers took impressive results during 1957 and 1958, by which times the ENB tag had been dropped again, cause of stir-up with Shell over a new general manager the oil company brought in. The Tour de France, the Tour of Sicily, the last Mille Miglia, Le Mans, the Reims 12 hours - completing the list of victories and top placings during those days would take up several pages. For instance, in 1959 Gendebien and Bianchi completed a Tour de France hat-trick, while in 1961 Willy Mairesse made it five in a row for the Ecurie Francorchamps. The team's sportscar fame continued well into the sixties, collecting Le Mans podium finishes on the trot until 1967, always in those bright yellow Ferraris. Famously, Swaters' repainted works 330P4 took on the mighty Fords in 1967, Mairesse and 'Beurlys' (Jean Blaton) finishing third, directly behind the works P4 of Parkes and Scarfiotti and the winning combination of Gurney and Foyt. The Ecurie's last Le Mans outing came in 1982 when Swaters entered a Ferrari 512BB-LM.
Back to the fifties, which in 1959 also saw a inconspicuous return to the Grand Prix scene (and of the ENB name), the team fielding two Cooper-Climax T51s for Bianchi and de Changy at the Monaco GP. They both failed to qualify. It was in stark contrast with team's sportscar form. The squad was back for 1960 for the Belgian GP, now with an elderly T45 for Bianchi to drive. The entry numbers being greatly reduced compared to 1959, Bianchi had no trouble in making the race, qualifying 14th out of 17 runners. Meanwhile, national hero Gendebien had been drafted in for the third BRP Cooper, alongside Brooks and the young Chris Bristow. While the race would end in drama, with both Bristow and Stacey getting killed (see October '99 game), Bianchi soldiered on to finish last. Only in this case last meant 6th and thus a point, ENB profiting from the new-for-1960 rule which replaced the fastest-lap point with a point for 6th place. It was the team's first and only World Championship point.
In France, Bianchi was back again but luckless as his transmission failed on lap 36, as Gendebien took a sensational second place for BRP with his new team-mate Henry Taylor (replacing Bristow) in an equally impressive fourth. Finishing off what had became some sort of a genuine GP season, the ENB continued in Britain, again failing to complete the race. After that, they were a no-show.
Then came 1961 and the new 1.5-litre rules, making the ENB Coopers obsolete on the spot, when suddenly the opportunity came up to acquire a set of slick Emeryson wheels. Oh, how misguided the decision was to go for the Maserati-engined Emerysons and not travel the safe route of becoming a Lotus customer, the Lotus 18 having become the trusted tool of many a privateer, including Rob Walker and the BRP.
At the hand-over the team and the people at the former Connaught factory - Paul Emery, Connaught director Dick Claydon, Connaught sponsor Alan Brown, driver Bianchi and ENB secretary-general Jo Liévin - were all laughs, but soon they found out the car's real character. After a few troubled but sometimes encouraging performances (mainly at their poorly-supported Brussels home event around the Heysel Expo complex), the team lined up the cars for their World Championship debut. It was a huge disaster. Gendebien, lured back to the old nest, and team regular Bianchi made fools of themselves at Monaco, not coming anywhere near meaningful times (see July 2000 issue). They wisely skipped Zandvoort (which - probably courtesy of ENB's absence! - still holds that strange record of each and every car finishing the race without a single pit stop) but were back at their home race at Spa. With Gendebien gladly taking the fourth Ferrari sharknose available (the prototype example with the 65-degree V6 unit Giancarlo Baghetti was later to star in, see August '99 issue), now on loan to ENB and thus painted in lively Belgian yellow, Willy Mairesse was taken on board for the second Emeryson. During practice, the Monaco trend continued unabatedly, the Emerysons being left for dead as the others pounded the track. Gendebien on the other hand was a serious pole contender and finally ended up third, pipped by von Trips on the final lap of Friday qualifying, with Hill doing a sensational sub-3-minute time on Saturday, taking pole in the process.
On the other end of the grid, Bianchi had been a whopping 27 seconds slower in his Emeryson while Mairesse had also practiced the Team Lotus spare, setting a time of 4.20.6. The ENB cars (with the exception of the yellow Ferrari of course) had been dreadfully slow, so what were they to do? Then, opportunistically, ENB struck deals with Seidel and Tony Marsh to hand over their Lotus 18s. The Englishman and the German were among the privateers given the boot after qualifying for showing a distinct lack of pace. So their cars were hastily painted yellow, as both Mairesse and Bianchi were waived through qualifying by the organizers. A very strange detour of becoming a Lotus privateer after all! On race day, it came out that it had all been to no avail as the local heroes found their Lotus 18s ill-prepared by their owners. They were both out by lap 9.
At the next race at Reims Bianchi had become a Lotus 18 regular after all as he teamed up with the UDT Laystall BRP team, replacing the unlucky Cliff Allison, who had seen his career come to a premature end with a serious practice crash at Spa. Lucien would also go on to do the British GP for BRP before he in turn was replaced by Masten Gregory at Monza. Meanwhile, Mairesse, who had already practiced a works Lotus at Spa, was in a one-off third works Lotus 21 at Reims before being given the fourth Ferrari 156 at the 'Ring.
Having wrestled through summer the ENB team was back at Monza with the Emeryson, hoping to have the car sorted out. This time, an ENB co-founder - now the new official owner of the car - volunteered to take the drive. With the race again held on the long 10kms track combining banking and road track an unusually high number of cars would be allowed on the grid. So no trouble there, right? In one of the best entered races in years (certainly compared to the 1960 edition!) 32 cars made the grid, the last one being local hero Roberto Lippi in the hapless De Tomaso-OSCA entered by Scuderia Settecolli (one of the mainstays from the local Italian Drivers Championship). One did not. It was André Pilette's Emeryson. The car was a stunning 25s off the pace, a full three seconds off Lippi's plainly dismal effort. It was the last time an Emeryson-Maserati tried to qualify for a World Championship event.
Or was it? The following season, they should have been happy to let Paul Emery's works team and Wolfgang Seidel get on with their now Climax-engined Emerysons. Clearly, they must have thought something else, and it was probably something along the lines of this: "Hey, we have this car sitting in our garage. Why not turn it into a championship-winning Ferrari sharknose-lookalike supercar?" And so they did. That is, they managed to pull off the sharknose-lookalike part…
Taking bits and pieces from the wrecked 1002 and 1003 chassis, they used the 1001 frame to build up their ENB-Maserati, shoeforking in the old 150S powerhorse by Maserati. Wildly parodying the twin-nostril air intake from the title-winning Ferrari 156, they paid some attentions to looks but forgot about the general aerodynamics. Underpowered from the start, the ENB-Maserati was a lost cause at its debut at the 1962 Brussels GP, Bianchi driving the monster. Lucien was nearly half a minute off the pace and retired in the first heat, the trusty old 150S not proving very trustworthy. At Pau Bianchi managed to get the car to qualify mid-field, but then followed on the 1961 tradition by crashing it during the race.
And so we come to the 1962 German GP, the scenery of our picture. This would be the first occasion on which the ENB-Maserati would take part in a World Championship event.
While Dan Gurney's Porsche had no trouble smashing the 9-minute mark Phil Hill had broken the previous year, Lucien Bianchi struggled to no end to set sub-11-minute times. Ultimately, his final time was 10.40.7, almost two minutes (!) slower than that of pole man Gurney. Oddly enough, non-qualifiers Tony Shelly and Wolfgang Seidel were faster (not by much, but enough), but they had not run the required minimum of five laps to have their times counted. The same applied to Trevor Taylor, who had set a time good enough for 21st on the grid. But after some heated argument he was allowed in - but at the back of the grid, right after Bianchi.
And that is why an Emeryson-Maserati did start a World Championship event after all, though thinly disguised as an ENB. The squad now being convinced the car was a dud, it sold the thing to Belgian hillclimber Nicolas Koob, who had some modest uphill success with it.
You would have thought we had seen the best part of Bianchi's Grand Prix career (and for the moment we certainly had), but the Italian-born Belgian was to be spotted in F1 cars until 1968, his final season in fact being the one coming closest to a regular full season. Before that, he had been a universally versatile racer, occupying himself with sportscars, GT racing and rallying, the occasional F1 drive, and sometimes F2, right down to F3. Especially in sportscar racing his services were in demand, since Milan-born Luciano was a very reliable driver. Next to being a regular in ENB's sportscar and rally squad, he capped several works drives for Porsche and Ferrari. In 1967 he even crossed the pond to qualify for the Indy 500! Having comfortably qualified on Pole Day, he flew back to Europe to take part in the Nürburgring 1000kms, almost winning for Porsche but for a cruel electrical failure on the very last lap. Having slipped to fourth across the line he was then told he had been bumped from the Indy grid. Being on the other side of the world on Bump Day was not quite the way to retaliate and take back his rightful place.
A year later he was finally given his full-time F1 break, replacing Brian Redman, but unfortunately the offer came from a Cooper team in steep decline. For the first time the team had been unable to attract star drivers, starting off the year with Redman and Ludovico Scarfiotti. To be seen from their disappointing grid positions, it was obvious that the year-old B-spec T86 tubs, now equipped with BRM power, were a shadow of the Maserati-engined cars that had flattered to deceive in the hands of Rindt and Pedro Rodriguez. Still Lucien did well to bring his car home in the points on his first two tries, his very first even getting him on the podium of the Monaco GP, although he was a very distant third, 4 laps down in a race of unseen attrition, but ahead of team mate Scarfiotti. At his home race, now with Redman coming back to act as his team mate, Bianchi again blew away his team mate in qualifying before going on to finish a creditable sixth. After that, first as a single entry, later paired with the similarly versatile Vic Elford (see January '99 issue), he was a tail-ender, only qualifying off the last row once, in Canada.
Mid-season, he momentarily relinquished his Cooper seat to Johnny Servoz-Gavin (in France) and Robin Widdows (in Britain), instead concentrating on his Le Mans assault. It proved to be a very wise decision. While his substitute Widdows was making up the numbers at Brands in his only Championship appearance, Bianchi was at the Sarthe with Pedro Rodriguez, taking the John Wyer Porsche to Lucien's greatest sporting moment: winning the Le Mans 24 Hours. It was the crowning of a very successful sportscar season in which he also took the Watkins Glen 6 Hours with Ickx (also for Wyer) and the Circuit of Mugello, this time on board a works Alfa.
The Alfa Romeo liaison continued into 1969, Lucien signing for Autodelta to race their T33 sportscar. Unfortunately his season got off to a slow start as his co-driver during the late-1968 London-Sydney Marathon rammed their leading Citroën into a non-competing vehicle, leaving Bianchi with a broken ankle. However, that shock was small pickings compared to the fate that awaited Lucien on the Mulsanne Straight during Le Mans testing, his T33 suddenly veering off the track into a telegraph pole. The Alfa exploded on impact, killing the luckless Bianchi on the spot. (md)
How?
Of course, a Ferrari! Look at the sharknose, the sleek lines, the number 21! The number 21? Whenever did a Ferrari 156 race with that number? Not ever. Which means we must go for an altogether different scenario. First we look at the track surroundings - could this be the 'Ring? Then we take a glance at the entry lists from 1961 and 1962. We find Bianchi in the ENB, who must be the one pictured since there are several sources quoting the ENB's nose job was copied from the all-conquering 156.
#8
Marcor
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Posted 23 May 2001 - 15:40
I would like to prove that a craft Formula 1 was built in the 50's in a small village of Wallonia, in the South of Charleroi. Hope to find and show you some evidences.
#9
ry6
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Posted 23 May 2001 - 17:55
Gentlemen you have exceeded my expectations by far!
Thank you.
In the 1960 SAGP Equipe National Belge entered 2 Cooper T51's for Paul Frere and Oliver Gendebien. Olivier did not arrive, apparently his wife had taken ill, and Lucien Bianchi drove the car.
Paul Frere won the race from Stirling Moss and Lucien was a very steady 4th, just behind the local champion Syd van der Vyver in his T43 Cooper Alfa.
I noticed that the Belgians were a very friendly and relaxed team and Mauro Bianchi may well have been one of the mechanics or signalling crew as I remember a name not to disimiliar to that being bandied about by Paul Frere.
Thank you.
In the 1960 SAGP Equipe National Belge entered 2 Cooper T51's for Paul Frere and Oliver Gendebien. Olivier did not arrive, apparently his wife had taken ill, and Lucien Bianchi drove the car.
Paul Frere won the race from Stirling Moss and Lucien was a very steady 4th, just behind the local champion Syd van der Vyver in his T43 Cooper Alfa.
I noticed that the Belgians were a very friendly and relaxed team and Mauro Bianchi may well have been one of the mechanics or signalling crew as I remember a name not to disimiliar to that being bandied about by Paul Frere.
#10
Roger Clark
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Posted 23 May 2001 - 18:00
The reason that Jacques Swaters - an otherwise reasonable person - ended up squandering the resources on such a dud came about as the result of an F2 driver - a certain John Turner - carving up the field in the prototype Emeryson F2 car at Montlhery. Swaters was hugely impressed and recommended that rather than buy customer cars from Lotus or Cooper, ENB purchase some of the fabulous Emeryson cars for their team.
When was this?
#11
David McKinney
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Posted 23 May 2001 - 18:22
Someone might know more about this story than I do, but apparently Turner achieved his lap by using a shorter version of the circuit - missed a chicane or took a short-cut somewhere else
#12
Roger Clark
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Posted 24 May 2001 - 21:45
My understanding is that Turner was disqualified for his short cut, so it's difficult to understand how Swaters didn't know about it.
#13
Peter Morley
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Posted 06 December 2002 - 12:18
As a one time Emeryson owner (living in Belgium) I feel I should defend the Emeryson.
There was nothing worng with the car itself - they were supplied as rolling chassis to ENB, who then proceeded to fit Maserati engines themselves.
The skill of ENB can be judged by the fact that they let the first car fall off their transporter while unloading it.
Their engine installation was diabolical (to the detriment of chassis stiffness), and as with the Lotus 18 the driveshaft formed the upper suspension link - of course if you put the driveshaft in the wrong place your suspension no longer works.
And of course Italian horses being somewhat weaker than British ones menas that the Maserati engines did not deliver as much power as promised.
A Climax engined Emeryson is just as good a car as a Lotus 18 (we proved that in historic races) - chassis is very similar, suspension is similar, engine, gearbox & tyres are the same - the only big difference is the guy driving & preparing it which explains the difference in performance.
And as for my current project the Scirocco BRM (ran with a Climax by Pilette as Equipe Scirocco Belge - the last yellow F1 car) that car is a lot better than most cars of its time - most retirements were mechanical or electronic which was a result of 2nd class treatment by the engine suppliers etc (and no doubt lack of budget), as Martin Walford has shwon the only quicker cars are more modern.
When they did finish it tended to be just outside the points, but ahead of a lot of better known cars & drivers.
There was nothing worng with the car itself - they were supplied as rolling chassis to ENB, who then proceeded to fit Maserati engines themselves.
The skill of ENB can be judged by the fact that they let the first car fall off their transporter while unloading it.
Their engine installation was diabolical (to the detriment of chassis stiffness), and as with the Lotus 18 the driveshaft formed the upper suspension link - of course if you put the driveshaft in the wrong place your suspension no longer works.
And of course Italian horses being somewhat weaker than British ones menas that the Maserati engines did not deliver as much power as promised.
A Climax engined Emeryson is just as good a car as a Lotus 18 (we proved that in historic races) - chassis is very similar, suspension is similar, engine, gearbox & tyres are the same - the only big difference is the guy driving & preparing it which explains the difference in performance.
And as for my current project the Scirocco BRM (ran with a Climax by Pilette as Equipe Scirocco Belge - the last yellow F1 car) that car is a lot better than most cars of its time - most retirements were mechanical or electronic which was a result of 2nd class treatment by the engine suppliers etc (and no doubt lack of budget), as Martin Walford has shwon the only quicker cars are more modern.
When they did finish it tended to be just outside the points, but ahead of a lot of better known cars & drivers.
#14
Bjorn Kjer
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Posted 28 December 2007 - 07:51
I have a picture showing a Porsche RS , looks silver with 2 thin stripes (white and blue ?) and a Ford Vedette sedan . In the background is a Ferrari 250GT looking yellow with a red stripe (or white and blue?), but at its side is an ENB transporter (used at LM in 1958) , so I presume its an ENB Ferrari. The cars are what look like a parking place ! I cannot show a picture , but guess its around 1960. Enough for helping id the race , I am here mostly thinking of the GT colour combination. My book on "Francorchamps" shows none !????????????
#15
Paul Parker
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Posted 28 December 2007 - 18:31
Very interesting detail about ENB, thank you gentlemen.
However unless I have missed it there was no mention of the Lister Jaguar BHL 105 that they raced at Silverstone, Le Mans and elsewhere in 1958. This car was later 'written off' after a crash in Finland if I recall correctly and the bent remains were subsequently offered for sale by Brian Lister in Autosport for £750 or thereabouts (please forgive any inaccurracies as I quoting from long ago memory).
Today of course the car, that was once sprinted by Ken Wilson and then owned by my father is now regularly raced at the Goodwood Revival. Some years ago I arranged for Claude Dubois (who raced it at Le Mans with Freddy Rouselle) to drive it at a Goodwood test day. He was overjoyed and told me that the team was run on a shoestring in period.
Johnny Claes died in February 1956, a victim of the tuberculosis that was endemic in post WW2 Europe.
However unless I have missed it there was no mention of the Lister Jaguar BHL 105 that they raced at Silverstone, Le Mans and elsewhere in 1958. This car was later 'written off' after a crash in Finland if I recall correctly and the bent remains were subsequently offered for sale by Brian Lister in Autosport for £750 or thereabouts (please forgive any inaccurracies as I quoting from long ago memory).
Today of course the car, that was once sprinted by Ken Wilson and then owned by my father is now regularly raced at the Goodwood Revival. Some years ago I arranged for Claude Dubois (who raced it at Le Mans with Freddy Rouselle) to drive it at a Goodwood test day. He was overjoyed and told me that the team was run on a shoestring in period.
Johnny Claes died in February 1956, a victim of the tuberculosis that was endemic in post WW2 Europe.
#16
D-Type
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Posted 28 December 2007 - 18:54
And they also ran a Testa Rossa Ferrari in 1958 finishing 6th at Le Mans.
Incidentally the reference above in Post 2 to the 1960 Le Mans winning Gendebien/Frere car being an ENB entry is incorrect it was a Ferrari factory entry.
Incidentally the reference above in Post 2 to the 1960 Le Mans winning Gendebien/Frere car being an ENB entry is incorrect it was a Ferrari factory entry.
#17
Paul Parker
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Posted 29 December 2007 - 14:28
Well spotted D type I missed the 1960 Le Mans winner mistake in post 2, Marcor presumably thought so because it was driven by ENB regulars and Belgians Gendebien and Frere and also the omitted 1958 Le Mans Testa Rossa entry.
I read the posts in a hurry, meanwhile has anybody a colour or b/w pic of Pierre Stasse?
I read the posts in a hurry, meanwhile has anybody a colour or b/w pic of Pierre Stasse?
#18
Bjorn Kjer
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Posted 08 August 2010 - 13:10
Having read the fascinating storys of the 4 Belgian teams , I end up with the question : Who is right in their storys , Marcor or Felix Muelas , I am referring if it was Belge (Marcor) or Belgique that became Francorchamps ?
#19
YvensC
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Posted 21 March 2011 - 19:59
Having read the fascinating storys of the 4 Belgian teams , I end up with the question : Who is right in their storys , Marcor or Felix Muelas , I am referring if it was Belge (Marcor) or Belgique that became Francorchamps ?
Well, I think I'm entitled to make things straight here :
- John Claes founded Ecurie Belge in 1949, driving his Talbot-Lago and buying a Veritas from veteran driver Emile Cornet who joined the fledgling team.
- Jacques Swaters founded the Ecurie Belgique with Charles de Tornaco, Roger Laurent and André Pilette. The team made its debut with a Veritas in 1950 and scored its first wins in minor events the following year. Jacques Swaters also drove a Talbot-Lago.
- During the second half of the 1951 season, the Ecurie Belgique and John Claes’ Ecurie Belge sometimes found themselves on the same circuits with cars painted in the same colours (Belgian yellow...)
- On 16th June 1952, Jacques Swaters’ team became the Ecurie Francorchamps to avoid any further confusion.
- Both teams lived on until the end of 1954, when neither Claes nor Swaters had enough cash to buy new cars.
- Robert De Keyser, who had launched the Shell brand in Belgium, had tried to combine the two teams without success. But in 1955, Swaters and Claes (and their fellow drivers Pilette, Laurent and Frère) founded the Equipe Nationale Belge with fnancial support from the Belgian Shell Company. The Ecurie Belge and the Ecurie Francorchamps were kept alive by their founders, but they were not to be confused with the E.N.B.
- John Claes died early in 1956, and so did his Ecurie Belge. When Jacques Swaters disagreed with the ENB's director Pierre Stasse, he brought his Ecurie Francorchamps back to life in 1958, after the Le Mans 24 Hours. At Le Mans in particular, some of Swaters's clients entered cars that were considered ENB's, simply because the ENB had had good results the year before.
- After shifting to single seaters in 1959, ENB did not return to Le Mans or to endurance racing, except for some races with Abarths (class win in le Mans) in the course of 1962. At the time, Jacques Swaters was running Ecurie Francorchamps as he liked, but he was officially still involved with ENB... simply because this helped him get some backing from Shell.
- ENB ceased to exist in 1966, but 1963 to 1965 had been very quiet indeed, except for three races with an Alfa-Romeo TZ.
I hope this helps... And if you're wondering where all this comes from, well, let's say I'm one of the two authors of the book about ENB that will be published at the end of April.
We were also responsible for the biography of Willy Mairesse, another famous Belgian race driver.
#21
hatrat
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Posted 23 March 2011 - 00:37
A Lola Mk2 Formula Junior that was driven by Teddy Pilette in 1962 at Goodwood and Silverstone was entered by "Ecurie Automobile Mille Miglia". The logo and sign writing on the car also had the wording "Knokke Linor Belge", Knokke - Littoral" and "LE ZOUTE".
Does anyone have any information on this Belgian team?
Does anyone have any information on this Belgian team?
#22
David McKinney
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Posted 23 March 2011 - 06:30
Nicholas Koob?This was taken at La Roche hillclimb in 1964.
#23
Tuboscocca
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Posted 23 March 2011 - 08:04
I hope this helps... And if you're wondering where all this comes from, well, let's say I'm one of the two authors of the book about ENB that will be published at the end of April.
We were also responsible for the biography of Willy Mairesse, another famous Belgian race driver.
Claude--please give details for the ENB book!!!(Where ,how much..)
Best regards Michael
We were also responsible for the biography of Willy Mairesse, another famous Belgian race driver.
Claude--please give details for the ENB book!!!(Where ,how much..)
Best regards Michael
#24
zoff2005
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Posted 23 March 2011 - 15:46
Yes I think so.Nicholas Koob?
#25
Arjan de Roos
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Posted 23 March 2011 - 16:09
Indeed, quite interesting!Claude--please give details for the ENB book!!!(Where ,how much..)
Best regards Michael
#26
uechtel
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Posted 24 March 2011 - 11:04
Claude--please give details for the ENB book!!!(Where ,how much..)
And most important: In which language(s)?
#27
Peter Morley
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#28
Bjorn Kjer
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Posted 25 March 2011 - 16:14
Thanks for that Peter , I did write the author without a reply , and none on the thread here so far ! I have a lot collected on ENB myself , but I will not pay 59 Euros plus postage if they wont tell me more...................
#29
YvensC
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Posted 30 March 2011 - 18:53
Thanks for that Peter , I did write the author without a reply , and none on the thread here so far ! I have a lot collected on ENB myself , but I will not pay 59 Euros plus postage if they wont tell me more...................
Sorry for not reacting sooner..;
The ENB book will indeed be published on April 28th. It has 288 pages and the text is French, Dutch and English, the English translation was done by David Waldron and is printed at the end of the book, as we already did with Wilmly Mairesse's biography. The book costs 59 EUR and features 200 pics, among which a lot of previously unpublished material and non-professional pictures. We all like pictures taken by the like of Klemantasky or, in our case, the late Andre Van Bever. But photos taken by pilots' relatives from the Le Mans pits, or by mechanics in African races also have their charms. Talking about charms, you'll fall in love with Gilberte Thirion at first sight (or money back guarantee...) when you open the book.
The book will be available from English booksellers like Horton's, but those of you coming to this year's Le Mans will find it at the publisher's stand (Benoit Deliège) in the Village.
#30
Rupertlt1
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Posted 30 January 2023 - 06:03
Three random shots of a Lotus 23 testing at Zolder, 13 October 1963? Can anybody say who the mustachioed driver is? Beurlys?
https://library.revs...ge-at-zolder/92
https://library.revs...-at-zolder/2565
https://library.revs...-at-zolder/2573
Beurlys, B.T.D. at Houyet Hill Climb, 21-22 September 1963, driving a Lotus 23B-Ford 1.6, 1 min 32.3 secs.
2nd in class, Namur Hill Climb, Sunday 29 September 1963
Autosport, 25 October 1963, Page 586.
Also at Course de Cote d’Alle-sur-Semois, 22 March 1964?
https://library.revs...sur-semois/3913
https://library.revs...sur-semois/7970
RGDS RLT
Edited by Rupertlt1, 30 January 2023 - 06:58.
