A comment here about Louis Stanley's opinion made me reach for his book: "Strictly Off The Record." But in it Stanley is generally positive about JPB. He concludes the summary of the great win at Monaco by writing: "Such was the Frenchman's determination that Ronnie Peterson told me afterwards how Beltoise, exasperated at being balked, stuck the BRM nose under Peterson's car and for several yards the Swede was driving with only the front wheels on the track. The ploy worked. Beltoise went past leaving a wall of spray, carving his way through the traffic with zero visibility."
On another day while being interviewed standing next to the Matra 670, either he or Cevert remarked: "We race for the glory of France." And it was glorious indeed.
RIP.