10 replies to this topic

[Dennis David]

What drivers had their careers affected by WW2 who may, if it hadn't occurred been considered one of the all time greats? I have three drivers in mind, Lang, Wimille, and Farina. Most know of Lang, 1939 European Champion (I had to add that in there Don and Lief ;-) and Wimille but what about Farina did he not win the first WDC you may ask. Yes but were it not for the war he and Wimille were at their peaks. Farina would give the German drivers fits in his Maserati.

Are there others and why?


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Regards,

Dennis David
Grand Prix History

Life is racing, the rest is waiting

[Fast One]

Robert Benoist comes to mind,who won all four European rounds of the 1927 World Championship (yes, there was one!). His career as a top driver, if not a driver at all, may have been over before the war, but as a patriarch of French racing, he could have exerted a considerable influence on younger drivers and racing in general. Sadly he was shot by the Gestapo during the war. I know this doesn't exactly fit what you had in mind, but he deserves mention anyway. What a tragic end for a fine driver.

[Dennis David]

Yes the hero of France. I posted some info on him but I don't know how to search the BB or if it is even possible.

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Regards,

Dennis David
Grand Prix History

Life is racing, the rest is waiting

[Ray Bell]

Actually, Benoist was garotted. I think there was mention of him before, and if there was I would have posted something about the plaque to honour him under the back of one of the grandstands at Le Mans. Just there gathering dust and visible to those walking to the toilets...

An outstanding memory of my visit to the Sarthe

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[This message has been edited by Ray Bell (edited 04-11-2000).]

[buddyt]

There was also a driver named William Williams who had driven one of the Bugatti 57s "tank" in the 1936 French GP. And reading from a book "At the outbreak of World War 2 he volunteered in Paris for the British Army and became one of Colonel Maurice Buckmaster's special service men. Several times landed in occupied France, he was arrested eventually on 2 August 1943, at the house of ROBERT BENOIST and finially shot by the Gestapo.

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"Speed cost money, how fast do you want to go?"

[Don Capps]

It was William "Williams" Grover-Williams.

Add to the list:

Hans-Hermann Mueller - the 1939 Euro Champion who obviously had the talent and who might have actually been capable of besting the true champ that year (Lang) in a straight fight given the chance...

Maurice Trintigant - he was just getting started and imagine how good he would have been judging from how well he did!

Georg Meier - imagine what some experience might have done for this potential Auto Union driver

And a talented group of Italians: Luigi Villoresi, Piero Taruffi, Alberto Ascari...

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Yr fthfl & hmbl srvnt,

Don Capps

Semper Gumbi: If this was easy, we’d have the solution already…

[Marcel Schot]

Wasn't William "Williams" Grover-Williams the first winner of the Monaco GP back in 1929?

Which immediately makes me think of how much longer racingcareers lasted in those days. I guess it's the money thing again...these days drivers have enough money to retire in their mid to late 30s without having to do another thing anymore after their racing career.

[karlcars]

In the research for my book on Ascari (I'm writing it at the moment) Ferrari's Romolo Tavoni makes this comment:

'Many racing drivers have seen their career interrupted from World War II: but I think Alberto Ascari was more damaged than others. He lost his years from 22 to 28: this was a heavy handicap, even if after all it didn’t prevent him from getting a championship.'

Another driver worth mentioning is the Swiss Christian Kautz, who resumed his career after the war but was killed in a crash at
Berne, I believe. Of course Fangio also thought the war years might have ended his career!

[John Cross]

Dennis - I'm surprised at you not knowing how to search the forum! There is a little search link at the top right of the page (next to profile | register | preferences | faq). Mind you, I couldn't find your post - Benoist only returned 4 hits (including this page, of course). Maybe you mispelled it?

Another tragedy of WW2 was the abrupt halt it brought to car development. There would probably have been a 1.5 litre (supercharged) formula in 1941 and the lighter engines would probably have favoured the Auto Unions more. The Mercedes W165 was a lovely looking car and Auto Union were apparently very advanced with their engine development. The Cisitalia is probably not so different from what a 1.5 litre Auto Union would have been like (although I'm not sure about the 4WD). We would have had some classic three-way battles with the 158s.

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I'll be back...

[Dennis David]

Right after a posted I noticed the search facility! I posted a thresd on Benoist but it wasn't returned in my query so I don't know what was wrong. I'll have to find it somewhere.

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Regards,

Dennis David
Grand Prix History

Life is racing, the rest is waiting

[buddyt]

I know wrong war but this thread got me thinking! Remember Captian Eddie (Eddie Rickenbacker) a great racing driver that became a flying ace and using this fame and drive went on to become a true American hero. Also where WW2 may have slowed auto development WW1 (the war to end all wars)helped developed a lot of car related stuff. In the barnstorming days sometimes a car would race a plane.

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"Speed cost money, how fast do you want to go?"