17 replies to this topic

[William Hunt]

Sadly I just found out that Caroline Grifnée passed away two days ago. Unbelievable considering her age. Cause of death has not been mentioned in the press only that it was 'sudden'. She was just 39 years old, this is immensely sad news.

 

https://www.lavenir....nee-est-decedee

 

The Belgian lady used to be the team manager of the DAMS Formula Renault 3.5 team, she won the title in that class coaching Carlos Sainz to the title at DAMS in 2014. Other drivers she worked with include Pastor Maldonado, Nicolas Prost, Arthur Pic, Norman Nato, Nyck de Vries, Dean Stoneman, Kevin Magnussen and Sébastien Buemi.

 

After the Formula Renault 3.5 World Series stopped she moved to the Formule E team of DAMS that she co-managed with Alain Prost.

 

 

Caroline has raced herself as well, sharing a car with Vanina Ickx in the 24h of Zolder and participating in the Renault Clio Eurocup in the past.

 

She will be sorely missed. I hardly can believe it that she's gone...

After the death of Adrian Campos last week this is a another massive blow to the autosport community.

 

 

Condolances to her family can be posted here:

https://funerader.be/caroline-grifnee

Edited by William Hunt, 03 February 2021 - 07:38.

[aray]

Rest in peace.

[Alburaq]

[William Hunt]

Stunning drive by Caroline there, she drove in the Heritage Touring Club and in that particular race she finished first in het class as 6th in a very large field: the cars in front of her and right behind her were 3 liter engine Ford Capri's & BMW's, she was in a 1.6 litre Ford Escort, the next car in that category was over 2 minutes behind her...

 

She did a lot of racing with classic touring & sports cars and did Andros Trophy as well and she even once drove Thierry Boutsen's '85 Arrows F1 car during a demonstration at Spa.

Renault even had a publicty tv spot with her to promote the Renault Clio:

 

She used to drive in the Renault Megane Eurocup as well, that was a very competitive series, she was one of the quickest female drivers around

 

At Silverstone she once had a huge crash (with no injuries)

Edited by William Hunt, 03 February 2021 - 07:49.

[Alburaq]

   

 

Full respect for her. Rest In Peace Caroline Grifnée.

[absinthedude]

Damn that's no age. Condolences to all who knew her.

[jannyg]

RIP

[barrykm]

 

What fabulous driving..!!

 

RIP Caroline.

[F1matt]

DAMS have had it rough lately. RIP Caroline. 

[ensign14]

This is funny, and, now, deeply poignant...

 

 

RIP.

[cpbell]

I'd not heard of her until now, and I'm disappointed by that.  Given that she and I were of similar ages, the premature nature of her passing seems all the more extreme.

[Ben1445]

I feel like we didn't collectively get to know of her the way we should have. 

[Burai]

Dreadful news.

 

I was sat in the grandstand at Becketts when she had that massive Megane crash. There's this video on YouTube where you can hear my friend cheer as she crashes, to which someone has commented;

 

I'll never understand how you can see such a horrifically violent crash, not knowing if the driver's OK, and there will always be one cretin cheering.

 

We've spent the past nine years calling him the "one cretin" at every possible opportunity. Thanks for the memory, Caroline. RIP.

[JacnGille]

Sad news

[William Hunt]

DAMS have had it rough lately. RIP Caroline. 

 

DAMS posted this on Twitter about her, naturally they are shocked

https://twitter.com/...327643386425346

 

This is the reaction of Carlos Sainz:

https://twitter.com/...329413022015488

[darvi]

So sad, RIP.

[messy]

Like others, I’d never really heard of her and feel extremely bad about that because I should have.

Tragic loss of someone so young and successful. Thoughts with her family.

[F1matt]

Dreadful news.

 

I was sat in the grandstand at Becketts when she had that massive Megane crash. There's this video on YouTube where you can hear my friend cheer as she crashes, to which someone has commented;

 

 

 

 

We've spent the past nine years calling him the "one cretin" at every possible opportunity. Thanks for the memory, Caroline. RIP.

 

 

When Schumacher crashed at Stowe in 99 it was easier to tell who didn't cheer, it was like a goal celebration.