Jean-Pierre Beltoise

Jean-Pierre Beltoise
Beltoise at the 1968 Dutch Grand Prix
Born	Jean-Pierre Maurice Georges Beltoise (1937-04-26)26 April 1937 Paris, France
Died	5 January 2015(2015-01-05) (aged 77) Dakar, Senegal
Spouse	Jacqueline Cevert ​ (m. 1968)​
Children	2, including Anthony
Relatives	François Cevert (brother-in-law)
Motorcycle racing career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing Active years 1962–1964 First race 1962 250cc French Grand Prix Last race 1964 50cc French Grand Prix Team(s) Morini, Kreidler, Bultaco Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 8 0 1 0 0 16
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	French
Active years	1966–1974
Teams	Matra, BRM
Entries	88 (86 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	1
Podiums	8
Career points	77
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	4
First entry	1966 German Grand Prix
First win	1972 Monaco Grand Prix
Last entry	1974 United States Grand Prix
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years	1963–1964, 1966–1967, 1969–1977, 1979
Teams	Bonnet, Matra, Ligier, Inaltéra, Rondeau
Best finish	4th (1969)
Class wins	1 (1976)

Jean-Pierre Maurice Georges Beltoise (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃.pjɛʁ bɛl.twaz]; 26 April 1937 – 5 January 2015) was a French racing driver and motorcycle road racer, who competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from 1962 to 1964 and in Formula One from 1966 to 1974. Beltoise won the 1972 Monaco Grand Prix with BRM.

Beltoise competed in Formula One for Matra and BRM, finishing fifth in the 1969 World Drivers' Championship with the former. Beltoise was also a class winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1976 with Inaltéra.

Early career

Beltoise won 11 French national motorcycle road racing titles in three years. He competed in international Grand Prix motorcycle racing from the 1962 to 1964 seasons in the 50, 125, 250 and 500 cc classes. His best finish was a sixth place in the 1964 50 cc World Championship.

In 1964 he was racing a 1.1-litre René Bonnet sports car. His career almost ended with a huge crash in the Reims 12-hour sports car endurance race, in which he suffered a broken arm, so severely damaged that its movement was permanently restricted. However he returned in 1965 and won the Reims Formula 3 race, after which he graduated to Formula 2 for the following season.

Formula One

In a Matra car during practice for the 1968 German Grand Prix.

Beltoise at the 1968 Dutch Grand Prix.

In 1966, Beltoise drove in the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring in a Formula Two (F2) one litre Matra MS5-Cosworth. He finished one lap down but won the F2 class. However, it was his only Grand Prix that season. In 1967 Beltoise competed in three Grands Prix with a Formula Two Matra MS7 1.6 litre Cosworth, and finished seventh at both Watkins Glen and Mexico City. He also won the 1967 Buenos Aires Grand Prix, which was not part of the World Championship calendar. In 1968 Beltoise began the season again with an F2 car but from the second race onward had Formula One machinery and finished second in the 1968 Dutch Grand Prix. In 1969 he was placed in Ken Tyrrell's Matra team, whilst the works V12 engine was developed driving alongside Jackie Stewart, and finished second in the French grand Prix. Beltoise returned to the works Matra team for both 1970 and 1971. In 1971, racing in the Matra sports car team, he was involved in the accident in which Ignazio Giunti died during the 1000 km Buenos Aires, and his international racing license was suspended, although he was allowed to compete while on appeal.

For 1972, he moved to the BRM team and won what turned out to be his only and BRM's final championship-qualifying Formula One victory at the 1972 Monaco Grand Prix in heavy rain. In that same year, Jean-Pierre won a non-championship race in the end of the F1 season, at Brands Hatch, thus marking the last two victories of BRM make in Formula One. He spent three seasons with BRM, and finally retired from Formula 1 at the end of the 1974 season.

Later career

He later did most of the testing for the Ligier F1 team, although a proposed Formula One drive for 1976 went instead to Jacques Laffite and he thereafter turned his attention to touring car racing in France, twice winning the French title for BMW before entering rallycross in an Alpine-Renault with which he won the French title. In 1981 he returned to touring cars and raced for Peugeot throughout the 1980s. He was also a regular ice racer. His two sons, Anthony and Julien, are both race drivers.

In fiction, Beltoise frequently appeared in the Michel Vaillant series of comic books, amongst others being part of the winning Vaillante Le Mans team.

Death

Beltoise died at his holiday home in Dakar, Senegal, on 5 January 2015, aged 77, following two strokes.

Racing record

Motorcycle Grand Prix results

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6
Points	8	6	4	3	2	1

(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Class	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Points	Rank	Wins
1962	250cc	Moto Morini	ESP	FRA 5	IOM	NED	BEL	GER	ULS	DDR	NAT	ARG			2	20th	0
1963	50cc	Kreidler	ESP	GER	FRA 5	IOM	NED	BEL 6			FIN		ARG	JPN	3	11th	0
	125cc	Bultaco	ESP	GER	FRA	IOM	NED	BEL 6	ULS	DDR	FIN	NAT	ARG	JPN	1	20th	0
1964	50cc	Kreidler	USA 5	ESP	FRA 3	IOM	NED	BEL	GER		FIN		JPN		6	6th	0
	125cc	Bultaco	USA 5	ESP	FRA 5	IOM	NED	GER	DDR	ULS	FIN	NAT	JPN		4	13th	0

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1963	Automobiles René Bonnet	Claude Bobrowski	René Bonnet Aérodjet LM6	P 3.0	269	11th	4th
1964	Société Automobiles René Bonnet	Gérard Laureau	René Bonnet Aérodjet	P 3.0	54	DNF	DNF
1966	Matra Sports SARL	Johnny Servoz-Gavin	Matra M620	P 2.0	112	DNF	DNF
1967	Equipe Matra Sports	Johnny Servoz-Gavin	Matra MS630	P 2.0	155	DNF	DNF
1969	Equipe Matra Elf	Piers Courage	Matra MS650	P 3.0	368	4th	2nd
1970	Equipe Matra-Simca	Henri Pescarolo	Matra-Simca MS660	P 3.0	79	DNF	DNF
1971	Equipe Matra-Simca	Chris Amon	Matra-Simca MS660	P 3.0	263	DNF	DNF
1972	Equipe Matra-Simca	Chris Amon	Matra-Simca MS670	S 3.0	1	DNF	DNF
1973	Equipe Matra-Simca Shell	François Cevert	Matra-Simca MS670B	S 3.0	157	DNF	DNF
1974	Equipe Gitanes	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Matra-Simca MS680	S 3.0	104	DNF	DNF
1975	Gitanes Automobiles Ligier	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Ligier JS2-Ford Cosworth	S 3.0	36	DNF	DNF
1976	Inaltéra	Henri Pescarolo	Inaltéra LM-Ford Cosworth	GTP	305	8th	1st
1977	Inaltéra	Al Holbert	InaltéraLM77-Ford Cosworth	S +2.0	275	13th	5th
1979	ITT Oceanic Jean Rondeau	Henri Pescarolo	Rondeau M379-Ford Cosworth	S +2.0	279	10th	2nd
Source:

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Pos.	Pts
1967	Matra Sports	Matra MS5	Ford	SNE Ret	SIL Ret	NÜR 10	HOC	TUL 3	JAR Ret	ZAN 4	PER 2	BRH DNS	VAL 2								3rd	27
1968	Matra Sports	Matra MS7	Ford	HOC 1	THR 2	JAR 1	PAL	TUL 2	ZAN 1	PER NC	HOC	VAL 4									1st	48
1969	Matra Sports	Matra MS7	Ford	THR 3	HOC 1	NÜR 3	JAR 2	TUL 4	PER Ret	VAL											NC	0‡
1970	Constructions Mécaniques Pygmée	Pygmée MDB15	Ford	THR	HOC	BAR Ret	ROU DNQ	PER Ret	TUL	IMO	HOC Ret										NC	0
1971	Constructions Mécaniques Pygmée	Pygmée MDB16	Ford	HOC	THR	NÜR	JAR DNS	PAL	ROU Ret	MAN	TUL										NC	0
	GTE Racing Cars	Lotus 69										ALB DNQ	VAL	VAL
1972	Shell-Arnold Team	March 722	Ford	MAL	THR	HOC	PAU Ret														NC	0
	Motul-Rondel Racing	Brabham BT38						PAL 6	HOC	ROU Ret	ÖST	IMO	MAN	PER	SAL	ALB	HOC
1973	STP March Racing Team	March 732	BMW	MAL Ret	HOC Ret	THR DNQ	NÜR	PAU NC	KIN	NIV	HOC	ROU	MNZ	MAN	KAR	PER	SAL	NOR	ALB 3	VAL	20th	4
1974	Écurie Elf	Alpine A367	BMW	BAR	HOC NC	PAU	SAL	HOC	MUG	KAR	PER	HOC	VAL								NC	0
1975	Racing Organisation Course	Chevron B29	Chrysler	EST	THR	HOC	NÜR	PAU NC	HOC	SAL						NOG NC	VAL				NC	0
	Écurie Elf	Alpine A367	BMW								ROU Ret	MUG	PER	SIL	ZOL
Source:

^‡ Graded drivers not eligible for European Formula Two Championship points

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	WDC	Pts
1966	Matra Sports	Matra MS5 (F2)	Ford Cosworth SCA 1.0 L4	MON	BEL	FRA	GBR	NED	GER 8	ITA	USA	MEX							NC	0
1967	Matra Sports	Matra MS5 (F2)	Ford Cosworth FVA 1.6 L4	RSA	MON DNQ	NED	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	CAN	ITA							NC	0
		Matra MS7 (F2)											USA 7	MEX 7
1968	Matra Sports	Matra MS7 (F2)	Ford Cosworth FVA 1.6 L4	RSA 6															9th	11
	Matra International	Matra MS10	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8		ESP 5
	Matra Sports	Matra MS11	Matra MS9 3.0 V12			MON Ret	BEL 8	NED 2	FRA 9	GBR Ret	GER Ret	ITA 5	CAN Ret	USA Ret	MEX Ret
1969	Matra International	Matra MS10	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	RSA 6															5th	21
		Matra MS80			ESP 3	MON Ret	NED 8	FRA 2		GER 121	ITA 3	CAN 4	USA Ret	MEX 5
		Matra MS84							GBR 9
1970	Equipe Matra Elf	Matra-Simca MS120	Matra MS12 3.0 V12	RSA 4	ESP Ret	MON Ret	BEL 3	NED 5	FRA 13	GBR Ret	GER Ret	AUT 6	ITA 3	CAN 8	USA Ret	MEX 5			9th	16
1971	Equipe Matra Sports	Matra-Simca MS120B	Matra MS71 3.0 V12	RSA	ESP 6	MON Ret	NED 9	FRA 7	GBR 7	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN Ret	USA 8					22nd	1
1972	Marlboro BRM	BRM P160B	BRM P142 3.0 V12	ARG	RSA Ret	ESP Ret	MON 1	BEL Ret	FRA 15										11th	9
		BRM P160C								GBR 11	GER 9	AUT 8
		BRM P180											ITA 8	CAN Ret	USA Ret
1973	Marlboro BRM	BRM P160D	BRM P142 3.0 V12	ARG Ret	BRA Ret	RSA Ret													10th	9
		BRM P160E					ESP 5	BEL Ret	MON Ret	SWE Ret	FRA 11	GBR Ret	NED 5	GER Ret	AUT 5	ITA 13	CAN 4	USA 9
1974	Team BRM	BRM P160E	BRM P142 3.0 V12	ARG 5	BRA 10														13th	10
		BRM P201	BRM P200 3.0 V12			RSA 2	ESP Ret	BEL 5	MON Ret	SWE Ret	NED Ret	FRA 10	GBR 12	GER Ret	AUT Ret	ITA Ret	CAN NC	USA DNQ
Source:

Notes

• ^1 – In the 1969 German Grand Prix, Beltoise was classified 12th on the circuit but was the 6th Formula One car behind six Formula 2 cars, thus scoring one World Championship point.

Non-Championship Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1967	Matra Sports	Matra MS5 (F2)	Ford Cosworth FVA 1.6 L4	ROC Ret	SPC	INT	SYR	OUL 5
		Matra MS7 (F2)							ESP 10
1970	Equipe Matra Elf	Matra-Simca MS120	Matra MS12 3.0 V12	ROC DNS	INT	OUL
1971	Equipe Matra Sports	Matra-Simca MS120B	Matra MS71 3.0 V12	ARG	ROC	QUE	SPR	INT Ret	RIN	OUL	VIC
1972	Marlboro BRM	BRM P160B	BRM P142 3.0 V12	ROC 6	BRA DNS	INT 2	OUL	REP
		BRM P180							VIC 1
1973	Marlboro BRM	BRM P160D	BRM P142 3.0 V12	ROC 6	INT
1974	Team BRM	BRM P160E	BRM P142 3.0 V12	PRE 8	ROC	INT
Source: