'Willy Mairesse' (
October 1,
1928 -
September 9,
1969) was a
Formula One and sports car driver from
Belgium. He participated in 13 grands prix, debuting on
June 19,
1960. He achieved 1 podium, and scored a total of 7 championship points. He committed suicide in a hotel room in
Ostend after injury at the
1968 24 Hours of Le Mans forced an end to his career.
Peter Revson once described the intensity of Mairesse before a race at
Spa, Belgium. Revson looked into his car and saw Mairesse's ''furrowed'' face, beetled brows, and eyes which were almost tilted and their color changed. ''It was almost like looking at the devil.''
[1]
Sports car driver
Mairesse secured third place in the Grand Prix of
Monza in June
1959. Driving a
Ferrari, he placed behind
Alfonso Thiele and
Carlo Mario Abate, both also in Ferraris.
[2] Mairesse and Mike Parkes of
England finished second to
Phil Hill and
Olivier Gendebien at the
1961 24 Hours of Le Mans. Driving a
Ferrari, Mairesse and Parkes also eclipsed the previous Le Mans record, covering 2,758.66 miles.
[3] In the 1963
12 Hours of Sebring Mairesse and
Nino Vacarella placed second after
Ludovico Scarfiotti and
John Surtees. Both teams drove Ferraris.
[4] Surtees and Mairesse led for the first 14 hours of the
1963 24 Hours of Le Mans. Scarfiotti and
Lorenzo Bandini captured won on the French circuit where one driver had a fatal accident. Mairesse and Surtees retired after a motor fire.
[5] A young German
Red Cross worker was killed in August 1963 when the wheel of a Ferrari driven by Mairesse came off as his car overturned. Guenther Schneider, 19, was hit by a flying wheel during the running of the Grand Prix of Germany at
Adenau.
[6] Mairesse was triumphant in the
1964 Grand Prix of
Angola, run at
Luanda. His average speed was 80.78 miles per hour.
[7] Mairesse piloted a Ferrari 250 LM to first place in
the Grand Prix of Spa in May
1965. He completed the race in 2 hours, 29 minutes, and 45.7 seconds. He averaged 126.29 seconds.
[8] Mairesse and Jean Beurlys of
France finished third at the
1965 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Masten Gregory and
Jochen Rindt captured the
1965 24 Hours of Le Mans. Mairesse and Beurlys finished third in a Ferrari.
[9] In April
1966 Surtees and Parkes won the 1,000 kilometer
Monza Auto Race. Mairesse and Herbert Mueller of
Switzerland came in third in a
Ford sports car, two laps behind.
[10] In May Mairesse and Mueller drove to victory in the
Targa Florio, driving a
Porsche Carrera 6. Rain caused considerable attrition as only thirteen of seventy starters finished the race.
[11] Mairesse and Beurlys again drove a Ferrari to third place in the
1967 24 Hours of Le Mans. This event was won by the
American team
of
Dan Gurney and
A.J. Foyt.
[12]
Formula One
Mairesse was third in the Grand Prix of Europe,
1960 Italian Grand Prix. This was the next to last race counting toward the 1960 Formula One
World Championship. Run at the
Autodromo Nazionale di Monza,
Phil Hill was victorious with
Richie Ginther second, and Mairesse next, a
lap down.
[13]
Mairesse qualified fifth for the
1962 Belgian Grand Prix at
Spa, Belgium. The pole was won by
Graham Hill in a
BRM.
[14] During the event Mairesse
and the
Lotus of
Trevor Taylor dueled for more than an hour, passing and repassing a number of times each lap. Mairesse was
cheered heartily by an enthusiastic partisan crowd. The two cars came together at more than 100 miles per hour in the long, sweeping,
righthand Blonchimont Turn. Mairesse car went off to the left, careening into a hillside behind a ditch, and caught fire after flipping
over. He was thrown out of his Ferrari and his shoes and the legs of his trousers were torn off. He was conscious, despite numerous scrapes, cuts, and burns. Mairesse was loaded into an ambulance and transported to a hospital, where he was reported to be in good
spirits and without any serious injuries. Taylor and Mairesse made contact earlier in the season at the Grand Prix of
Brussels.
[15] In a race in which only
twelve of twenty-one starters finished, Mairesse came in fourth in the
1962 Italian Grand Prix. He was only a car length ahead of
Giancarlo Baghetti.
[16]
Out of Formula One in
1963, Phil Hill predicted a rough future for the Ferrari team. He said there was too much competition between Mairesse and Surtees. Specifically he commented ''they will harry each other so much that they will force each other to make mistakes.''
[17] Mairesse car crashed during the
1963 German Grand Prix. The Ferrari turned over multiple times after swerving off the track. He was rushed to the hospital
with a broken arm. His teammate, Surtees, was triumphant, with
Jim Clark second in a Lotus.
[18]
Complete Formula One World Championship Results
() (Races in 'bold' indicate pole position)
References
1. ''What Makes Peter Revson Race'', Parade Magazine, March 12, 1972, Page 103
2. ''2 Drivers Killed In Monza Crash'', New York Times,
June 29, 1959, Page 37.
3. ''Ferrari Wins at Le Mans'', Uniontown, Pennsylvania Evening Standard, June 12, 1961, Page 14.
4. ''Red Italian Cars Blast Race Field'', Mansfield, Ohio News Journal, March 24, 1963, Page 29.
5. ''Ferraris Mop-Up at Le Mans, Monopolize First Six Spots'', Bennington Banner, June 17, 1963, Page 6.
6. ''Boy, 19, Dies of Injuries Suffered at Grand Prix'', New York Times, August 7, 1963, Page 30.
7. ''Angola Victor'', Mansfield News Journal, November 30, 1964, Page 15.
8. ''Belgium Driver Wins Grand Prix of Spa'', Mansfield News Journal, May 17, 1965, Page 10.
9. ''Ford Challenges Collapses at Le Mans'', Pacific Stars and Stripes, June 22, 1965, Page 11.
10. ''Surtees Comes Back at Monza'', Pacific Stars and Stripes, April 27, 1966, Page 20.
11. ''Leader Crash, Porsche Wins'', Syracuse Herald Journal, May 9, 1966, Page 18.
12. ''Le Mans Is Won By Foyt'', Brownsville Herald, June 12, 1967, Page 7.
13. ''Hill, Driving a Ferrari, Scores By Lap in Grand Prix of Europe'', New York Times, September 5, 1960, Page 20.
14. ''Graham Hill Sets Pace in Grand Prix Trial'', New York Times, June 17, 1962, Page 158.
15. ''Clark First With Lotus in Belgian Grand'', New York Times, June 18, 1962, Page 34.
16. ''Graham Hill Wins At Monza'', New York Times, September 17, 1962, Page 60.
17. ''Even Clark Rates Clark Highly'', New York Times, May 26, 1963, Page 168.
18. ''Surtees Is Victor In German
Race'', New York Times, August 5, 1963, Page 44.
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