Jean-Pierre Beltoise 1937-2015

By Greg MacLeman
Gallery
 | 20 Jan 2015

 

Former Formula One driver Jean-Pierre Beltoise passed away at the beginning of 2015. 

He began his racing career on two wheels rather than four, quickly proving his pace and talent before forays into Formula 3, Formula 2 and, eventually, the bright lights of top flight motorsport in 1967. 

Again, he impressed, winning the non-championship 1967 Buenos Aires Grand Prix, followed by a podium finish at the Dutch GP a year later. Before long he was driving alongside a young Jackie Stewart at Matra, finally tasting championship victory at Monaco in '72.

Copyright LAT

 

 

Beltoise readies himself for a Formula 3 race at Reims in July 1965. His Ford-powered MAtra MS1 carried him to victory. 

 

 

Jochen Rindt's Brabham BT23 lines up alongside Jim Clark's Lotus 48, followed by Jack Brabham and, finally, the Matra MS5 of Jean-Pierre Beltoise.

 

 

By 1969, Ken Tyrrell had offered Beltoise a drive for the Matra works team. His car was the Matra MS80. 

 

 

The Matra-Simca MS120 proved its worth at Spa-Francorchamps in 1970. Here, Beltoise leads the sister car of Henri Prescarolo. They finished third and sixth, respectively. 

 

 

Beltoise's partnership with Matra never yielded a championship victory. His Matra-Simca MS120 carried him to fourth position at the 1970 South African Grand Prix in Kyalami. 

 

 

A promising practice session for the 1972 Monaco Grand Prix was overshadowed by the looming threat of rain, which was the talk of the paddock as Beltoise warmed up his BRM P160B. 

 

 

Beltoise exits Casino Square in torrential rain, powering on to his first and only win in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship – and BRM's last. 

 

Despite his triumph at Monaco, Beltoise never achieved the same success in a Formula One car. Numerous titles did come his way, however, after taking to Touring Cars following his retirement from F1. 

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Greg MacLeman

Greg MacLeman is a contributor to and former Features Editor of Classic & Sports Car, and drives a restored and uprated 1974 Triumph 2500TC