Jean-Pierre Wimille

Jean-Pierre Wimille
Wimille on the cover of El Gráfico magazine, 1948
Born	Jean-Pierre Wimille (1908-02-26)26 February 1908 16th arrondissement of Paris, France
Died	28 January 1949(1949-01-28) (aged 40) Buenos Aires, Argentina
Championship titles
Major victories 24 Hours of Le Mans (1937, 1939)
Champ Car career
1 race run over 1 year
Best finish	8th (1936)
First race	1936 Vanderbilt Cup (Westbury)
Wins Podiums Poles 0 1 0
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years	1937, 1939
Teams	Labric, privateer
Best finish	1st (1937, 1939)
Class wins	2 (1937, 1939)

Jean-Pierre Wimille (26 February 1908 – 28 January 1949) was a French racing driver and a member of the French Resistance during World War II.^[1] He was a two-time victor of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, winning in 1937 and 1939. He is generally regarded as one of the best French drivers of his era.

Wimille was born in Paris, France to a father who was employed as the motoring correspondent for the Petit Parisien newspaper. Jean-Pierre Wimille developed a fascination with racing cars at a young age. He was 22 years old when he made his Grand Prix debut, driving a Bugatti 37A at the 1930 French Grand Prix in Pau.

In 1931, Wimille finished second at the Monte Carlo Rally, driving a Lorraine-Dietrich.^[2] Driving a Bugatti T51, in 1932 he won the La Turbie hill climb, the Grand Prix de Lorraine and the Grand Prix d'Oran. In 1934 he was the victor at the Algerian Grand Prix in Algiers driving a Bugatti T59 and in January 1936 he finished second in the South African Grand Prix held at the Prince George Circuit in East London, South Africa then won the French Grand Prix in his home country.

Still in France, that same year Wimille won the Deauville Grand Prix, a race held on the city's streets. He won in his Bugatti T59 in an accident-marred race that killed drivers Raymond Chambost and Marcel Lehoux in separate incidents.^[3] Of the 16 cars that started the race, only three managed to finish.

In 1936, Wimille traveled to Long Island, New York to compete in the Vanderbilt Cup where he finished second, behind the winner, Tazio Nuvolari.^[4] He also competed in the 24 hours of Le Mans endurance race, winning in 1937 and again in 1939. In 1940, Wimille developed with Marcel Lesurque an electric car able to reach 50 km/h.^[5]

When World War II came, and following the German occupation of France in 1940, Wimille and fellow Grand Prix race drivers Robert Benoist and William Grover-Williams joined the Special Operations Executive, which aided the French Resistance. Of the three, Wimille was the only one to survive.

Wimille married Christiane de la Fressange with whom he had a son, François, born in 1946. At the end of the War, he became the No. 1 driver for the Alfa Romeo team between 1946 and 1948, winning several Grand Prix races including his second French Grand Prix. He had a long-standing affair with French singer Juliette Greco, whom he met in 1947 at the Tabou in Paris.^[6]

From 1946 on, Wimille built and designed cars in Paris under the brand-name Wimille. Between 1946 and 1950 around eight cars were built, at first with Citroën engines, later with Ford V8 engines.

Wimille died when he lost control of his Simca-Gordini and crashed into a tree during practice runs for the 1949 Buenos Aires Grand Prix. He is buried in the Cimetière de Passy in Paris. There is a memorial to him at the Porte Dauphine on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne in Paris.

Some of Jean-Pierre Wimille's race victories:

1932:

• Hill climb Nice - La Turbie [fr] - Bugatti Type 54 [fr]
• Grand Prix de Lorraine - Alfa Romeo 8C
• Grand Prix d'Oran - Alfa Romeo 8C

1934:

• Grand Prix of Algeria – Bugatti T59

1936:

• French Grand Prix – Bugatti T57G
• Grand Prix de la Marne – Bugatti T57G
• Deauville Grand Prix – Bugatti T59
• Grand Prix du Comminges – Bugatti T59/57

1937:

• Pau Grand Prix – Bugatti T57G (The Tank)
• Grand Prix de Böne – Bugatti T57
• 24 hours of Le Mans – Bugatti T57G driving with Robert Benoist
• Grand Prix de la Marne – Bugatti T57

1939:

• Coupe de Paris [fr] - Bugatti Type 59 [fr]
• Grand Prix du Centenaire Luxembourg – Bugatti T57S45
• 24 hours of Le Mans – Bugatti Type 57C driving with Pierre Veyron

Post War – 1945:

• Coupe des Prisonniers [fr] – Bugatti Type 59 [fr]

1946:

• Coupe de la Résistance – Alfa Romeo 308
• Grand Prix du Roussillon – Alfa Romeo 308
• Grand Prix de Bourgogne – Alfa Romeo 308
• Grand Prix des Nations – Geneva (Heat 1) – Alfa Romeo 158

1947:

• Swiss Grand Prix – Alfa Romeo 158
• Belgian Grand Prix – Alfa Romeo 158
• Coupe de Paris [fr] - Simca-Gordini T15

1948:

• Grand Prix de Rosario – Simca-Gordini T15
• French Grand Prix – Alfa Romeo 158
• Italian Grand Prix – Alfa Romeo 158
• Autodrome Grand Prix – Alfa Romeo 158/47

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

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

• Paris, Jean-Michel and Mearns, William D: "Jean-Pierre Wimille: à bientôt la revanche", Editions Drivers, Toulouse, 2002, ISBN 2-9516357-5-3
• Saward, Joe: "The Grand Prix Saboteurs", Morienval Press, London, 2006, ISBN 978-0-9554868-0-7

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jean-Pierre Wimille.

• Grand Prix History – Hall of Fame Archived 22 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Jean-Pierre Wimille
• Jean-Pierre Wimille grave photos at Cimetière de Passy [1] [2]