Willy Mairesse

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Willy Mairesse bigraphy, stories - auto racer

Willy Mairesse : biography

1 October 1928 – 9 September 1969

Willy Mairesse (1 October 1928 – 9 September 1969) was a Formula One and sports car driver from Belgium. He participated in 13 World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 19 June 1960. He achieved one podium, and scored a total of seven 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.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 WDC Points
1960 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari Dino 246 Ferrari V6 ARG MON 500 NED BELRet FRARet GBR POR ITA3 USA 15th 4
1961 Equipe Nationale Belge Lotus 18 ClimaxStraight-4 MON NED BELRet NC 0
Team Lotus Lotus 21 FRARet GBR
Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 156 Ferrari V6 GERRet ITA USA
1962 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 156 Ferrari V6 NED MON7 BELRet FRA GBR GER ITA4 USA RSA 14th 3
1963 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 156 Ferrari V6 MONRet BELRet NED FRA GBR GERRet ITA USA MEX RSA NC 0
1965 Scuderia Centro Sud BRM P57 BRM V8 RSA MON BELDNS FRA GBR NED GER ITA USA MEX NC 0

Formula One

Mairesse was third in the Grand Prix of Europe, 1960 Italian Grand Prix. This was the penultimate race of the 1960 Formula One World Championship. Run at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Phil Hill was victorious with Richie Ginther second, and Mairesse next, a lap down. Mairesse qualified fifth for the 1962 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa, Belgium. The pole was won by Graham Hill in a BRM. 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, left-hand Blanchimont 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. 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.