Jean Behra

Jean Marie Behra (16 February 1921 – 1 August 1959) was a Formula One driver who raced for the Gordini, Maserati, BRM, Ferrari and Porsche teams.

Behra was small in stature, stocky, and weighed 178 pounds.

Behra had big shoulders and was scarred from 12 crashes.

In January 1950 he drove (with Julio Quinlin) a Simca 8 coupé to third place in the Monte Carlo Rally.

Behra began driving cars competitively in 1952.

Joakim Bonnier claimed that he learned the majority of his racing skill from Behra.

Although he never achieved victory in a World Championship Formula One race, he managed an unquenchable thirst for motorsport, being considered a formidable competitor to the day he died.

He hit the headlines when he won the non-title 1952 Reims Grand Prix.

Behra was in a Gordini in the Panamericana road race in the Mexican state of Oaxaca in November 1952.

He won the first stage of the five-day race from Mexico's southern border to the United States border at Ciudad Juárez near El Paso.

In April 1954 Behra passed the leader in the last ten minutes on his way to victory in the Grand Prix of Pau, France.

He finished 200 yd ahead of Maurice Trintignant after having to make many pit stops due to mechanical trouble.

Behra drove a six-cylinder Gordini.

Behra finished first at the Grand Prix de Pau for a second consecutive year, this time at the wheel of a Maserati.

In 1955 he had an ear torn off from a collision.

He sometimes drove magnificently, while at other times he drove with a lack of enthusiasm.

Behra had surgery on his leg in June 1956,

forcing him to miss a 1,000 kilometer Monza Grand Prix.

He earned the pole position for the Rouen GP, a non-championship race for 3000cc sports cars, in July 1956.

His Maserati was clocked at an average speed of nearly 155.46 kilometers per hour.

Behra had his best season in the Formula One World Championship in 1956, finishing 4th overall in the championship, with 5 podiums out of 7 starts.

In April 1957 Behra turned in the quickest time for the Pau Grand Prix.

He circuited the 2.77 meter course in 1 minute 35.7 seconds, which was a half second slower than his lap record time.

The race covered a distance of 304.6 kilometers or about 190 mi. Behra won the race which was run through the streets of Pau, with an average speed of 62.7 mi/h.

Behra was injured while testing a car for the Mille Miglia in May 1957.

He recovered and entered a Maserati in the 24 hours of Le Mans on 22 June.

Behra was known for being hard-charging and temperamental, which led to confrontations with Ferrari team managers after being accused of overstressing engines at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Reims Grand Prix race in 1959.

He was dismissed from the Ferrari team after assaulting a team manager, shortly before his death.

He raced motorcycles for Moto Guzzi prior to changing to sports cars and Grand Prix racing.

Between then and 1959 he scored many victories, but none in Formula One championship races.

Behra drove a Maserati to capture the Grand Prix of Rome, a 2000cc sports car event, in October 1956.

His winning distance was 166.030 kilometers.

He covered one lap in 2 minutes, 16.9 seconds, to average 174.003 kilometers an hour.

This established a record for the Castelfusano track.

He started 19th and finished with a time of 3 hours, 41 minutes, and 44 seconds.

On the second day of competition Behra crashed his car on a curve approximately fifty miles from Puebla.

Alberto Ascari led until the 19th lap but dropped back after brake failure.

A crowd of 50,000 watched as only eleven of sixteen starters finished the race.

Behra and Luigi Musso were teammates in the 1,008 kilometer Supercortemaggiore Grand Prix at Monza, Italy.

The two Italians shared a 3000cc Maserati that won and established course and lap records for 6.3 kilometer track.