Jean-Pierre Beltoise is gone

We learned with sadnessthe death of Jean-Pierre Beltoise at the age of 77. The former pilot of F1 had two strokes on the night of January 4 to 5 while he was in Dakar (Senegal).

Jean-Pierre Beltoise will remain a major player in French motorsport. With 85 F1 Grands Prix under his belt, the native of Boulogne-Billancourt experienced his greatest feat when he won the 1972 Monaco Grand Prix on a BRM with which he ended his career in the discipline in 1974. The French driver also drove for Matra from 1967 to 1971. His best season was 1969 when he took fifth place in the Championship.

The Frenchman quickly showed himself skillful at the wheel of a car since he won the title of champion of France F3 in 1965. before winning the F2 European in 1968. But Jean-Pierre Beltoise was not limited to this discipline since he also excelled, notably winning the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen (New York) in 1974 on a Matra Simca MS670C and participating 14 times to 24 Hours of Le Mans (Sarthe).

Jean-Pierre Beltoise subsequently shone in the French Touring Car Championship, winning two titles in 1976 and 1977 before winning in Rallycross during the 1979 season, demonstrating that he was competitive on all types of terrain. AUTOhebdo presents its most sincere condolences to his family and loved ones.

AUTOhebdo returns in detail to the exceptional career of Jean-Pierre Beltoise in issue 1993, available this evening at 22 p.m. in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.