A Maserati in the twilight

Dutch racing driver and nobleman Carel Godin de Beaufort works quietly on his Maserati 250F, ahead of the 1959 French Grand Prix held at Reims-Gueux. Magical and intense moments captured here-above of a lonely driver and his race car.

Dutch driver Godin de Beaufort was one of the last truly amateur drivers in F1, who ran his own cars – painted in orange – the Dutch racing colours, under the Écurie Maarsbergen banner, the team taking its name from the family’s country estate.

He was a Porsche devotee (he only drove two World Championship races in anything else), like here at Reims in 1959, where he finished 9th in the Maserati. Godin de Beaufort, sadly, was killed during practice for the 1964 German Grand Prix, when he lost control of his Porsche 718 at the infamous Bergwerk corner at the Nürburgring.