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Matra, every weekend

22. Jan 2022 
by Ziv Knoll
2815 views

Jean-Pierre Beltoise (1937 – 2015) was a French racing driver who raced in Formula One for the Matra and BRM teams. He competed in 88 Grand Prix achieving a single victory at the 1972 Monaco Grand Prix in a BRM, and a total of eight podium finishes and four fastest laps.

Picture above: Jean-Pierre Beltoise (Matra MS11) at the 1968 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, where he finished 8th, three laps behind winner Bruce McLaren (McLaren-Ford).

In 1968, Beltoise began the season with a Formula Two (F2) Matra, but from the second race onwards had F1 machinery and finished second in the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.

In 1969, he was placed in Ken Tyrrell’s Matra team, whilst the works V12 Matra engine was developed, driving alongside Jackie Stewart, and finished second again in the French Grand Prix at Charade.

In the 60s, most of the F1 drivers also participated in selected F2 races, like the 1969 Eifelrennen held at the great Nürburgring. Jackie Stewart won the race in a Matra MS7-Cosworth FVA in front of Jo Siffert in a Lola T102-BMW and Jean-Pierre Beltoise in the second Matra MS7 (picture below, see the enormous and high-placed rear wing).

 

Source: Rainer W Schlegelmilch

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