Patrick Nève, disappointed hopeful

Patrick Nève broke through in the middle of the 70’s when he won the 1974 British Formula Ford championship in a Lola and then when he drove his F3 Safir to victory at Knockhill in 1975.

This enabled him to start in Formula 1 in 1976 in a RAM Racing Brabham BT44 and then try his luck in an Ensign at the French Grand Prix. The following year he started (nearly) every Grand Prix in a March 761B for Frank Williams’ new team, but the results were modest.

Early 1977, he drove the race of life, leading the opening F2 round at Silverstone in the original March 772P  convincingly during 40 laps. But after that feat, his career stalled, an ultimate attempt in F1 with the mediocre Kaushen was a terrible failure in 1979.

Nève then continued to race in endurance racing and in touring cars, without much success, but I discovered his last appearance in single seaters, when the Belgian drove a March 792 belonging to the Walter Wolf Racing in one race in the “All Japan Formula 2 Championship” in 1980 as seen in this very rare picture …

He left us much too early, on the 22nd of March 2017.

RIP Patrick.