Jean-Pierre Wimille

Jean-Pierre Wimille (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃pjɛʁ vimil]; 26 February 1908 – 28 January 1949) was a French racing driver and a member of the French Resistance during World War II.^[1] He was a two-time victor of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, winning in 1937 and 1939. He is generally regarded as one of the best French drivers of his era. In 1949, he was killed when he crashed his car into a tree while practicing for a race.

Wimille was an agent for the covert Special Operations Executive of Britain in World War II. He joined fellow race-car drivers William Grover-Williams and Robert Benoist in the resistance against the German occupation of France. He survived the war; Grover-Williams and Benoist were captured by the Germans and executed.

Wimille was born in Paris, France to a father who was employed as the motoring correspondent for the Petit Parisien newspaper. Jean-Pierre Wimille developed a fascination with racing cars at a young age. He was 22 years old when he made his Grand Prix debut, driving a Bugatti 37A at the 1930 French Grand Prix in Pau.

In 1931, Wimille finished second at the Monte Carlo Rally, driving a Lorraine-Dietrich.^[2] Driving a Bugatti T51, in 1932 he won the La Turbie hill climb, the Grand Prix de Lorraine and the Grand Prix d'Oran. In 1934 he was the victor at the Algerian Grand Prix in Algiers driving a Bugatti T59 and in January 1936 he finished second in the South African Grand Prix held at the Prince George Circuit in East London, South Africa then won the French Grand Prix in his home country.

Still in France, that same year Wimille won the Deauville Grand Prix, a race held on the city's streets. He won in his Bugatti T59 in an accident-marred race that killed drivers Raymond Chambost and Marcel Lehoux in separate incidents.^[3] Of the sixteen cars that started the race, only three managed to finish.

In 1936, Wimille traveled to Long Island, New York to compete in the Vanderbilt Cup where he finished second, behind the winner, Tazio Nuvolari.^[4] He also competed in the 24 hours of Le Mans endurance race, winning in 1937 and again in 1939. In 1940, Wimille developed with Marcel Lesurque an electric car able to reach 50 km/h.^[5]

Wimille and fellow Grand Prix race drivers Robert Benoist and William Grover-Williams joined the clandesine Special Operations Executive of Britain, which aided the French Resistance during the 1940-1944 occupation of France by Nazi Germany.^[6] Wimille was the only one of the three to survive the war.^[7]

With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Wimille joined the French air force, but after France's defeat in June 1940 he was demobilized. His racing career halted because of the war, he spent his time designing an electric car. In late 1943, he was recruited by fellow race-car driver Robert Benoist as an agent for SOE. Benoist's network was based near Nantes and was called Clergyman. Wimille joined Benoist's network, becoming his deputy, along with wireless operator Denise Bloch and others. The operatives of Clergyman achieved their objective of destroying several power line pylons.^[8][9]

On 18 June 1944, the Germans raided Benoist's chateau near Sermaise, Essonne and captured several members of the Clergyman network, including Bloch (who was later executed). Wimille escaped by running into the forest and hiding beneath the roots of a tree growing over a small stream with only his head above the water. After the Germans departed, he sheltered at a farm and later made his way to Paris. Wimille's lover and future wife, Christiane de la Fressange ("Cric"), a former member of the French national ski team, was among those captured. Cric escaped from the Germans in August 1944 while being transported by train to a concentration camp in Germany. Her brother found her by chance and helped her pose as a Red Cross nurse and escape.^[10][11]

After his escape, Wimille worked as a liaison officer with the invading Allied forces. He joined the French airforce after Paris was liberated in August 1944. He flew reconnaissance missions until the war ended in May 1945 when he resumed his racing career. The near-miraculous escapes from the Germans by Wimille and his future wife led to unfounded suspicions that they were double agents.^[12]

Wimille married Christiane de la Fressange with whom he had a son, François, born in 1946. At the end of the War, he became the No. 1 driver for the Alfa Romeo team between 1946 and 1948, winning several Grand Prix races including his second French Grand Prix. He had a long-standing affair with French singer Juliette Greco, whom he met in 1947 at the Tabou in Paris.^[13]

From 1946 on, Wimille built and designed cars in Paris under the brand-name Wimille. Between 1946 and 1950 around eight cars were built, at first with Citroën engines, later with Ford V8 engines.

Wimille died when he lost control of his Simca-Gordini and crashed into a tree during practice runs for the 1949 Buenos Aires Grand Prix. He is buried in the Cimetière de Passy in Paris. There is a memorial to him at the Porte Dauphine on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne in Paris.

Some of Jean-Pierre Wimille's race victories:

1932:

• Hill climb Nice - La Turbie - Bugatti Type 54
• Grand Prix de Lorraine - Alfa Romeo 8C
• Grand Prix d'Oran - Alfa Romeo 8C

1934:

• Grand Prix of Algeria – Bugatti T59

1936:

• French Grand Prix – Bugatti T57G
• Grand Prix de la Marne – Bugatti T57G
• Deauville Grand Prix – Bugatti T59
• Grand Prix du Comminges – Bugatti T59/57

1937:

• Pau Grand Prix – Bugatti T57G (The Tank)
• Grand Prix de Böne – Bugatti T57
• 24 hours of Le Mans – Bugatti T57G driving with Robert Benoist
• Grand Prix de la Marne – Bugatti T57

1939:

• Coupe de Paris - Bugatti Type 59
• Grand Prix du Centenaire Luxembourg – Bugatti T57S45
• 24 hours of Le Mans – Bugatti Type 57C driving with Pierre Veyron

Post War – 1945:

• Coupe des Prisonniers – Bugatti Type 59

1946:

• Coupe de la Résistance – Alfa Romeo 308
• Grand Prix du Roussillon – Alfa Romeo 308
• Grand Prix de Bourgogne – Alfa Romeo 308
• Grand Prix des Nations – Geneva (Heat 1) – Alfa Romeo 158

1947:

• Swiss Grand Prix – Alfa Romeo 158
• Belgian Grand Prix – Alfa Romeo 158
• Coupe de Paris - Simca-Gordini T15

1948:

• Grand Prix de Rosario – Simca-Gordini T15
• French Grand Prix – Alfa Romeo 158
• Italian Grand Prix – Alfa Romeo 158
• Autodrome Grand Prix – Alfa Romeo 158/47

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

• Paris, Jean-Michel and Mearns, William D: "Jean-Pierre Wimille: à bientôt la revanche", Editions Drivers, Toulouse, 2002, ISBN 2-9516357-5-3
• Saward, Joe: "The Grand Prix Saboteurs", Morienval Press, London, 2006, ISBN 978-0-9554868-0-7

• Grand Prix History – Hall of Fame Archived 22 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Jean-Pierre Wimille
• Jean-Pierre Wimille grave photos at Cimetière de Passy [1] [2]