Jacques
Swaters

Jacques Swaters was born in Brussels on 30 October 1926. He made his debut in the 24 Hours of Spa in an MG, sharing the car with his friend Paul Frère, who later became a journalist. In 1950 he founded Ecurie Belgique together with Frère and André Pilette, a team that prepared cars for Grand Prix and sports car events. He raced a yellow Talbot-Lago in a number of events, including the 1951 German and Italian Grands Prix, which counted towards the World Championship.

In 1952 he revived Ecurie Francorchamps with Charles de Tornaco and Geoff Richardson, a team mainly associated with Ferrari. Driving the team's Ferrari 500, he won the 1953 Avusrennen, a Formula 2 race. In the World Championship he drove a Ferrari in 1953 and 1954: he was entered three times and started twice in 1953, then was entered three times and started all three in 1954. In total he made seven World Championship starts. As a driver he later focused on sports car racing, driving a Jaguar C-Type and a D-Type.

After retiring from driving in 1957, Swaters became manager of Ecurie Nationale Belge. The team ran Cooper-Climax cars in Formula 2 and helped launch the careers of Olivier Gendebien, Lucien Bianchi and Mauro Bianchi. It moved into Formula 1 in 1960. By 1964 Swaters had turned his attention fully to sports car racing. His Ecurie Francorchamps won a class at the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans and took the overall victory at the 1965 500 km of Spa. It ceased operating in 1982. Swaters died on 10 December 2010.

Source: Wikipedia, “Jacques Swaters”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.