Paul
Frère

Paul Frère was born in Le Havre in 1917 and was a Belgian racing driver. As a rower, he won three Belgian championships: the coxless four in 1946 and 1947, and the coxed four in 1946.

He made his Formula One World Championship debut in June 1952 and went on to start eleven championship races. In 1952 he drove for HWM and Simca-Gordini, in 1953 for HWM and in 1954 for Gordini. He was with Ferrari in 1955 and 1956. He took one podium finish, and his best championship position was seventh in 1956. In Formula One races outside the championship he won the 1952 Grand Prix des Frontières and the 1960 South African Grand Prix. In 1960 he also won the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Ferrari, sharing the car with fellow Belgian Olivier Gendebien. He retired from active racing in 1960.

Frère then worked as a motoring journalist and was European editor of Road & Track. His book Sports Car and Competition Driving appeared in 1963, and he also wrote The Porsche 911 Story about the Porsche 911. He died in Saint-Paul-de-Vence in 2008. Turn 15 at Spa-Francorchamps has been named in his honour.

Source: Wikipedia, “Paul Frère”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.