Raymond
Sommer

Raymond Sommer was born in Mouzon, France, in 1906. He began entering races in 1931, at first in a privately run Chrysler Imperial. In 1932 he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, even though his co-driver Luigi Chinetti had dropped out and Sommer spent more than 20 hours at the wheel on his own. In 1933 he took a second Le Mans victory in an Alfa Romeo, sharing the car with Tazio Nuvolari. He never saw the finish there again, but he led each of his Le Mans races up to 1938 at some point.

In the Grandes Épreuves Sommer was a regular top-ten finisher without winning a race. In 1936 he won the French Grand Prix with Jean-Pierre Wimille, though that year's event was run as a sports car race, and the Spa 24 Hours with Francesco Severi. After the Second World War he won the René Le Bègue Cup at Saint-Cloud in 1946, and in 1947 the Turin Grand Prix, the first Grand Prix victory for Enzo Ferrari as an independent constructor. In 1948 he switched to a privately owned Talbot-Lago.

In the inaugural Formula One World Championship in 1950, Sommer started five races, two for Ferrari and three in a privately entered Talbot-Lago. He finished fourth at the Monaco Grand Prix, the second round, and ended the season 14th in the drivers' standings. In July 1950 he won the Circuit du Lac Grand Prix at Aix-les-Bains in a Ferrari 166. On 10 September 1950 he was killed in a race at Cadours when his Cooper overturned.

Source: Wikipedia, “Raymond Sommer”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.