Willy
Mairesse

Willy Mairesse was born on 1 October 1928 in Momignies, Belgium. Before reaching Formula One he competed in rallying and sports-car racing. He won the Liège-Rome-Liège marathon rally in 1956 and finished third in the 1959 Grand Prix of Monza in a Ferrari.

He made his World Championship debut for Ferrari in June 1960, and that same year he took third place at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, behind winner Phil Hill and runner-up Richie Ginther, a lap down. It remained his only podium. He drove for Ferrari until 1963, with an additional spell at Lotus in 1961. At the 1962 Belgian Grand Prix he qualified fifth and spent a long time duelling with Trevor Taylor's Lotus, until the two cars collided at Blanchimont and his Ferrari left the track. He finished fourth at the 1962 Italian Grand Prix, a car length ahead of Giancarlo Baghetti, and ended that season 14th in the championship, his best final position. In 1963 he crashed his Ferrari at the German Grand Prix. He was entered by BRM in 1965 but did not start a race. In total he had 13 entries and 12 starts, with no wins and no pole positions.

In sports cars, he finished second at Le Mans in 1961 with Mike Parkes, and in 1963 he won the Nürburgring 1000 km with John Surtees. He won the 1964 Angola Grand Prix in Luanda and the 1965 Spa 500 km in a Ferrari 250 LM. That year he also took third at Le Mans with Jean Beurlys, winning the GT class, and the pair were third again in 1967. In 1966 he won the Targa Florio with Herbert Müller in a Porsche.

At the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans he drove a Ford GT40 with Jean Blaton, who raced under the name Beurlys. He crashed heavily on the first lap, and the accident ended his racing career. Willy Mairesse died in Ostend on 2 September 1969, aged 40.

Source: Wikipedia, “Willy Mairesse”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.