Jo Schlesser

Jo Schlesser
Born (1928-05-18)18 May 1928
Liouville, Meuse, France
Died 7 July 1968(1968-07-07) (aged 40)
Rouen-Les-Essarts, Seine-Maritime, France
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality France French
Active years 1966–1968
Teams Matra, Honda
Entries 3
Championships 0
Wins 0
Podiums 0
Career points 0
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 0
First entry 1966 German Grand Prix
Last entry 1968 French Grand Prix

Joseph "Jo" Schlesser (18 May 1928 – 7 July 1968) was a French Formula One and sports car racing driver. He participated in three World Championship Grands Prix, including the 1968 French Grand Prix in which he was killed. He scored no championship points. He was the uncle of Jean-Louis Schlesser who himself became a Formula One driver in the 1980s.

Early career

Schlesser began his motor sport career in 1952, when he rallied a Panhard before, in 1954, trying the then popular French class of racing known as Monomill.[1] His career was then interrupted for three years whilst he was working in Mozambique[1] but he returned to Europe in 1957 when he finished second in the Rome-Liège-Rome Rally in a Mercedes.[1] He then raced a Ferrari 250 GT but without much success until 1960 when he finished second in class at the Nürburgring 1000 km and second overall at Rouen.[1] He also raced a Cooper in Formula Two in 1960 but only achieved a sixth place at Syracuse.[1] In 1961 his season was cut short by an accident at Le Mans but he returned in 1962 with a Formula Junior Brabham.[1]

In 1964 Schlesser moved to the new one litre Formula Two and became a highly regarded competitor in European Formula Two in the pre European Formula Two Championship era.[1] In 1966 he joined the works Matra Formula Two team and continued with the same team as Ford France in 1967. In 1968 he joined his close friend Guy Ligier to race McLarens.[1]

Formula One

Schlesser participated in the 1966 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring with a Formula Two (F2) specification Matra MS5-BRM 1.0 litre and again in 1967 at the same venue with an F2 Matra MS5-Cosworth 1.6 litre.[2] In 1966, he finished 10th in the overall classification and third in the Formula Two classification. In 1967, he was forced to retire with a clutch problem after two laps.

A real Formula One opportunity came for Schlesser in 1968 with Honda. The Honda team had completed an experimental air-cooled Formula One car (the RA302) which was tested by their works driver John Surtees. Surtees pronounced it as not ready for racing, and a potential deathtrap. Undaunted, with the financial help of Honda France, Honda entered it for the French Grand Prix at Rouen. Being the local hero, Schlesser was hired to drive it.

Schlesser's magnesium-bodied Honda RA302 crashes and burns during the 1968 French Grand Prix. Schlesser was killed.

After two laps, the car slid wide at the Six Frères corner and crashed sideways into a bank. The magnesium-bodied Honda and 58 laps worth of fuel ignited instantly, leaving Schlesser no chance of survival. As a result, Honda withdrew from Formula One at the end of the 1968 season after Surtees again refused to drive the car at the Italian race of the same year.

Jo Schlesser also raced in NASCAR, finishing 13th in the 1964 Daytona 500.

Legacy

A friend of Jo Schlesser's, future Formula One constructor Guy Ligier, always gave his cars type numbers beginning with "JS" as a tribute to Schlesser.

His nephew, Jean-Louis Schlesser, later became a successful racing driver, starting one Formula One Grand Prix and winning the Paris Dakar Rally.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Yr Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 WDC Points
1966 Matra Sports Matra MS5 (F2) Cosworth
Straight-4		 MON BEL FRA GBR NED GER
10		 ITA USA MEX NC 0
1967 Écurie Ford-France Matra MS5 (F2) Cosworth
Straight-4		 RSA MON NED BEL FRA GBR GER
Ret		 CAN ITA USA MEX NC 0
1968 Honda Racing (France) Honda RA302 Honda V8 RSA ESP MON BEL NED FRA
Ret		 GBR GER ITA CAN USA MEX NC 0

External links

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Small, Steve (1994). The Guinness Complete Grand Prix Who's Who. Guinness. p. 341. ISBN 0851127029.
  2. ↑ Small, Steve (1994). The Guinness Complete Grand Prix Who's Who. Guinness. p. 340. ISBN 0851127029.
Preceded by
Bob Anderson		 Formula One fatal accidents
July 7, 1968 		Succeeded by
Gerhard Mitter
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