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Maurice Hamilton: Jean-Pierre Beltoise

Jean-Pierre Beltoise did not make many impressions at the top level of motor sport but, when he did, they were memorable. Following his passing on Monday at the age of 77, Beltoise has inevitably been mentioned as the winner of the 1972 Monaco Grand Prix, his sole F1 victory. That drive in the BRM was legendary, lasting almost two and a half hours in atrocious conditions. Ironically, it was the rain that helped make this win possible.

Beltoise had survived many seasons of motorcycle racing, winning the French national titles no less than 11 times. Switching to cars, his career almost ended when he suffered severe injuries to his left arm during a sportscar race at Rheims. The legacy would be a need to swivel his arm from the shoulder and somehow cope with less than ideal flexibility for a racing driver's needs at the wheel. But that did not prevent him from climbing through the ranks, winning in F3 and F2 to lead the rise of young French drivers into F1.

His career coincided with the arrival of Matra as a major player, Beltoise making his F1 debut in a ballasted F2 car at the Nürburgring Nordshleife in 1966 before eventually taking charge of the hefty V12 Matra F1 car. A very impressive second place in the 1968 Dutch Grand Prix would hint at what was possible when wet conditions made life easier for Beltoise by putting less stress through the steering. But to say that was the sole reason for his win at Monaco four years later would be to seriously understate an epic drive.

With Matra losing their way, Beltoise had joined a cast of thousands as BRM entered five cars in 1972. When he qualified on the second row at Monaco and rain began to fall, it was assumed that either Emerson Fittipaldi or regenmeister Jacky Ickx (alongside the pole position Lotus) would walk away with this one. No one, least of all Ickx, was ready for what happened next.

Making a storming start, Beltoise overtook Fittipaldi and, when Ickx left the door open at Ste Devote, Beltoise slithered through. It would be the first of many powerful and sometimes outrageous moves. Beltoise may have had the advantage of a clear track but he soon had to deal with the spray from backmarkers, his task made more difficult by the organisers having allowed 25 starters rather than the previous limit of 16.

Knowing Ickx was never far behind, Beltoise bullied his way through, passing on the left and on the right, sometimes using the kerbs, but never losing that crucial momentum. He may have been helped by experienced hands such as Alan Challis, the BRM chief mechanic, removing the rear anti-roll bar and retarding the ignition to make the V12 more driveable, but the rest was down to the driver.

Tony Southgate, designer of the BRM P160B, recalls events on 14 May 1972: "JPB was always easy to work with; no prima donna stuff. He had limited movement in one arm and we had to shape the monocoque in the cockpit to clear his elbow. He lapped everyone except Ickx at least once [there were 18 cars running at the finish] and he finished 40 seconds ahead of the acknowledged rain master. To do that around Monaco was nothing short of brilliant."

My first impression of Beltoise was just as memorable, but for different reasons. The scene, once again, was Monaco, this time 1968 and my first trip to a grand prix abroad. Over breakfast, we heard the sound of a racing engine somewhere close to our hotel, down the Mirabeau escape road. Practice was not due to start for a couple hours. We rushed outside and followed the sound, which led us to a road along the former railway line and through where the Fairmont Hotel now stands (the site of the former 'Station Hairpin').

Matra had wanted to check out their car so, pour la gloire de la France, the police had simply closed off the road and allowed Beltoise to blast up and down to his heart's content. That V12 with its six chrome exhausts made a stupendous sound; talk about a call to the faithful.

When they were done, we gathered round and were surprised to find that JPB was wearing jeans and moccasins as he climbed from the light blue car, a flameproof top (over a casual shirt) and a face mask, open helmet and goggles being the only concessions to safety - such as it was in 1968.

News of his passing has prompted similar memories among friends on Facebook. I particularly like an anecdote from David Winter, an F1 photographer back in the day, who recalled being on an exclusive for Autosport to cover JPB testing a BRM at Silverstone. "We flew there from White Waltham," writes Winter. "Arrived at Silverstone, no one to meet us at airstrip… so JPB taxis his plane to the F1 paddock. Needless to say 'Silverstone Syd' was not amused. Brilliant. Only JPB could have got away with it.'

Beltoise tested a BRM P180 that day, the car he would drive beautifully to win the non-championship John Player Trophy Race at Brands Hatch on 22 October 1972. Following rain before the start, the track was slick throughout. It gave substance to the belief that, if JPB had full use of his left arm, tributes this week would be about more wins than that truly outstanding performance at Monaco in 43 years ago.

Maurice Hamilton

Follow on Twitter @MauriceHamilton

This article first appeared at

http://en.espnf1.com/blogs/motorsport/story/188397.html#o0PMiPiEqS00dvFR.99

 

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Memory added on January 7, 2015

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