Maurice Trintignant

Maurice Trintignant

Born	30 October 1917(1917-10-30)
Died	13 February 2005(2005-02-13) (aged 87)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	French
Active years	1950 - 1964
Teams	Gordini, Ferrari inc. non-works, Vanwall, Rob Walker Racing Team, Scuderia Centro Sud, Bugatti, Aston Martin, BRM inc privateer, Scuderia Serenissima, Reg Parnell Racing
Races	84 (82 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	2
Podiums	10[1]
Career points	72.33
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	1
First race	1950 Monaco Grand Prix
First win	1955 Monaco Grand Prix
Last win	1958 Monaco Grand Prix
Last race	1964 Italian Grand Prix

Maurice Bienvenu Jean Paul Trintignant (30 October 1917, Sainte-Cécile-les-Vignes, Vaucluse – 13 February 2005, Nîmes) was a motor racing driver and vintner from France. He competed in the Formula One World Championship for fourteen years, between 1950 and 1964, one of the longest careers in the early years of F1. During this time he also competed in sports car racing, including winning the 1954 24 Hours of Le Mans race. Following his retirement from the track Trintignant concentrated on the wine trade.

Maurice Trintignant was the brother of Bugatti race car driver Louis Trintignant — who was killed in 1933, in practice, at Péronne, Picardie — and the uncle of renowned French film actor Jean-Louis Trintignant.

Racing career

He began racing in 1938, and won the 1939 Grand Prix des Frontières, but his career was interrupted by World War II, during which his own Bugatti was stored in a barn. When he rebuilt it for a 1945 event, the Coupé de la Liberation, he overlooked a clogged fuel filter, which caused him to drop out of the event. It transpired that the filter was plugged with rat droppings, earning him the unenviable nickname Le Petoulet, "the rat-droppings".^[2]

By 1950 Le Petoulet was successful enough to be offered a works drive for the Gordini team, in the newly-formed Formula One World Championship racing series. He competed in F1 every year until his retirement after the 1964 season. During this long career Trintignant scored two victories, at the Monaco Grand Prix in 1955 and 1958. 1954 and 1955 were his best Championship years, and he finished 4th in the drivers championship in both.

During the course of his career Trintignant drove a huge variety of cars, for many different teams: both works and privateer. Unusually, at the 1955 Argentine Grand Prix Trintignant shared both second and third places, a product of the Scuderia Ferrari policy of passing cars to their top drivers, should their original car break down. In 1956 he drove the Bugatti Type 251 in the French Grand Prix, becoming the last driver to represent the famed marque at a Grand Prix race.^[3] Even in his final season, driving his own BRM P57, he scored points, taking fifth place at the 1964 German Grand Prix on the intimidating Nürburgring.

Following his retirement from racing, Maurice Trintignant returned to a quiet life as a wine-grower (naming his vintage Le Petoulet),^[4] near the town of Vergèze, in the Languedoc-Roussillon wine growing region, where he would eventually be elected mayor. Trintignant died, aged 87, in 2005.

Major career wins

• Grand Prix d’Albigeois - 1951
• Grand Prix de Caen - 1952, 1954
• Pau Grand Prix - 1958, 1959 (F2), 1962 (F1)
• Grand Prix de Rouen - 1954
• Grand Prix des Frontières - 1938, 1939, 1953
• Monaco Grand Prix - 1955, 1958
• 24 Hours of Le Mans - 1954

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	WDC	Points
1950	Equipe Gordini	Gordini Type 15	Gordini Straight-4	GBR	MON Ret	500	SUI	BEL	FRA	ITA Ret					NC	0
1951	Equipe Gordini	Gordini Type 15	Gordini Straight-4	SUI DNA	500	BEL	FRA Ret	GBR	GER Ret	ITA Ret	ESP Ret				NC	0
1952	Ecurie Rosier	Ferrari 166 F2	Ferrari V12	SUI DNS											21st	2
	Equipe Gordini	Gordini Type 15	Gordini Straight-4		500	BEL	FRA 5
		Gordini Type 16	Gordini Straight-6					GBR Ret	GER Ret	NED 6	ITA Ret
1953	Equipe Gordini	Gordini Type 16	Gordini Straight-6	ARG 7 *	500	NED 6	BEL 5	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER Ret	SUI Ret	ITA 5			11th	4
1954	Ecurie Rosier	Ferrari 625	Ferrari Straight-4	ARG 4	500										4th	17
	Scuderia Ferrari					BEL 2	FRA Ret	GBR 5	GER 3	SUI Ret	ITA 5
		Ferrari 553										ESP Ret
1955	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 625	Ferrari Straight-4	ARG 2+3 †	MON 1	500			GBR Ret						4th	11.33
		Ferrari 555					BEL 6	NED Ret		ITA 8
1956	Vandervell Products Ltd.	Vanwall	Vanwall Straight-4	ARG	MON Ret	500	BEL Ret		GBR Ret	GER	ITA Ret				NC	0
	Automobiles Bugatti	Bugatti T251	Bugatti Straight-8					FRA Ret
1957	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 801	Ferrari V8	ARG	MON 5	500	FRA Ret	GBR 4 ‡	GER	PES	ITA				13th	5
1958	Rob Walker Racing Team	Cooper T45	Climax Straight-4	ARG	MON 1	NED 9	500				GER 3	POR 8	ITA Ret	MOR Ret	7th	12
	Scuderia Centro Sud	Maserati 250F	Maserati Straight-6					BEL 7
	Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P25	BRM Straight-4						FRA Ret
	Rob Walker Racing Team	Cooper T43	Climax Straight-4							GBR 8
1959	Rob Walker Racing Team	Cooper T51	Climax Straight-4	MON 3	500	NED 8	FRA 11	GBR 5	GER 4	POR 4	ITA 9	USA 2			5th	19
1960	Rob Walker Racing Team	Cooper T51	Climax Straight-4	ARG 3[5]											NC	0
	Scuderia Centro Sud		Maserati Straight-4		MON Ret	500	NED Ret	BEL	FRA Ret				USA 15
	David Brown Corporation	Aston Martin DBR4/250	Aston Martin Straight-6							GBR 11	POR	ITA
1961	Scuderia Serenissima	Cooper T51	Maserati Straight-4	MON 7	NED	BEL Ret	FRA 13	GBR	GER Ret	ITA 9	USA				NC	0
1962	Rob Walker Racing Team	Lotus 24	Climax V8	NED WD	MON Ret	BEL 8	FRA 7	GBR	GER Ret	ITA Ret	USA Ret	RSA			NC	0
1963	Reg Parnell Racing	Lola Mk4A	Climax V8	MON Ret	BEL	NED									NC	0
		Lotus 24					FRA 8	GBR	GER
	Scuderia Centro Sud	BRM P57	BRM V8							ITA 9	USA	MEX	RSA
1964	Maurice Trintignant	BRM P57	BRM V8	MON Ret	NED	BEL	FRA 11	GBR DNQ	GER 5	AUT DNA	ITA Ret	USA	MEX		17th	2

* Indicates shared drive with Harry Schell

† Indicates shared drives with José Froilán González and Giuseppe Farina (2nd place) & Giuseppe Farina and Umberto Maglioli (3rd place)

‡ Indicates shared drive with Peter Collins

References

1. ^ Total of 10 podiums includes both 2nd and 3rd places at the 1955 Argentine Grand Prix
2. ^ Michael Kettlewell, World of Automobiles (Orbis, 1974), Volume 20, p.2368
3. ^ Mattijs Diepraam , Colombo's flawed brilliance, 8W, October 1998.
4. ^ ibid.
5. ^ No points awarded for shared drive with Stirling Moss in the 1960 Argentine Grand Prix

• Mattijs Diepraam, Colombo's flawed brilliance, 8W, October 1998.
• Maurice Trintignant - the whole story (full F1 results at gpracing.net).

Sporting positions
Preceded by Tony Rolt Duncan Hamilton	Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1954 with: José Froilán González	Succeeded by Mike Hawthorn Ivor Bueb
Records
Preceded by Stirling Moss 67 entries, 66 starts (1951 - 1961)	Most Grand Prix entries 84 entries, 82 starts (1950 - 1964), 68th at the 1961 French GP	Succeeded by Jack Brabham 128 entries (126 starts), 85th at the 1966 Monaco GP

Persondata
Name	Trintignant, Maurice
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	30 October 1917
Place of birth
Date of death	13 February 2005
Place of death