- Jo Schlesser
Former F1 driver
Name = Jo Schlesser
Nationality = flagicon|France French
Years = F1|1966-F1|1968
Team(s) =Matra , Honda
Races = 3
Championships = 0
Wins = 0
Podiums = 0
Points = 0
Poles = 0
Fastest laps = 0
First race =1966 German Grand Prix
First win =
Last win =
Last race =1968 French Grand Prix Joseph Schlesser (
May 18 ,1928 inLiouville, France -July 7 ,1968 atRouen-Les-Essarts ) was aFormula One andsports car racing driver fromFrance . He participated in three World Championship Grands Prix, including the1968 French Grand Prix in which he was killed. He scored no championship points.Schlesser also participated in the 1966 and
1967 German Grand Prix at theNürburgring , each time driving aFormula 2 SpecMatra -Cosworth . In 1966, he finished 10th in the overall classification and 3rd in the Formula 2 classification. In 1967, he was forced to retire with a clutch problem after 2 laps.A real Formula One opportunity came for Schlesser in 1968 with Honda. The Honda team had completed an experimental air-cooled F1 car (dubbed 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-Les-Essarts. Being the local hero, Schlesser was hired to drive it.Fatefully, after only 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.A friend of Jo Schlesser's, future Formula One constuctor
Guy Ligier always gave his cars type numbers beginning with 'JS' as a tribute to Schlesser.His
nephew Jean-Louis Schlesser later became a successfulracing driver , who started one Formula One grand prix and won theParis Dakar .Complete Formula One World Championship results
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External links
* [http://iltempodijames.altervista.org/memoriale/piloti/M-Z/Jo_Schlesser.htm Jo Schlesser's accident] (in Italian)
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