From the Scuderia Filipinetti with Claude Sage, Franco Sbarro and Henri Pescarolo via Walter Brun Motorsport, Jo Bonnier and Karl Foitek to Jo Seppi Siffert: The seventh book in the "Swiss at Le Mans" series (Les Suisses au Mans) is once again packed with 350 pages of interesting motorsport reports and photos!
Two thirds of the book are dedicated to the years 1962, 1972, 1982 (and a little bit from 1992 and 2002).
Particularly impressive are the 50 pages about the Scuderia Filipinetti with the personal views of Claude Sage, Franco Sbarro and Henri Pescarolo. A book that should not only interest Swiss Le Mans fans!
Swiss at Le Mans
It's amazing how many people from a country as small as Switzerland can be at the forefront of international motorsport. And this was the case very early on! The 24 Hours of Le Mans was first held in 1923. Even at that premiere, there was a Swiss driver: Edouard Prost in a Berliet VH 12HP, 20th place overall, only a few vehicles ever reached the finish line!
If you look further into the history of the 24-hour classic, you will see regular Swiss participation, culminating in 2011 with the first overall victory for a Swiss racing driver: Marcel Fässler. As if that were not enough: This top performance was repeated in 2012 and thus Switzerland goes down in the history of the endurance race in the Sarthe with 2 overall victories to date.
1962: Scuderia Filipinetti on 50 pages
There is not much literature on this fascinating Swiss racing team, which makes these 50 pages on the successes and failures of the company founded in 1962 by the then Swiss Ferrari general importer Georges Filipinetti all the more significant.
All stages are illuminated, and never-before-published photos of racing drivers, team bosses, mechanics and, of course, vehicles make this chapter particularly tasty.
This chapter focuses on the personal views of the following celebrities:
- Claude Sage (racing team manager until 1970)
- Franco Sbarro (chief mechanic until 1968)
- Phil Henny (team boss in 1966, with Dieter Spoerry on Ford GT40 at Le Mans)
- Armand Schaefer (for Scuderia Filipinetti as racing driver with Karl Foitek at Le Mans in an Alfa Romeo Giulietta GZ)
- Henri Pescarolo (racing driver for Filipinetti at Le Mans 1971 in a Ferrari 512F)
- The chapter on 1962 also contains articles on Heinz Schiller (in a Porsche 356B Abarth) and Karl Foitek (in an Alfa Romeo Giulietta Zagato SVZ).
Again and again you can see funny details in the book: for example the original letter from Abarth team boss to Karl Foitek regarding his participation in Le Mans 1961, that they would be happy if he could organize his hotel room himself...
Swiss on Chevrolet
A small chapter is dedicated to the Swiss who took part in Le Mans with a Chevrolet. Chevrolet took part in Le Mans from 1960 and won the group in its first year.
1972: 14 Swiss at Le Mans
This was probably the year with the most Swiss racing drivers in the 24 Hours of Le Mans: Walter Brun, Claude Haldi, Florian Vetsch, Herbert Müller and Peter Mattli were the better known of the fourteen starters.
Really funny photos and facts can be found on the pages about Florian Vetsch (e.g. how he shovels snow himself to be able to present the new Citroën in the Bernese Oberland).
Unfortunately, 1972 was not just a year for celebrations, it was also the year of the tragic and fatal accident of Jo Bonnier, founder of the famous Swiss racing team "Ecurie Bonnier Switzerland", four pages are dedicated to his time at Le Mans and show many photos of the Lola T280, in its yellow Emmental cheese livery, which will probably be remembered forever:
1982: Starting signal for Brun Motorsport
Walter Brun drove a number of hill climbs in the 1960s and won the European Hill Climb Championship four times in a BMW 2800 CS under BMW-Schnitzer in the 1970s.
- In 1982, he drove a Sauber C6 at Le Mans and then founded his own racing team: Brun Motorsport. The history of his racing team is impressive and undoubtedly deserves the 17 pages in this book:
- In 1983 he returned to Le Mans, this time with his own team and two cars: BMW M1 (Group B) and a Sehcar C6 (Group C, driven by Jacques Villeneuve), both retired, no success.
- In 1984, Walter Brun entered two Porsche 956s, with Walter Brun himself sitting in one of the two cockpits. His car took 4th place overall, his second 7th place, a sensational success for such a young team!
- 1985 was another unlucky year, with both Porsche 962s retiring from the race, albeit very late in the day
- Perseverance paid off, however, and overall 2nd place followed in 1986, this time in a Porsche 962C. This success was not achieved by Walter Brun's own car (which retired after just 75 laps), but ultimately team spirit is what counts at Le Mans and 1986 was therefore a milestone in the history of Brun Motorsport
- 1987 was another zero in the history books: All three Porsche 962s retired
- 1988 Brun achieved 7th place overall in a Porsche 962C
- In 1989, five Porsche 962Cs from the Brun Motorsport team were at the start! Only one of them made it to the finish line and took 10th place - a disappointment.
- They simply couldn't do any better than 10th place; they also finished 10th in 1990, as well as in 1991 with the famous Repsol Porsche 962.
The pictures and information about the times of the Brun Motorsport team at Le Mans are uniquely documented in this book!
The Haberthur times
Ten pages are dedicated to the Haberthur Racing Team and its founder Guido Haberthur. It begins with the premiere at Le Mans under the "Écurie Jean Sage" team, where they competed with a Porsche 911S and racing driver Björn Waldegaard, briefly touches on the commitment of Philippe Siffert (son of Joseph Siffert), who unfortunately only managed a dishonorable 13 laps under "Elf Haberthur Racing" in 1995, and finally ends with the group victory in the GT class in 1997 with the famous Toblerone Porsche 911 GT2.
Lots of Swiss celebrities at the book launch
As every year, the book launch took place near Lausanne, where guests were invited to owner Alexandre Pesci 's Speedy Garage. They not only celebrated the publication of the latest book by author Jean-Marie Wyder, but also another victory at Le Mans: Rebellion Racing has been the fastest petrol prototype (after the diesel version) at the 24 Hours of Le Mans since 2011.
All the drivers of the Rebellion team were there: Nicolas Prost (son of Formula 1 legend Alain Prost), Nick Heidfeld and Neel Jani told anecdotes of the winning car.
Of course, Marcel Fässler, who was celebrated as the first Swiss winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2011 and was able to repeat this feat in 2012, was also present this year!
The presence of Claude Sage, racing team manager of Scuderia Filipinetti until 1970, was a surprise and he honored the hosts with the most respectful words. He said that such events are important for the Swiss motorsport scene and unfortunately take place far too rarely.
Another highlight was certainly the appearance of Formula 1 racing driver Alain Prost, who, in his own words, wanted to be there in person for one main reason: to congratulate his son on his renewed victory and, of course, to meet one or two colleagues from earlier times.
And so, as a guest, it was very exciting to follow who exchanged words with whom, Sébastien Buemi with Max Welti, Neel Jani with Marcel Fässler, Claude Sage with ... Georges Gachnang! Then there was Philippe Favre (racing driver in Le Mans 1995 on Honda NSX GT1, his sibling team won the group)
Further information
- The book can be ordered directly via http://www.lessuissesaumans.ch
- 350 pages
- Language only in French
- Main author: Jean-Marie Wyder
- Co-authors: Christian Borel, Mario Luini, Gérard Vallat, Benoît Wyder
- Price: 99.- CHF
