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François Cévert

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François Cévert Famous memorial

Birth
Paris, City of Paris, Île-de-France, France
Death
6 Oct 1973 (aged 29)
Watkins Glen, Schuyler County, New York, USA
Burial
Vaudelnay, Departement de Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire, France GPS-Latitude: 47.1312879, Longitude: -0.2011178
Memorial ID
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Auto Race Car Driver. He was born in Paris (France) and died in Watkins Glen (New York). After winning the French Formula 3 Championship in 1968, Cévert joined the Tecno Formula 2 team and finished third overall in 1969, driving in the F2 class of the German Grand Prix. In 1970, Tyrrell called upon Cévert to be his number two driver, alongside defending World Champion Stewart. Over the next four seasons, Cévert became the veteran Stewart's devoted protégé. He made his debut at the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort in Tyrrell's second customer March-Ford. He earned his first World Championship point by finishing sixth in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. In 1971, with the Tyrrell team now building their own cars, Cévert finished second in France and Germany, both times behind team leader Stewart. Then, in the season-ending United States Grand Prix at the newly-extended Watkins Glen race course, the Frenchman earned his first and only Grand Prix win. Cévert became only the second Frenchman to win a Grand Prix (Maurice Trintignant won at Monaco in 1955 and 1958), and it was the high point of his career, helping him take third place in the 1971 Driver's Championship behind Stewart and Ickx. He also get the second place finish at the 24 hours of Le Mans, driving a Matra-Simca 670 with New Zealand's Howden Ganley. In 1973, he finished second six times, three times behind Stewart, who acknowledged that, at times, the Frenchman had been a very "obedient" teammate. As Cévert began to draw even with Stewart's driving abilities, the Scot was secretly planning to retire after the last race of the season in the United States. For the 1974 season, Cévert would be Tyrrell's well deserving team leader. Tragically, at Watkins Glen, with Stewart having already clinched his third World Championship, Cévert was killed during Saturday morning practice while battling for pole position with Ronnie Peterson.
Auto Race Car Driver. He was born in Paris (France) and died in Watkins Glen (New York). After winning the French Formula 3 Championship in 1968, Cévert joined the Tecno Formula 2 team and finished third overall in 1969, driving in the F2 class of the German Grand Prix. In 1970, Tyrrell called upon Cévert to be his number two driver, alongside defending World Champion Stewart. Over the next four seasons, Cévert became the veteran Stewart's devoted protégé. He made his debut at the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort in Tyrrell's second customer March-Ford. He earned his first World Championship point by finishing sixth in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. In 1971, with the Tyrrell team now building their own cars, Cévert finished second in France and Germany, both times behind team leader Stewart. Then, in the season-ending United States Grand Prix at the newly-extended Watkins Glen race course, the Frenchman earned his first and only Grand Prix win. Cévert became only the second Frenchman to win a Grand Prix (Maurice Trintignant won at Monaco in 1955 and 1958), and it was the high point of his career, helping him take third place in the 1971 Driver's Championship behind Stewart and Ickx. He also get the second place finish at the 24 hours of Le Mans, driving a Matra-Simca 670 with New Zealand's Howden Ganley. In 1973, he finished second six times, three times behind Stewart, who acknowledged that, at times, the Frenchman had been a very "obedient" teammate. As Cévert began to draw even with Stewart's driving abilities, the Scot was secretly planning to retire after the last race of the season in the United States. For the 1974 season, Cévert would be Tyrrell's well deserving team leader. Tragically, at Watkins Glen, with Stewart having already clinched his third World Championship, Cévert was killed during Saturday morning practice while battling for pole position with Ronnie Peterson.

Bio by: José L Bernabé Tronchoni



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