Racing driver. Jo Schlesser was born in Madagascar before moving to France to study at Nancy. He began racing in 1952 in a Dyna-Panhard in the Rally of Lorraine. During the next few years, he drove many cars and survived a series of crashes. He eventually went into business with Guy Ligier and became a Ford dealer in Paris. He was a popular driver and drove a Formula 2 Matra in the 1966 and 1967 German Grand Prix but was keen to drive an F1 car even though he was by then 40. Being a local hero, Honda invited him to drive the new and untested air-cooled Honda RA302 in the 1968 French Grand Prix at Rouen-les-Essarts, the same car that the works driver John Surtees had described as unready and a death trap. On the second lap, Schlesser slid wide on the Six Freres corner and crashed sideways into the bank. The magnesium-bodied Honda with 58 laps of fuel on board ignited immediately and the driver didn't stand a chance.
Racing driver. Jo Schlesser was born in Madagascar before moving to France to study at Nancy. He began racing in 1952 in a Dyna-Panhard in the Rally of Lorraine. During the next few years, he drove many cars and survived a series of crashes. He eventually went into business with Guy Ligier and became a Ford dealer in Paris. He was a popular driver and drove a Formula 2 Matra in the 1966 and 1967 German Grand Prix but was keen to drive an F1 car even though he was by then 40. Being a local hero, Honda invited him to drive the new and untested air-cooled Honda RA302 in the 1968 French Grand Prix at Rouen-les-Essarts, the same car that the works driver John Surtees had described as unready and a death trap. On the second lap, Schlesser slid wide on the Six Freres corner and crashed sideways into the bank. The magnesium-bodied Honda with 58 laps of fuel on board ignited immediately and the driver didn't stand a chance.
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