Louis Rosier
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FIA Super Licence  France | |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
|---|---|
| Active years | 1950 Formula One season-1956 Formula One season |
| Teams | Talbot-Lago, Ferrari, Maserati (mostly as privateer) |
| Races | 38 |
| List of Formula One World Drivers' Champions | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 2 |
| Career points | 18 |
| Pole position | 0 |
| Fastest lap | 0 |
| First race | 1950 British Grand Prix |
| Last race | 1956 German Grand Prix |
Louis Rosier (born in Chapdes-Beaufort, 5 November 1905 - died in Neuilly-sur-Seine, 29 October 1956 [1]) was a Racing driver from France.
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Career highlights
He participated in 38 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 13 May 1950. He achieved 2 podiums, and scored a total of 18 championship points. He won the Dutch Grand Prix twice in consecutive years between 1950 and 1951, the Circuit d'Albi, Grand-Prix de l'Albigeois and the 24 Hours of Le Mans with his son Jean-Louis Rosier. Rosier owned the Renault dealership of Clermont-Ferrand.[2]
Formula One & sports car competition
Rosier finished 4th at Silverstone Circuit in a Talbot, in October 1948. The event was the 1948 British Grand Prix, the first grand prix to be held in England since 1927.[3] He drove a 4.5 liter, unsupercharged Talbot-Lago to 3rd place at the 1949 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. He was a lap behind the winner with a speed of 76.21 miles per hour (122.65 km/h).[4] Rosier won an International Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in June 1949. He piloted a Talbot in the 500-kilometre (310 mi), 32 lap event, achieving a time of 3 hours, 15 minutes, and 17 seconds. He assumed the lead after 23 laps, coming across the finish line ahead of Luigi Villoresi.[5] Rosier won the 1950 24 Hours of Le Mans in a blue Talbot. He finished one lap ahead of Pierre Meyrat who drove a car of the same Marque. Rosier covered 256 laps, 2,163 miles (3,481 km), in 23:54:2.2.[2] Rosier captured the Grand Prix d'Albi in Albi, France in May 1953. He drove a Ferrari, covering the 18 laps of the finals, 160 kilometres (99 mi), in 56:36:8. He average 160 kilometres per hour (99.42 mph).[6] Rosier placed second in a Ferrari at a Grand Prix in Aix les Bains Circuit du Lac, in July 1953. His time was 2:24:48.1.[7] In April 1956 Rosier finished 4th in a Maserati, in a 201 mile race at Aintree. Stirling Moss drove a blue Maserati to victory in the 67 lap event for Formula One cars, with an average speed of 84.24 miles per hour (135.57 km/h).[8] Rosier finished 5th at the 1956 German Grand Prix behind the wheel of a Maserati.[9]
Ecurie Rosier
Louis Rosier was the owner and manager of a famous racing team, the "Ecurie Rosier". It specialized in Talbot-Lago T26s, and later Maserati 4CLT and Maserati 250F, as well as Ferrari 500. This racing team allowed other drivers such as Henri Louveau, Georges Grignard, Louis Chiron, Maurice Trintignant, André Simon and Robert Manzon to find a competitive and well supported cars.
Circuit Louis Rosier
Louis Rosier was one of the key sponsors of the Charade Circuit. After WWII, Jean Auchatraire (president of the racing section of the local Automobile Club) and Louis Rosier promoted the idea of a race track around Clermont-Ferrand.
A set of preliminary designs were drawn up for a circuit of a length between 4 and 6 km, meeting the latest safety regulations with large parking capacity at a location just outside the city limits on a hilly landscape.
The 1955 Le Mans disaster (death toll: 135 lives) on 11 June 1955 brought the project to a halt. All race events were postponed. No further events were allowed to take place on temporary urban tracks. Racing events were only to be allowed on dedicated race-tracks, providing that they met a new set of rules. In Clermont-Ferrand, as was the case for many other new race tracks, new safety devices were being imagined and discussed, reviewed and assessed. But the concept of a "mountain race track" moved forward. It would be the only one of its kind in France.
Auchatraire, Rosier and Raymond Roche (the manager of Reims-Gueux race track) worked together to get the project accepted by the political community before searching for funding. But Rosier was killed at Montlhéry on 26 October 1956 and would not witness his project come to fruition. The racetrack was opened on 27 July 1958, with the name of its famous founder "Circuit de Charade Louis Rosier". Soon after, several champions participated in racing events on the track, each of them, including Stirling Moss, making very positive statements about the track and its surrounding.
Car manufacturer
Rosier's Renault dealership in Clermont-Ferrand was one of the largest Renault dealerships in France. Rosier's dealership also sold other industrial and farming equipment. The building housing this important business has been destroyed[10].
In 1951, Louis Rosier designed a prototype based on the 4CV Renault[11][12].
In 1953, using the concept of a barchetta that he raced at Le Mans[13], Rosier, together with Italian coachbuilder Rocco Motto, designed a cabriolet[14], still using 4CV Renault sub assemblies. This model was built in a quantity of about 200 units by Brissonneau[15]. It was even introduced at a car show in New York.
Some time later he designed a roadster using Renault Frégate elements with an aluminum body developed by Rocco Motto, on a multi-tubular frame. The engine was seriously revised, the body was lightened, the results was an interesting 950 kg for 80 hp[16].
Death
Louis Rosier died of injuries he sustained in a crash at the Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry track, south of Paris, France, on 7 October 1956.[17]
Complete Formula One World Championship results
(F1 driver results legend 2)
| Yr | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 Formula One season | Ecurie Rosier | Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C | Talbot-Lago Straight-6 | 1950 British Grand Prix 5 | 1950 Monaco Grand Prix Ret | 1950 Indianapolis 500 | 1950 Italian Grand Prix 4 | 4th | 13 | |||||
| Sunbeam-Talbot-Darracq | Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C-DA | 1950 Swiss Grand Prix 3 | 1950 Belgian Grand Prix 3 | 1950 French Grand Prix Ret | ||||||||||
| Charles Pozzi | Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C | 1950 French Grand Prix 6* | ||||||||||||
| 1951 Formula One season | Ecurie Rosier | Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C-DA | Talbot-Lago Straight-6 | 1951 Swiss Grand Prix 9 | 1951 Indianapolis 500 | 1951 Belgian Grand Prix 4 | 1951 French Grand Prix Ret | 1951 British Grand Prix 10 | 1951 German Grand Prix 8 | 1951 Italian Grand Prix 7 | 1951 Spanish Grand Prix 7 | 13th | 3 | |
| 1952 Formula One season | Ecurie Rosier | Ferrari 500 | Ferrari Straight-4 | 1952 Swiss Grand Prix Ret | 1952 Indianapolis 500 | 1952 Belgian Grand Prix Ret | 1952 French Grand Prix Ret | 1952 British Grand Prix | 1952 German Grand Prix | 1952 Dutch Grand Prix | 1952 Italian Grand Prix 10 | NC | 0 | |
| 1953 Formula One season | Ecurie Rosier | Ferrari 500 | Ferrari Straight-4 | 1953 Argentine Grand Prix | 1953 Indianapolis 500 | 1953 Dutch Grand Prix 7 | 1953 Belgian Grand Prix 8 | 1953 French Grand Prix 8 | 1953 British Grand Prix 10 | 1953 German Grand Prix 10 | 1953 Swiss Grand Prix Ret | 1953 Italian Grand Prix 16 | NC | 0 |
| 1954 Formula One season | Ecurie Rosier | Ferrari 500/625 | Ferrari Straight-4 | 1954 Argentine Grand Prix Ret | 1954 Indianapolis 500 | 1954 Belgian Grand Prix | 1954 French Grand Prix Ret | 1954 British Grand Prix Ret | 1954 German Grand Prix 8 | 1954 Swiss Grand Prix | NC | 0 | ||
| Maserati | Maserati Maserati 250F | Maserati Straight-6 | 1954 Italian Grand Prix 8 | |||||||||||
| Ecurie Rosier | 1954 Spanish Grand Prix 7 | |||||||||||||
| 1955 Formula One season | Ecurie Rosier | Maserati Maserati 250F | Maserati Straight-6 | 1955 Argentine Grand Prix | 1955 Monaco Grand Prix Ret | 1955 Indianapolis 500 | 1955 Belgian Grand Prix 9 | 1955 Dutch Grand Prix 9 | 1955 British Grand Prix | 1955 Italian Grand Prix | NC | 0 | ||
| 1956 Formula One season | Ecurie Rosier | Maserati Maserati 250F | Maserati Straight-6 | 1956 Argentine Grand Prix | 1956 Monaco Grand Prix Ret | 1956 Indianapolis 500 | 1956 Belgian Grand Prix 8 | 1956 French Grand Prix 6 | 1956 British Grand Prix Ret | 1956 German Grand Prix 5 | 1956 Italian Grand Prix | 19th | 2 |
- * Indicates shared drive with Charles Pozzi
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Luigi Chinetti Peter Mitchell-Thomson | List of 24 Hours of Le Mans winners 1950 24 Hours of Le Mans with: Jean-Louis Rosier | Succeeded by Peter Walker (driver) Peter Whitehead |
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References
- ↑ Jenkins, Richard. "The World Championship drivers - Where are they now?". OldRacingCars.com. http://www.oldracingcars.com/bydriver/watn.asp?letter=R. Retrieved on 29 July 2007.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Rosier First In Auto Race, New York Times, June 26, 1950, Page 36.
- ↑ Grand Prix To Villoresi, New York Times, October 3, 1948, Page S10.
- ↑ De Graffenried Annexes Grand Prix Auto Classic, New York Times, May 15, 1949, Page S6.
- ↑ Rosier Captures Auto Race, New York Times, June 20, 1949, Page 24.
- ↑ Frenchman Wins Automobile Race, Los Angeles Times, June 1, 1953, Page C4.
- ↑ Bayol Takes Auto Race, New York Times, July 27, 1953, Page 22.
- ↑ Moss' Maserati Takes 201-mile Aintree Race, April 22, 1956, Page 205.
- ↑ Fangio Captures Race In Germany, New York Times, August 6, 1956, Page 37.
- ↑ [1] (fr) Rosier dealership
- ↑ [2]Logo louis rosier
- ↑ [3] Coach Rosier
- ↑ [4] Barchetta Rosier
- ↑ [5] The Rogue
- ↑ [6] Cabriolet Brissoneau
- ↑ [7] Frégate Rosier
- ↑ French Driver Dies, Los Angeles Times, October 30, 1956, Page C4.
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