Claude Bourgoignie

Claude Bourgoignie finished fourth overall in the European Formula Ford Championship in a Lotus 61 in 1969

Claude Bourgoignie won the Belgian Touring Car Championship in a Ford Escort RS 1600 in 1972

Claude Bourgoignie (born May 5, 1945 in Brussels ) is a former Belgian racing driver .

Racing career

Monoposto

Claude Bourgoignie achieved his first successes in monoposto racing in Formula Ford . In this racing series he won the Belgian championship in 1967. In 1969 he finished fourth overall in the European Championships behind Gerry Birrell , Tony Trimmer and Dave Walker . This was followed by races in Formula 3 , where he was ninth in the final classification of the British championship in 1971 . He was active in Formula 2 until 1975 . His last was also his best season; the European Championship of that year he finished on a March 752 as overall seventh (champion Jacques Laffite ).

Bourgoigne once took part in a Formula 1 race . In 1979 he drove a Surtees TS20 at an event of the Aurora AFX Formula 1 series , but was unable to place.

Touring and sports cars

At the same time as his monoposto engagements, Bourgoigne competed in touring and sports car races from the start of his career . In 1969 he drove a full season in the sports car world championship for Racing Team VDS . The emergency vehicle was an Alfa Romeo T33 / 2 ; Teammate Taf Gosselin . With the defect-prone Alfa Romeo, the breakdowns increased. The duo only crossed the finish line once. The two Belgians finished eleventh in the 1000 km race on the Nürburgring . The gap to the winners Jo Siffert and Brian Redman in the Porsche 908/02 was five laps, which was more than 100 kilometers on the long Nordschleife of the Nürburgring .

In the 1970s and 1980s he competed in a wide variety of racing series. He drove in the European Touring Car Championship , the German Racing Championship and until 1991 the 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps .

Claude Bourgoignie competed five times in the Le Mans 24-hour race . His best result in the final ranking was fourth in 1981 .

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1969	Racing Team VDS	Alfa Romeo TT33 / 2	Gustave Gosselin		failure	accident
1972	Ford Motor Company Germany	Ford Capri 2600 RS	Gerry Birrell		Rank 10 and class win
1981	Claude Bourgoignie	Porsche 935K3	John Cooper	Dudley Wood	4th place and class win
1982	Charles Ivy Racing	Porsche 935K3	John Cooper	Paul Smith	Rank 8
1985	Cheetah Automobiles Switzerland	Cheetah G604	John Cooper	Bernard de Dryver	failure	accident

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th
1969	Racing Team VDS	Alfa Romeo T33	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	WAT	ZEL
					DNF	DNF			11	DNF		DNF
1972	Ford Germany	Ford Capri	BUA	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	ZEL	WAT
											10
1979	Team Willeme Kremer Racing	BMW 3.0 CSL Porsche 935	DAY	SEB	MUG	VALLEY	DIJ	RIV	SIL	ONLY	LEM	BY	DAY	WAT	SPA	BRH	ROA	VAL	ELS
															DNF	DNF
1980	Bastos Racing	Ford Capri	DAY	BRH	SEB	MUG	MON	RIV	SIL	ONLY	LEM	DAY	WAT	SPA	MOS	ROA	VAL	DIJ
														DNF
1981	Claude Bourgoignie Bastos Racing	Porsche 935 Chevrolet Camaro	DAY	SEB	MUG	MON	RIV	SIL	ONLY	LEM	BY	DAY	WAT	SPA	MOS	ROA	BRH
										4th				DNF
1982	Charles Ivy Racing	Porsche 935	MON	SIL	ONLY	LEM	SPA	MUG	FUJ	BRH
						8th
1985	Cheetah Automobiles	Cheetah G604	MUG	MON	SIL	LEM	HOK	MOS	SPA	BRH	FUJ	SEL
						DNF			10

Web links

• Claude Bourgoignie at Old Racing Cars
• Claude Bourgoignie at the Driver Database
• Claude Bourgoignie at Racing Sports Cars

Individual evidence

1. ^ Belgian Formula Ford Championship 1967
2. ↑ European Formula Ford Championship 1969
3. ↑ British Formula 3 Championship 1971
4. ^ Formula 2 European Championship 1975
5. ↑ 1000 km race on the Nürburgring in 1969