Frank Clement (racing driver)

John Duff with Frank Clement (right) at the 1924 Le Mans 24 hour race

The 4.5-liter Bentley with the number 8, with which Frank Clement and Jean Chassagne finished fourth at Le Mans in 1929

Francis Charles "Frank" Clement (born June 15, 1888 in Berkhamsted , † February 15, 1970 in Hexham ), was a British racing driver .

Career

Frank Clement was a test driver for Bentley , as the company owners him Walter Owen Bentley asked, as a team partner of John Duff in 1923 the 24-hour race at Le Mans to go to the start. Duff used a Bentley 3 Liter Sport and was actively supported by the factory. The duo finished the race in fourth place overall. A year later , Clement's greatest success in motorsport followed when he, together with Duff, won the 24-hour race.

When Bentley came to Le Mans as a works team a year later, the Briton became one of the legendary Bentley Boys . Until Bentley withdrew in 1930 , he was at the start every year on the Sarthe. After several failures he achieved two top positions in this endurance race in 1929 with fourth and 1930 with second overall .

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1923	Capt. John F. Duff	Bentley 3 Liter Sport	Capt. John F. Duff	Rank 4
1924	Duff & Adlington	Bentley 3 liter	Capt. John F. Duff	Overall victory
1925	Capt. John Duff	Bentley 3 Liter Sport	Capt. John F. Duff	failure	Wagon fire
1926	Bentley Motors Ltd.	Bentley 3 Liter Speed ​​Model	George Duller	failure	Engine failure
1927	Bentley Motors Ltd.	Bentley 4½ liter	Leslie Callingham	failure	accident
1928	Bentley Motors Ltd.	Bentley 4½ liter	Dudley Benjafield	failure	cooler
1929	Bentley Motors Ltd.	Bentley 4½ liter	Jean Chassagne	Rank 4
1930	Bentley Motors Ltd.	Bentley Speed ​​Six	Richard Watney	Rank 2

literature

• RM Clarke: Le Mans - the Bentley & Alfa Years 1923–1939 Brocklands Books 1999, ISBN 1-85520-4657 .

Web links

Commons : Frank Clement  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Frank Clement at 24-hour en-piste

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Data at Autosport.com