Jean Rolland

An ordinary Peugeot 203 was Jean Rolland's first rally vehicle

The Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 from de Andrea Adamich and Jean Rolland at the Targa Florio in 1967

Jean Charles Rolland (born July 27, 1935 in Digne-les-Bains , † September 17, 1967 at the Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry ) was a French rally and circuit racing driver .

Career in motorsport

Jean Rolland began his career as a rally driver in 1953 at the age of 18. His co-driver at his first event, the Rallye du Verdon , which he contested in a Peugeot 203 , was his grandfather. To Brginn of 1954 he met Gabriel Augean know, a mathematics - high school teacher . Aguias was his co-driver at the Monte Carlo Rally in 1953 and remained so until Rolland's death in 1967. In addition to their motorsport activities, they were both close friends.

In 1958 he bought an Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce , which he had converted into a racing car in Italy. In the following years he won a large number of national and international rally events. Due to his four overall victories at the Critérium des Cévennes , a valuation run for the French rally championship around the mountain range of the Cevennes , he was referred to in the specialist press as the “King of the Cevennes”. He won the Coupe des Alpes three times, in 1963, 1964 and 1966, and won the touring car class at the Tour de Corse in 1966 .

In 1962 he made his debut in the sports car world championship . Together with his compatriot Roger Delageneste , he finished fifth overall at the Targa Florio in a Ferrari 250 GT SWB . In his first Le Mans race in the same year he fell on a plant - Abarth-Simca 1300 Bialbero after seven hours driving time from ignition because of an injury.

Jean Rolland, who won several French rally and circuit championships, had his most successful racing season in 1966. He became a works driver at Alfa Romeo , won the touring car class of the French rally championship, competed in Formula 3 races and was a Formula One driver. 2 - Lola T60 seventh at the Grand Prix d'Albi . In 1967 he won the 6-hour race at the Nürburgring together with Lucien Bianchi and drove an Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 in the sports car world championship .

Jean Rolland had a fatal accident on September 17th during a test drive with a works Tipo 33 on the Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry . The exact cause of the accident could never be completely clarified. It is assumed that a brake defect caused the Alfa Romeo to come off the road, hit a tree and burst into flames. Rolland died at the scene of the accident.

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1962	Abarth Corse & Cie	Abarth-Simca 1300 Bialbero	Roger Delageneste	failure	Ignition damage
1963	Urbain Fabre	René Bonnet Aérodjet LM6	Jean-Pierre Manzon	failure	accident
1964	Scuderia St. Ambroeus	Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ	Fernand Masoreo	failure	accident
1965	Autodelta SpA	Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ / 2	Roberto Bussinello	failure	Engine failure

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1965	Autodelta SpA	Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ	Bernard Consten	16th place and class win

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	18th	19th	20th	21st	22nd
1962	Abarth	Ferrari 250 GT Abarth-Simca 1300 Bialbero	DAY	SEB	SEB	MAY	TAR	BER	ONLY	LEM	TAV	CCA	RTT	ONLY	BRI	BRI	PAR
							5			DNF							DNF
1963	Urbain Fabre	René Bonnet Aérodjet LM6 Alfa Romeo 2600	DAY	SEB	SEB	TAR	SPA	MAY	ONLY	CON	ROS	LEM	MON	WIS	TAV	FRE	CCE	RTT	OVI	ONLY	MON	MON	TDF	BRI
												DNF											DNF
1964	Alpine Scuderia Sant Ambroeus Mediterranee	Alpine A110 Alfa Romeo TZ	DAY	SEB	TAR	MON	SPA	CON	ONLY	ROS	LEM	REI	FRE	CCE	RTT	SIM	ONLY	MON	TDF	BRI	BRI	PAR
					DNF				DNF		DNF								7th			17th
1965	Autodelta	Alfa Romeo TZ	DAY	SEB	BOL	MON	MON	RTT	TAR	SPA	ONLY	MUG	ROS	LEM	REI	BOZ	FRE	CCE	OVI	ONLY	BRI	BRI
				16					7th					DNF
1967	Autodelta	Alfa Romeo T33	DAY	SEB	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	HOK	MUG	BRH	CCE	ZEL	OVI	ONLY
							DNF

literature

• Christian Moity, Jean-Marc Teissèdre, Alain Bienvenu: 24 heures du Mans, 1923–1992. Éditions d'Art, Besançon 1992, ISBN 2-909413-06-3 .
• Ken Breslauer: Sebring. The official History of America's Great Sports Car Race. David Bull, Cambridge MA 1995, ISBN 0-9649722-0-4 .
• Peter Higham: The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing. A complete Reference from Formula 1 to Touring Car. Guinness Publishing Ltd., London 1995, ISBN 0-85112-642-1 .

Web links

Commons : Jean Rolland  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Jean Rolland at Racing Sports cars (English)
• Jean Rolland at Motorsport Memorial (English)