Léon Dernier

The Ferrari 250 GTO with Leon Dernier together with Jean Blaton third overall at the 1962 24 Hours of Le Mans reached

Léon Dernier (born April 1, 1912 in Liège ; † July 26, 1969 near Spa ) was a Belgian racing car driver who also competed under the pseudonym Elde .

Career

Léon Dernier was a well-known sports car racing driver in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In 1953 he competed for the first time in the Spa-Francorchamps 24-hour race . The race, which was held for the first time in 1924 , was part of the newly created sports car world championship in 1953 . Dernier drove a Peugeot 203 with his compatriot Claude Collard . The Peugeot lost a wheel in the race; the vehicle was disqualified through the use of unauthorized assistance. He had his first place in the top field two years later at the 24-hour race of Paris in Montlhéry , also known as the Bol d'Or , where he finished fifth overall with partner Charles de Cortanze in a Peugeot 203C.

In the 1960s, he competed for the Belgian racing teams Equipe Nationale Belge and the Ecurie Francorchamps in the Belgian Touring Car Championship, the German Circuit Championship and international sports car races. His greatest successes were celebrated in the major 24-hour races . At Spa in 1968 he finished second with Yves Deprez in a Ford Mustang ; just behind the trio of Helmut Kelleners , Willi Kauhsen and Erwin Kremer in the Porsche 911 .

In Le Mans he finished third twice, in 1959 and 1962 , on the podium of the top three. Both times Jean Blaton was his teammate.

Death in spa

Léon Dernier had a fatal accident at the wheel of a Mazda R100 M10A in the 1969 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps .

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1959	Equipe Nationale Belge	Ferrari 250 GT LWB Coupe	Jean Blaton		Rank 3
1960	Ecurie Francorchamps	Ferrari 250 GT SWB	Pierre Noblet		Rank 6
1962	Equipe Nationale Belge	Ferrari 250 GTO	Jean Blaton		Rank 3
1963	Fernand Tavano	Ferrari 250 GTO	Pierre Dumay		Rank 4
1965	Ecurie Francorchamps	Ferrari 250LM	Gérard Langlois van Ophem		failure	Engine failure

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
1953		Peugeot 203	SEB	MIM	LEM	SPA	ONLY	RTT	CAP
						DNF
1955		Peugeot 403	BUA	SEB	MIM	LEM	RTT	TAR
								DNF
1958	Ecurie Francorchamps	Ferrari 250 GT	BUA	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	RTT
						24
1959	Equipe Nationale Belge	Ferrari 250 GT	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	RTT
					14th	3
1960	Ecurie Francorchamps	Ferrari 250 GT	BUA	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM
							6th
1962	Ecurie Francorchamps Equipe Nationale Belge	Fiat-Abarth 1000 Ferrari 250 GT Ferrari 250 GTO	DAY	SEB	SEB	MAY	TAR	BER	ONLY	LEM	TAV	CCA	RTT	ONLY	BRI	BRI	PAR
				8th					DNF	3							DNF
1963	Ecurie Francorchamps Fernand Tavano	Ferrari 250 GT Ferrari 250 GTO	DAY	SEB	SEB	TAR	SPA	MAY	ONLY	CON	ROS	LEM	MON	WIS	TAV	FRE	CCE	RTT	OVI	ONLY	MON	MON	TDF	BRI
									5			4th
1964	Ecurie Francorchamps	Porsche 904	DAY	SEB	TAR	MON	SPA	CON	ONLY	ROS	LEM	REI	FRE	CCE	RTT	SIM	ONLY	MON	TDF	BRI	BRI	PAR
							24		DNF
1965	Léon Dernier Ecurie Francorchamps	Porsche 904 Ferrari 250LM	DAY	SEB	BOL	MON	MON	RTT	TAR	SPA	ONLY	MUG	ROS	LEM	REI	BOZ	FRE	CCE	OVI	ONLY	BRI	BRI
										10				DNF
1966	Ecurie Francorchamps	Ferrari 250LM	DAY	SEB	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	MUG	CCE	HOK	SIM	ONLY	ZEL
			DNF		DNF

literature

• Christian Moity, Jean-Marc Teissèdre, Alain Bienvenu: 24 heures du Mans, 1923–1992. Éditions d'Art, Besançon 1992, ISBN 2-909-413-06-3 .

Web links

Commons : Léon Dernier  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Léon Dernier at Racing Sports Cars
• Léon Dernier at Motorsport Memorial

Individual evidence

1. ^ 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps 1953
2. ↑ Bol d'Or 1955
3. ^ 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps 1968