Paul Armagnac

On a René Bonnet Djet Paul Armagnac crashed during practice for the 1000 km race from Paris in 1962 fatal

Paul Armagnac (born November 30, 1923 in Nogaro , † October 22, 1962 in Linas ) was a French racing driver . The Circuit Paul Armagnac in his hometown of Nogaro is named after him.

Career

Paul Armagnac became known as a sports car driver in the 1950s and 1960s. He achieved his first notable result in 1952 with 34th place in the Tour de France for automobiles on a Simca Aronde . In 1955 he made his debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans . The race was overshadowed by a serious accident in which 84 people were killed. Armagnac drove a DB HBR from Ecurie Jeudy-Bonnet. His team partner was Gérard Laureau . The little racing car had a damaged wheel bearing and the duo had to give up the race early. The following year , again with Laureau as a partner, he was tenth in the overall standings, his best result in the endurance race at Le Mans.

Armagnac developed into a specialist for the small displacement vehicles from Deutsch & Bonnet . In 1956 he became a works driver there and played a key role in the success of the sports cars of René Bonnet and Charles Deutsch . It had already celebrated its greatest international success in 1954 when it won the RAC Tourist Trophy . Although he only crossed the finish line in 21st place on the track, the index ranking used for the sports car world championship showed him and co -driver Laureau to be the overall winner. This evaluation put the vehicles, which differed in weight and performance, in relation, so that in the end it was not the fastest car that won, but the one that scored the most points according to this index.

Once Armagnac also took part in a Formula 1 race ; In 1954 he contested the Grand Prix de Pau, which was not part of the world championship . There he drove the DB F1 . This vehicle had a 0.7 liter engine and is the only front-wheel drive racing car in the history of this motorsport formula. In the 110-lap race, it was lapped no fewer than 18 times, not least due to the 85 HP (63 kW) engine. He was therefore not classified at the end of the race.

Death in Montlhéry

Paul Armagnac had a fatal accident on October 20, 1962, while training for the 1000 km race in Paris , at the Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry . After the death of his wife in 1960, Armagnac gradually withdrew from racing and became involved as a consultant in the construction of the race track, which was built near his home town of Nogaro. He only contested races sporadically. In the 1000 km race in Paris he was driving a René Bonnet Djet when the fatal accident occurred in the last practice session. A week earlier, the former French skier Henri Oreiller had had a fatal accident at the Coupe de Salon on this racetrack. The Armagnac accident was similar to Oreiller's death. At the end of the banked curve before the start and finish, he too lost control of the car, flung across the street and hit a barrier hard. Armagnac was thrown out of the car and lay on the racetrack with several broken bones. Although he was quickly brought to the Linas clinic, he succumbed to serious injuries two days after the accident.

Two years after his death, the Nogaro circuit was named after him.

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1955	Ecurie Jeudy-Bonnet	DB HBR	Gérard Laureau	failure	Wheel bearings
1956	Automobiles German & Bonnet	DB HBR5	Gérard Laureau	Rank 10 and class win
1957	Automobiles German & Bonnet	DB HBR	Gérard Laureau	failure	accident
1958	Automobiles German & Bonnet	DB HBR4	Jean-Claude Vidilles	Rank 13
1959	Automobiles German & Bonnet	DB HBR4	Bernard Consten	11th place and class win
1960	Automobiles German & Bonnet	DB HBR4	Gérard Laureau	15th place and class win
1961	Roger Masson	DB HBR4	Roger Masson	failure	Engine failure
1962	Société des Automobiles René Bonnet	René Bonnet Djet 2 Spider	Gérard Laureau	Rank 18

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1956	Ecurie Jeudy Bonnet	DB HBR5	Guillaume Mercader	16th place and class win
1959	German & Bonnet	DB HBR4	Gérard Laureau	17th 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
1954	German & Bonnet	DB HBR	BUA	SEB	MIM	LEM	RTT	CAP
							21st
1955	German & Bonnet	DB HBR	BUA	SEB	MIM	LEM	RTT	TAR
						DNF	17th
1956	German & Bonnet	DB HBR5	BUA	SEB	MIM	ONLY	KRI
				16
1957	German & Bonnet	DB HBR	BUA	SEB	MIM	ONLY	LEM	KRI	CAR
					DNF		DNF
1958	German & Bonnet	DB HBR4	BUA	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	RTT
							13
1959	German & Bonnet	DB HBR4	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	RTT
			17th		31	11
1960	German & Bonnet	DB HBR4	BUA	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM
							15th
1961	Automobiles René Bonnet Roger Masson	DB HBR5	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	PES
					35	DNF
1962	Automobiles René Bonnet	René Bonnet Djet	DAY	SEB	SEB	MAY	TAR	BER	ONLY	LEM	TAV	CCA	RTT	ONLY	BRI	BRI	PAR
										18th	18th

Web links

Commons : Paul Armagnac  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Biography (English)
• Paul Armagnac at Motorsport Memorial

Individual evidence

1. ^ Paul Armagnac at Motorsport Magazine
2. ↑ Paul Armagnac in StatsF1