Philippe de Henning

Philippe de Henning (born March 28, 1943 in Paris ) is a French photographer, designer and former racing driver .

Education and family

Philippe de Henning trained as a photographer and graphic artist in the 1960s . He also practiced the profession during his career as a racing driver. He also worked as a fashion designer , compiled catalogs for furniture design and developed corporate designs for Paris museums.

He was married to the model Wallis Franken in the 1970s . The couple had three children, two daughters Rhea and Celia, and one son. The son died of sudden infant death in the third month of life . After the divorce, Franken was married to the French fashion designer Claude Montana for the second time . Franken was already on the catwalk as a model at the scandalous Montana fashion show in 1977. Franken married Montana in 1993 and died on May 8, 1996 under mysterious circumstances in Paris. Falling out of a window in their shared apartment was later officially declared a suicide .

Scientology

In the 1980s, Philippe de Henning became a member of Scientology . The connection with this New Religious Movement became so close that de Henning's races were largely funded by Scientology publishers New Era Publications and Bridge Publications.

Racing career

De Henning's career as a driver began in the 1060s. In 1964 he started together with the then 28-year-old Claude Ballot-Léna in a Fiat-Abarth 850TC in the Tour de France for automobiles . A mechanical defect stopped the commitment of the two French. At the end of the 1960s he contested hill climbs , took part unsuccessfully in the 1000 km race in Paris in 1972 and in 1973 drove a full season in the French Formula Renault championship , which he came in 21st overall (champion René Arnoux ahead of Patrick Tambay and Alain Couderc ) finished.

The eleven-year break from racing was the long-lasting consequence of the oil price crisis , through which he lost financial support. In 1984 he returned to the racetracks. He had received new motivation from studying the writings of L. Ron Hubbard . After three seasons in the French Formula 3 championship , he switched to sports car racing in 1987 . From 1987 until the end of the 1991 season he was a regular starter in the World Sports Car Championship . His best result was sixth and class win at the 1987 Le Mans 24-hour race .

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1987	Spice engineering	Spice SE86C	Fermín Vélez	Gordon Spice	Rank 6 and class win
1989	Roy Baker Racing	Spice SE87C	Evan Clements	Dudley Wood	Rank 17
1990	Chamberlain Engineering	Spice SE90C	Robin Donovan	Charles Zwolsman senior	failure	Engine failure
1991	Automobiles Louis Descartes	ALD C91	Patrick Gonin	Luigi Taverna	failure	Gearbox damage

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
1964	Leman	Fiat-Abarth 850 TC	DAY	SEB	TAR	MON	SPA	CON	ONLY	ROS	LEM	REI	FRE	CCE	RTT	SIM	ONLY	MON	TDF	BRI	BRI	PAR
																			DNF
1987	Spice Engineering Ivy Racing	Spice SE86C Tiga GC287	JAR	JER	MON	SIL	LEM	NOW	BRH	ONLY	SPA	FUJ
							6th		DNF	DNF	21st
1988	GP motorsport	Spice SE87C	JER	JAR	MON	SIL	LEM	BRÜ	BRH	ONLY	SPA	FUJ	SAN
			8th	DNF	DNF								DNF
1989	Baker Racing GP motorsport	Spice SE87C	SUZ	DIJ	JAR	BRH	ONLY	DON	SPA	MEX
				DNF		17th	DNF	DNF	18th	21st
1990	GP motorsport	Spice SE90C Spice SE89C	SUZ	MON	SIL	SPA	DIJ	ONLY	DON	MOT	MEX
			21st	DNF	DNF		DNF
1991	Louis Descartes	ALD C91	SUZ	MON	SIL	LEM	ONLY	LIKE	MEX	AUT
				DNF		DNF

Web links

• Philippe de Henning at the Driver Database
• Philippe de Henning at Racing Sports Cars

Individual evidence

1. ^ About Wallis and Philippe de Henning
2. ↑ Claude Montana and the Scandal
3. ↑ On the death of Valais Franconia
4. ↑ Scientology and Motorsport
5. ^ French Formula Renault Championship 1973
6. ↑ About Philippe de Henning