Roger Masson (racing driver)

Roger Masson pushed a Lotus 11 around the course for 90 minutes at Le Mans in 1957

Roger Masson ( 1923 - December 13, 2014 ) was a French racing car driver and farmer .

Career

In 1957, Roger Masson became known to the general public as a pushing racing driver outside of motorsport. At the 24-hour race at Le Mans this year , he shared the cockpit of a Lotus 11 with his compatriot André Héchard . On Saturday afternoon, a few hours after the start of the race, the Lotus ran out of fuel on the Ligne Droite des Hunaudières . Even though the boxes were six kilometers away, Masson began to push the car. The Frenchman took off his helmet , took off his shirt and shoes and pushed the car partly barefoot the six kilometers to the box. After 90 minutes of pushing he arrived there, completely exhausted and with sore feet. The car was refueled and colleague Héchard took over the wheel. After 24 hours, the team reached 16th place in the overall standings.

Masson competed ten times at Le Mans. He made his debut in 1955 on a works - DB HBR . The 12th place overall remained the best place in the final ranking all these years. His last job was in 1965 on an Alpine M64 , whose cockpit he shared with Guy Verrier . The race ended prematurely after a clutch damage. Aside from the Le Mans races, he drove the Tour de France for automobiles , the 12-hour race in Reims and competed in the 1000 km race on the Nürburgring in Germany .

He was also active in rallying . He was registered several times in the Monte Carlo Rally . In 1964 he won the Tour de Corse as co-pilot of Jean Vinatier .

After the end of his career, he bought a farm in Lutz-en-Dunois , which he ran into old age.

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1956	Automobiles Deutsch et Bonnet	DB HBR	André Héchard	Rank 12	-
1957	André Héchard	Lotus 11	André Héchard	Rank 16	-
1958	Lotus France team	Lotus Mk15	André Héchard	failure	accident
1959	Roger Masson	DB HBR5	Jean Vinatier	failure	Clutch damage
1960	Roger Masson	Lotus Elite Mk14	Claude Laurent	Rank 13	-
1961	Roger Masson	DB HBR4	Paul Armagnac	failure	Engine failure
1962	Roger Masson	Fiat-Abarth 750 TwinCam	Teodoro Zeccoli	failure	Engine failure
1963	Automobiles René Bonnet	René Bonnet Aérodjet LM6	Pierre Monneret	failure	accident
1964	Société des Automobiles Alpine	Alpine M63	Teodoro Zeccoli	Rank 20	-
1965	Société des Automobiles Alpine	Alpine M64	Guy Verrier	failure	Clutch 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	21st	22nd
1957	André Héchard	Lotus Eleven	BUA	SEB	MIM	ONLY	LEM	KRI	CAR
							16
1958	Lotus France team	Lotus Mk15	BUA	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	RTT
							DNF
1959	German & Bonnet Roger Masson	DB HBR4 DB HBR5	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	RTT
					40	DNF
1960	Roger Masson	Lotus Elite	BUA	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM
							13
1961	Roger Masson	DB HBR4	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	PES
						DNF
1962	Roger Masson Abarth	Fiat-Abarth 750 Fiat-Abarth 1000	DAY	SEB	SEB	MAY	TAR	BER	ONLY	LEM	TAV	CCA	RTT	ONLY	BRI	BRI	PAR
										DNF							DNF
1963	Automobiles René Bonnet	René Bonnet Aérodjet LM6	DAY	SEB	SEB	TAR	SPA	MAY	ONLY	CON	ROS	LEM	MON	WIS	TAV	FRE	CCE	RTT	OVI	ONLY	MON	MON	TDF	BRI
												DNF
1964	Alpine	Alpine M63	DAY	SEB	TAR	MON	SPA	CON	ONLY	ROS	LEM	REI	FRE	CCE	RTT	SIM	ONLY	MON	TDF	BRI	BRI	PAR
											20th
1965	Alpine	Alpine M64	DAY	SEB	BOL	MON	MON	RTT	TAR	SPA	ONLY	MUG	ROS	LEM	REI	BOZ	FRE	CCE	OVI	ONLY	BRI	BRI
														DNF

literature

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

Web links

• Results at Racing Sports Cars
• Obituary at Echo Republicain (French)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Picture: Roger Masson pushes the Lotus Eleven in Le Mans in 1957