Philippe Étancelin

Philippe Jean Armand Étancelin (Template:IPA; 28 December 1896 – 13 October 1981) was a French racing driver, and a winner of the 1934 24 Hours of Le Mans. He competed primarily on the Grand Prix circuit, and was an early Formula One driver.<ref name=mem>Template:Cite web</ref>

Biography

Born in Rouen, Seine-Inférieure, in Normandy, Étancelin worked as a merchant in the winter and raced cars during the summer.<ref name=driver>"World's Best Drivers Vie For $60,000 In Cup Race", Washington Post, October 12, 1936, p.X15.</ref>

Étancelin's wife, Suzanne, served as his crew chief. Their three children were placed in a school in Rouen while the couple traveled to races around the world. Suzanne communicated with Étancelin through French sign language as he raced around the speedway.Template:Citation needed Suzanne told a reporter Étancelin bought a racing car to celebrate the birth of their second child, Jeanne Alice. He did not intend to race the car but merely use it for pleasure driving around the countryside. The couple once drove it up to a speed of Template:Convert. After two years of recreational motoring, Étancelin decided to enter a race.<ref name=pit/>

Étancelin began racing a privateer Bugatti in 1926, entering local events and hillclimbs.<ref name=Twite>Twite, Mike. "Etancelin: Twenty Years Behind the Wheel", in Northey, Tom, general editor. The World of Automobiles (London: Orbis, 1974), Volume 6, p616.</ref> His first victory was the Grand Prix de la Marne at Reims in 1927,<ref name=Twite/> the same year he recorded a third at the Coppa Florio in Saint-Brieuc.<ref name=Twite/> He repeated his victory at Reims in 1929, ahead of Zenelli and friend Marcel Lehoux, making a Bugatti sweep of the podium.<ref name=Twite/> Étancelin took a victory at the Grand Prix de la Baule and the Antibes Prix de Conseil General.<ref name=Twite/>

Nicknamed "Phi Phi",<ref name=Twite/> Étancelin also earned Bugatti a win at the 1930 Algerian Grand Prix, followed home by Lehoux. At the Formula Libre French Grand Prix, he defeated Henry Birkin's Bentley, and won the Grenoble Circuit de Dauphine, with a third at Lyons.<ref name=Twite/>

Étancelin began the 1931 season in a Bugatti, placing behind Czaykowski at the Casablanca Grand Prix at Anfa.<ref name=Twite/> He won the Circuit d'Esterel Plage at Saint-Raphaël. For major events, run to Formula Libre rules to a 10-hour duration, he shared with Lehoux. They dropped out of both the Italian and French Grands Prix. After Étancelin switched to Alfa later in the year, he came fourth in the Marne Grand Prix and won the four-hour Dieppe Grand Prix, ahead of Czaykowski's Bugatti and Earl Howe's Delage. He added wins at Grenoble and the Comminges Grand Prix at St. Gaudens.<ref name=Twite/>

While Étancelin was a top privateer, he was consistently beaten by works teams in 1932, earning only one win, the Picardy Grand Prix at Peronne.<ref name=Twite/>

In 1933, Étancelin's Alfa narrowly lost the 19th annual<ref name=Times>"Campari Wins Paris Auto Race", The New York Times, June 12, 1933, p.22.</ref> French Grand Prix (organized by the French Automobile Club at the Montlhery AutodromeTemplate:Citation needed near Paris<ref name=Times/>) following a "furious"<ref name=Twite/> contest with Giuseppe Campari's Maserati, losing the lead on the final lap of the Template:Convert event.<ref name=Times/> Nevertheless, Étancelin won a second consecutive Picardy Grand Prix, over a "formidable"<ref name=Twite/> Raymond Sommer, and placed second to an equally formidable Tazio Nuvolari at the Nîmes Grand Prix, with win over Jean-Pierre Wimille at the Marne Grand Prix.<ref name=Twite/>

The new 750 kilogram formula brought the conquering Silver Arrows of Mercedes and Auto Union. Étancelin switched to a Maserati 8CM,<ref name=Twite/> earning second places at Casablanca, Montreux, and Nice, with a win at Dieppe. He shared an Alfa with Luigi Chinetti to win Le Mans.<ref name=Twite/>

Étancelin's 1935 season was no better, with only a third at Tunis. He gave Rudolf Caracciola's Mercedes a tough fight at Monaco in the little 3.7 litre Maserati, but suffered brake fade and came fourth.<ref name=Twite/> Driving a Maserati for the Subalpina team, he also had a spectacular accident at the Swiss Grand Prix in Bern, with his car upturned and in flames, but he did not suffer injuries.

Entering one of the new 4.4 liter Maseratis in 1936, he was outmatched by the German entrants, suffering retirements in nearly every contest. He won only the Pau Grand Prix, and that was "against modest opposition".<ref name=Twite/> He negotiated the 100 laps in 3 hours 21 minutes 22 seconds.<ref>"Wins Grand Prix", Olean, New York Times Herald, March 2, 1936, p.13.</ref> In October, Étancelin qualified sixth for the Vanderbilt Cup, which was run over Template:Convert near Westbury, New York, after a Template:Convert qualifier<ref>"Nuvolari Tops Qualifiers for Auto Race", Washington Post, October 8, 1936, p.X19.</ref> at Roosevelt Raceway in Long Island.<ref name=pit>"Vite! Vite! To Victory, Or-", Edwardsville, Illinois Intelligencer, March 13, 1939, p.5.</ref> He finished the AAA-sanctioned race in ninth.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Étancelin stayed out of racing in 1937, returning in 1938 solely to share a new Talbot with Chinetti at LeMans, but did not score a win. For 1939, he put his Talbot third at Pau, following Hermann Lang and Manfred von Brauchitsch home. He also scored a fourth place at the French Grand Prix.<ref name=Twite/>

Étancelin would enter the first motor race held in France postwar, failing to finish at the Bois de Boulogne in an Alfa.<ref name=Twite/> He was not able to obtain one of the scarce new racers until 1948, when he purchased a 4½ litre Talbot, and put it second at the Albi Grand Prix, behind Luigi Villoresi in the Maserati.

His 1949 season saw second places at the Marseilles Grand Prix (to Fangio), the European Grand Prix at Monza (to Alberto Ascari), and Czechoslovakian Grand Prix at Brno (to Peter Whitehead in a Ferrari). In addition, he won the Paris Grand Prix at Montlhéry.<ref name=Twite/>

Étancelin participated in twelve World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 13 May 1950. He scored a total of three championship points. His fifth place in the 1950 Italian Grand Prix made him the oldest driver ever to score championship points, a record set in the first World Championship season which still stands more than 70 years later.

In 1953, Étancelin ran third at the Rouen Grand Prix and at the 12 Hours of Casablanca, and decided to retire.<ref name=Twite/> The government of France awarded him the Legion of Honour in recognition of his contribution to the sport of automobile racing that spanned four decades.

Étancelin retained an interest in racing, making occasional appearances in historic racing through 1974.<ref name=Twite/>

He died at Neuilly-sur-Seine in 1981.

Motorsports career results

Notable career wins

• Algerian Grand Prix 1930
• Grand Prix de la Baule 1929
• Grand Prix du Comminges 1929, 1931
• Dauphiné Circuit 1930, 1931
• French Grand Prix 1930
• Grand Prix de Dieppe 1931
• Grand Prix de la Marne 1929, 1933
• Pau Grand Prix 1930, 1936
• Grand Prix de Picardie 1932, 1933
• Grand Prix de Reims 1927, 1929
• Circuit d'Esterel Plage 1931
• 24 hours of Le Mans 1934

European Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Template:Tooltip	Pts
1931	M. Lehoux	Bugatti T51	Bugatti 2.3 L8	ITA Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	BEL					24th	21
1932	M. Lehoux	Alfa Romeo Monza	Alfa Romeo 2.3 L8	ITA	FRA Template:Small	GER					16th	21
1935	Scuderia Subalpina	Maserati 6C-34	Maserati 3.7 L6	MON Template:Small	FRA	BEL		SUI Template:Small			13th	46
			Maserati 3.3 L6				GER Template:Small
		Maserati V8RI	Maserati 4.8 V8						ITA Template:Small	ESP
1936	P. Etancelin	Maserati V8RI	Maserati 4.8 V8	MON Template:Small	GER	SUI Template:Small	ITA				18th	28
1938	Talbot Darracq	Talbot T150C	Talbot 4.5 L6	FRA Template:Small	GER	SUI	ITA				24th	29
1939	Automobiles Talbot-Darracq	Talbot MD	Talbot 4.5 L6	BEL	FRA Template:Small	GER	SUI				16th	28
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Post-WWII Grandes Épreuves results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5
1948	Philippe Étancelin	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	MON	SUI	FRA Template:Small	ITA Template:Small
1949	Philippe Étancelin	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	GBR Template:Small		SUI Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	ITA Template:Small
	Automobiles Talbot-Darracq				BEL Template:Small
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FIA World Drivers' Championship results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Template:Tooltip	Pts
1950	Philippe Étancelin	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	GBR Template:Small	MON Template:Small	500	SUI Template:Small			ITA Template:Small		18th	3
	Automobiles Talbot-Darracq	Talbot-Lago T26C-DA						BEL Template:Small
	Philippe Étancelin								FRA Template:Small
1951	Philippe Étancelin	Talbot-Lago T26C-DA	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	SUI Template:Small	500	BEL Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	GBR	GER Template:Small	ITA	ESP Template:Small	NC	0
1952	Escuderia Bandeirantes	Maserati A6GCM	Maserati A6 2.0 L6	SUI	500	BEL	FRA Template:Small	GBR	GER	NED	ITA	NC	0
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^† Indicates shared drive with Eugène Chaboud

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Template:Tooltip	Template:Tooltip
1934	Template:Flagicon Luigi Chinetti	Template:Flagicon Luigi Chinetti	Alfa Romeo 8C 2300	3.0	213	1st	1st
1938	Template:Flagicon Luigi Chinetti	Template:Flagicon Luigi Chinetti	Talbot T26	5.0	66	DNF	DNF
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