Lucien Bianchi

Luciano “Lucien” Bianchi was an Italian-born Belgian racing driver who raced for the Cooper, ENB, BRP and Scuderia Centro Sud teams in Formula One. He entered a total of 19 Formula One World Championship races, scoring six points and had a best finish of third at the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix.

Driver Bio

Nationality	Belgian
Born	10 November 1934 Milan, Italy
Died	30 March 1969 (aged 34) Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France
Active years	1959–1963, 1965, 1968
Teams	ENB, BRP, Reg Parnell, Scuderia Centro Sud, Cooper
Entries	19 (17 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	1
Career points	6
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1959 Monaco Grand Prix
Last entry	1968 Mexican Grand Prix

Bianchi also drove in 13 consecutive 24 Hours of Le Mans (1956–1968), finishing first in Class three times, including the first overall win at the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans, with co-driver Pedro Rodríguez. Bianchi died in a crash while testing for the 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Personal life

Bianchi was born in Milan, Italy, but moved to Belgium in 1946 with his father, who, before the Second World War, was a race mechanic in Alfa Romeo’s competition department. His brother, Mauro Bianchi, also became a racing driver. They drove to victory together in the 1965 Nürburgring 500 km. Mauro later won the P1.6 class at the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans. His grandnephew, Jules Bianchi, who made his Formula One debut with the Marussia team for the 2013 season, competing under the French flag, died in 2015, having never regained consciousness after a crash during the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.

Racing career

Bianchi’s first race event was at the Alpine Rally in 1951. He won the 1957, 1958 and 1959 Tour de France as well as the Paris 1000 sports car race in the latter two years.

Formula One

He entered Formula One in 1959, though with only sporadic appearances at first. He drove various cars under the banner of the ENB team, including a Cooper T51, a Lotus 18 and an Emeryson. After a couple of races for the UDT Laystall team in 1961, driving another Lotus, he returned to ENB for whom he drove their ENB-Maserati. He finally secured a more regular drive in Formula One in 1968, with the Cooper-BRM team, although success was elusive despite a bright start. Bianchi managed his best Formula One performance, finishing third at the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix, in his first race for Cooper.

Bianchi also raced touring cars, sports cars and rally cars, being successful in all disciplines, his biggest victories coming in the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans, behind the wheel of a Ford GT40 with Pedro Rodríguez and at Sebring in 1962 with Jo Bonnier. He was also leading the 1968 London–Sydney Marathon when his Citroën DS collided with a non-competing car on the closed course near Nowra, 100 km south of Sydney.

Bianchi was killed when his Alfa Romeo T33 spun into a telegraph pole during Le Mans testing in 1969.

At Circuit Zolder, the fourth turn, entering the back straight, is named after Lucien Bianchi in his memory.

Formula One World Championship results

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	WDC	Pts
1959	Equipe National Belge	Cooper T51	Climax FPF 1.5 L4	MON DNQ	500	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	POR	ITA	USA				NC	0
1960	Equipe National Belge	Cooper T51	Climax FPF 2.5 L4	ARG	MON	500	NED	BEL 6								24th	1
	Fred Tuck Cars								FRA Ret	GBR Ret	POR	ITA	USA
1961	Equipe National Belge	Emeryson 61	Maserati Tipo 6 1.5 L4	MON DNQ	NED											NC	0
		Lotus 18	Climax FPF 1.5 L4			BEL Ret
	UDT Laystall Racing Team	Lotus 18/21					FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER	ITA	USA
1962	Equipe National Belge	Lotus 18/21	Climax FPF 1.5 L4	NED	MON	BEL 9	FRA	GBR								NC	0
		ENB F1	Maserati Tipo 6 1.5 L4						GER 16	ITA	USA	RSA
1963	Reg Parnell Racing	Lola Mk4	Climax FWMV 1.5 V8	MON	BEL Ret	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	ITA	USA	MEX	RSA			NC	0
1965	Scuderia Centro Sud	BRM P57	BRM P56 1.5 V8	RSA	MON	BEL 12	FRA	GBR	NED	GER	ITA	USA	MEX			NC	0
1968	Cooper Car Company	Cooper T86B	BRM P101 3.0 V12	RSA	ESP	MON 3	BEL 6	NED Ret	FRA	GBR	GER Ret	ITA	CAN NC	USA NC	MEX Ret	17th	5

Teammates & Qualifying Head-to-Head

Teammate	Years	Races	Qualifying H2H
Alain de Changy	1959	1	–
Olivier Gendebien	1961	1	0-1
Willy Mairesse	1961	1	1-0
Juan-Manuel Bordeu	1961	1	–
Henry Taylor	1961	1	1-0
Chris Amon	1963	1	0-1
Masten Gregory	1965	1	0-1
Ludovico Scarfiotti	1968	1	0-1
Brian Redman	1968	1	0-1
Vic Elford	1968	4	1-3