Raymond Sommer
![]() Sommer in 1932 | |||||||||||
Born | Mouzon, Ardennes, France | 31 August 1906||||||||||
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Died | 10 September 1950 (aged 44) Circuit de Cadours, Tarn-et-Garonne, France | ||||||||||
Formula One World Championship career | |||||||||||
Nationality | ![]() | ||||||||||
Active years | 1950 | ||||||||||
Teams | Ferrari, works and private Talbot-Lago | ||||||||||
Entries | 5 | ||||||||||
Championships | 0 | ||||||||||
Wins | 0 | ||||||||||
Podiums | 0 | ||||||||||
Career points | 3 | ||||||||||
Pole positions | 0 | ||||||||||
Fastest laps | 0 | ||||||||||
First entry | 1950 Monaco Grand Prix | ||||||||||
Last entry | 1950 Italian Grand Prix | ||||||||||
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Raymond Sommer (31 August 1906 – 10 September 1950) was a French motor racing driver.[1] He raced both before and after WWII with some success, particularly in endurance racing. He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race in both 1932 and 1933, and although he did not reach the finishing line in any subsequent appearance at the Le Mans, he did lead each event until 1938. Sommer was also competitive at the highest level in Grand Prix motor racing, but did not win a race. He won the French Grand Prix in 1936, but the event that year was run as a sports car race. After racing resumed in the late 1940s, Sommer again won a number of sports car and minor Grand Prix events, and finished in fourth place in the 1950 Monaco Grand Prix, the second round of the newly-instituted Formula One World Drivers' Championship. He was killed toward the end of 1950, when his car overturned during a race at the Circuit de Cadours.
Biography
Sommer was born in Mouzon, in the Ardennes département of France, into a wealthy Sedan carpet-making family. His father, Roger Sommer, broke the Wright Brothers' record for the longest flight in 1909. It was not until 1931 that Raymond started to display daredevil tendencies of his own, entering motor races in a privateer Chrysler Imperial. The following year, he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, despite having to drive over 20 hours solo after his teammate, Luigi Chinetti, retired ill. During the 1930s, Sommer was to dominate the French endurance classic, winning again in 1933 driving an Alfa Romeo alongside Tazio Nuvolari. He also led every race until 1938, only to suffer a mechanical failure, once when 12 laps in the lead. Sommer traveled to Long Island, New York, to compete in the 1936 Vanderbilt Cup where he finished fourth behind the winner, Nuvolari.
However, his tendency to run in his own privately entered Alfa Romeos did him no favours on the Grand Prix scene, and although a regular top-10 finisher in Grands Épreuves he never won a race. At the time, the German manufacturers Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union were the dominant force in Grand Prix racing, together with the French Bugatti team. Sommer turned to sports cars once more, and in 1936 he won the French Grand Prix with Jean-Pierre Wimille, and the Spa 24 Hours endurance race with co-driver Francesco Severi. More wins came his way including at the "Marseilles Three Hours" at Miramas, the Grand Prix de Tunisie and La Turbie hill climb competition in 1938 and 1939 with Alfa Romeo 308 until the outbreak of World War II, where he played an active part in the French Resistance movement.
Following the war, Sommer quickly returned to winning ways, claiming victory in the 1946 René Le Bègue Cup race at Saint-Cloud. At the 1947 Turin Grand Prix in Valentino Park he won the first ever Grand Prix for Enzo Ferrari as an independent constructor. The following season, Sommer switched from the Ferrari team, again for a privately owned car, this time a Talbot-Lago. In 1950, the Formula One World Championship began and Sommer drove in two Grand Prix races for Ferrari and three in a privately entered Talbot-Lago, retiring in all but one.
In July 1950 he won the Aix les Bains Circuit du Lac Grand Prix with a Ferrari 166.
In September 1950, he entered the Haute-Garonne Grand Prix[2] in Cadours, France, where the steering failed on his 1100 cc Cooper and the car overturned at a corner. Sommer, wearing his traditional canvas helmet, was instantly killed.
Major career wins
- French Grand Prix 1936
- Grand Prix de Marseilles 1932, 1937, 1946
- Grand Prix de Tunisie 1937
- Grand Prix de L'U.M.F. 1935
- Gran Premio del Valentino 1947
- Madrid Grand Prix 1949
- Spa 24 Hours 1936
- Turin Grand Prix 1947
- 24 Hours of Le Mans 1932, 1933
Racing record
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
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1931 | No Team Name | ![]() |
Chrysler 80 | 5.0 | 14 | DNF | DNF |
1932 | ![]() |
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Alfa Romeo 8C 2300LM | 3.0 | 218 | 1st | 1st |
1933 | ![]() |
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Alfa Romeo 8C 2300MM | 3.0 | 233 | 1st | 1st |
1934 | ![]() |
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Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 | 3.0 | 14 | DNF | DNF |
1935 | ![]() |
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Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 | 3.0 | 69 | DNF | DNF |
1937 | ![]() |
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Alfa Romeo 8C 2900A Spider | 5.0 | 11 | DNF | DNF |
1938 | ![]() |
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Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring | 5.0 | 219 | DNF | DNF |
1939 | ![]() |
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Alfa Romeo 6C 2500SS | 3.0 | 173 | DNF | DNF |
1950 | ![]() |
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Ferrari 195S Coupé | S 3.0 | 82 | DNF | DNF |
Complete 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 | EDC | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1935 | R. Sommer | Alfa Romeo Tipo B/P3 | Alfa Romeo 2.9 L8 | MON 6 |
BEL Ret |
GER | 7th | 39 | ||||
Scuderia Subalpina | Maserati 6C-34 | Maserati 3.7 L8 | FRA 6 |
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R. Sommer | Alfa Romeo Tipo B/P3 | Alfa Romeo 3.2 L8 | SUI 9 |
ITA | ESP 7 | |||||||
1936 | R. Sommer | Alfa Romeo Tipo B/P3 | Alfa Romeo 3.2 L8 | MON 7 |
GER 9 |
SUI Ret |
ITA | 5th | 21 | |||
1937 | Scuderia Ferrari | Alfa Romeo 12C-36 | Alfa Romeo 4.1 V12 | BEL 5 |
SUI 8 |
ITA | 6th | 27 | ||||
R. Sommer | Alfa Romeo 8C-35 | Alfa Romeo 3.8 L8 | GER Ret |
MON 7 |
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1939 | R. Sommer | Alfa Romeo Tipo 308 | Alfa Romeo 3.0 L8 | BEL 4 |
FRA 5 |
GER Ret |
SUI | 9th | 23 | |||
Source:[3]
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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 |
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1947 | Scuderia Milano | Maserati 4CL | Maserati 4CL 1.5 L4s | SUI 4 |
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Raymond Sommer | Maserati 4CM | BEL Ret |
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Maserati 4CL | ITA Ret |
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CTA-Arsenal | CTA-Arsenal 1.5 V8s | FRA Ret |
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1948 | Equipe Gordini | Simca Gordini T15 | Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4s | MON Ret |
SUI Ret |
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Centre d'Etudes T.A. | Maserati 4CM | Maserati 4CL 1.5 L4s | FRA Ret |
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Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari 125 | Ferrari 125 F1 1.5 V12s | ITA 3 |
GBR | ||||
1949 | Raymond Sommer | Talbot-Lago T26C | Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 | GBR | BEL | SUI 3 |
FRA 5 |
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Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari 125 | Ferrari 125 F1 1.5 V12s | ITA 5 | |||||
Source:[4]
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Complete Formula One World 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 | WDC | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1950 | Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari 125 | Ferrari 125 1.5 V12s | GBR | MON 4 |
500 | 16th | 3 | ||||
Ferrari 166 F2 | Ferrari 166 2.0 V12 | SUI Ret |
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Raymond Sommer | Talbot-Lago T26C | Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 | BEL Ret |
ITA Ret | ||||||||
Automobiles Talbot-Darracq SA | Talbot-Lago T26C-GS | FRA Ret |
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Source:[5]
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Complete Formula One Non-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 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1950 | Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari 125 | Ferrari 125 1.5 V12s | PAU 4 |
RIC | SRM Ret |
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Raymond Sommer | Talbot-Lago T26C | Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 | PAR Ret |
EMP | BAR | JER | ALB Ret |
NAT Ret |
NOT | ULS | PES | STT | ||||||||
Automobiles Talbot-Darracq SA | Talbot-Lago T26C-DA | NED Ret |
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BRM Ltd | BRM P15 | BRM P15 1.5 V16s | INT Ret |
GOO | PEN |
References
- ^ "Driver – Raymond Sommer". chicanef1.com. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
- ^ Motor Sport, October 1950, Page 525: Obituary.
- ^ "THE GOLDEN ERA – OF GRAND PRIX RACING". kolumbus.fi. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
- ^ "Raymond Sommer – Biography". MotorSportMagazine. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
- ^ "Raymond Sommer – Grand Prix started". statsf1.com. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- 1906 births
- 1950 deaths
- People from Ardennes
- French Formula One drivers
- Ferrari Formula One drivers
- Talbot Formula One drivers
- Racing drivers killed while racing
- Grand Prix drivers
- French Resistance members
- French racing drivers
- 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
- 24 Hours of Le Mans winning drivers
- 24 Hours of Spa drivers
- Sport deaths in France