Lucien Bianchi

Luciano "Lucien" Bianchi
Born	10 November 1934; Milan, Italy
Died	30 March 1969 (aged 34); Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Belgian
Active years	1959–1963, 1965, 1968
Teams	ENB, UDT Laystall, 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

Lucien Bianchi (10 November 1934 – 30 March 1969), born Luciano Bianchi (Italian pronunciation: [luˈt͡ʃa.no ˈbjan.ki]), was an Italian-born Belgian racing driver who raced for the Cooper, ENB, UDT Laystall 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.

He died in a testing crash in preparation for the 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Personal life

Bianchi was born in Milan, Italy, but moved to Belgium in 1946 when he was still a child, with his father who was a race mechanic working, before the Second World War, in the Alfa Romeo competition department.^[1] 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, also died as a result of injuries sustained in a racing accident.

Racing career

Lucien 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.

He entered Formula One in 1959, although only with 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.^[2]

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.

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

At Circuit Zolder, the fourth turn of the circuit, entering the back stretch, is named LucienBianchiBocht in his memory.

Racing record

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1956	Equipe Nationale Belge	Alain de Changy	Ferrari 500 TR	S 2.0	76	DNF	DNF
1957	Equipe Nationale Belge	Georges Harris	Ferrari 500 TRC	S 2.0	288	7th	1st
1958	Ecurie Francorchamps	Willy Mairesse	Ferrari 250 TR	S 3.0	33	DNF	DNF
1959	Equipe Nationale Belge	Alain de Changy	Ferrari 250 TR	S 3.0	47	DNF	DNF
1960	Equipe Nationale Belge	Jean Blaton	Ferrari 250 GT	GT 3.0	29	DNF	DNF
1961	Ecurie Francorchamps	Georges Berger	Ferrari 250 GT	GT 3.0	60	DNF	DNF
1962	Maserati France	Maurice Trintignant	Maserati Tipo 151	E +3.0	152	DNF	DNF
1963	David Brown	Phil Hill	Aston Martin DP215	P+3.0	29	DNF	DNF
1964	Equipe Nationale Belge	Jean Blaton	Ferrari 250 GTO	GT 3.0	333	5th	1st
1965	Maranello Concessionaires Ltd.	Michael Salmon	Ferrari 250LM	P 5.0	99	DNF	DNF
1966	Holman & Moody	Mario Andretti	Ford GT40 Mk.II	P +5.0	97	DNF	DNF
1967	Holman & Moody	Mario Andretti	Ford GT40 Mk.IV	P +5.0	188	DNF	DNF
1968	J.W. Automotive Engineering Ltd.	Pedro Rodriguez	Ford GT40	S 5.0	331	1st	1st
Source:^[3]

Formula One World Championship results

(key)

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
1960	Fred Tuck Cars	Cooper T51	Climax FPF 2.5 L4						FRA Ret	GBR Ret	POR	ITA	USA			24th	1
1961	Equipe National Belge	Emeryson 61	Maserati Tipo 6 1.5 L4	MON DNQ	NED											NC	0
	Equipe National Belge	Lotus 18	Climax FPF 1.5 L4			BEL Ret
	UDT Laystall Racing Team	Lotus 18/21	Climax FPF 1.5 L4				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
1962	Equipe National Belge	ENB F1	Maserati Tipo 6 1.5 L4						GER 16	ITA	USA	RSA				NC	0
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
Source:^[4]

Complete USAC Championship Car results

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	Pos	Points
1967	Jim Robbins	PHX DNQ	TRE 17	INDY DNQ	MIL	LAN	PIP	MOS	MOS	IRP	LAN	MTR	MTR	SPR	MIL	DUQ	ISF	TRE	SAC	HAN	PHX	RIV	-	0

Complete British Saloon Car Championship results

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

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	DC	Pts	Class
1967	Team Lotus	Ford Cortina Lotus	C	BRH	SNE	SIL	SIL	MAL	SIL	SIL Ret	BRH	OUL	BRH	NC	0	NC
Source:^[5]

Other race results

Tour de France Automobile, 1st: 1957, 1958, 1959, 1964 / 2nd: 1961, 1963
Spa 24 Hours, 1st: 1964 (in Class 5) overall 4th
12 hours of Sebring, 1st: 1962
12 Hours of Reims, 1st: 1965 (in class P1.3) overall 7th
Targa Florio, 1st: 1965 (in class GT1.6) overall 7th
6 Hours of Nürburgring, 1st: 1965
6 Hours of Watkins Glen, 1st: 1968
1000 km of Nürburgring, 1st: 1965 (in class S.16) overall 13th, 1967 (in class P+2.0) overall 4th
1000 km of Paris, 1st: 1960 / 2nd: 1961, 1967
Mugello Grand Prix, 1st: 1968
9 hours of Kyalami, 1st: 1968
Grand Prix of Angola, 1st: 1962 / 2nd: 1964
Grand Prix of Zolder, 1st: 1964
500 km of Nürburgring, 1st: 1965, 1963 (in class T1.0)
Trophée d'Auvergne, 1st: 1963 (in class S/P+3.0)

References

^ "Lucien Bianchi brief obituary". Autocar. Vol. 130 (nbr 3816). 3 April 1969. p. 25.
^ "Lucien Bianchi 1968 Results". Formula. Formula One Administration Ltd. Archived from the original on 17 February 2010. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
^ "All Results of Lucien Bianchi". racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
^ "Profile for racing driver Lucien Bianchi". motorsportmagazine.com. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
^ de Jong, Frank. "British Saloon Car Championship". History of Touring Car Racing 1952-1993. Retrieved 10 September 2022.