Raymond Sommer

Raymond Sommer

Raymond Sommer in Montlhéry, 1933
Born	31 August 1906 Mouzon, Ardennes, France
Died	10 September 1950 (aged 44) Circuit de Cadours, Tarn-et-Garonne, France
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	French
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
24 Hours of Le Mans career Participating years 1931–1935, 1937–1939, 1950 Teams Private Best finish 1st (1932, 1933) Class wins 2 (1932, 1933)

Raymond Sommer (31 August 1906, Mouzon, in the Ardennes département of France – 10 September 1950) was a Grand Prix motor racing driver.

Sommer was born into a wealthy Sedan, France carpet making family. His father, Roger, 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, 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 to the winner, Tazio Nuvolari.

However, his tendency to run in privately entered cars did him no favours on the Grand Prix scene, winning just one major international race, the 1936 French Grand Prix. At the time, the German manufacturers Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union were the dominant force in GP racing, together with the French Bugatti team. Sommer turned to sports cars once more, winning 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 F1 World Championship began and Sommer drove in five Grand Prix races for Talbot and BRM, 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 ^[1] 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 Tunisa 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

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	WDC	Points
1950	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 125	Ferrari V12	GBR	MON 4	500					16th	3
		Ferrari 166 F2	Ferrari V12				SUI Ret
	Raymond Sommer	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot Straight-6					BEL Ret		ITA Ret
	Automobiles Talbot-Darracq SA	Talbot-Lago T26C-GS	Talbot Straight-6						FRA Ret

Non-Championship results

(key)

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 V12	PAU 4	RIC	SRM Ret
	Raymond Sommer	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot Straight-6				PAR Ret	EMP	BAR	JER	ALB Ret		NAT Ret	NOT	ULS	PES	STT
	Automobiles Talbot-Darracq SA	Talbot-Lago T26C-DA										NED Ret
	BRM Ltd	BRM P15	BRM V16															INT Ret	GOO	PEN

Footnotes

1. Motor Sport, October 1950, Page 525: Obituary.