Jean Behra

Interesting facts

Jean Behra started out racing motorcycles for Moto Guzzi and only switched to cars around 1950, his first notable result a third place on the Monte Carlo Rally. The hot-tempered Frenchman carried the scars of a dozen crashes, including an ear torn off in a 1955 collision. In 1959, after retiring from the French Grand Prix at Reims, he got into a physical fight with Ferrari team manager Romolo Tavoni - Ferrari fired him on the spot. Barely a month later, on 1 August 1959 at AVUS in Berlin, his Porsche RSK flew off the top of the banking in torrential rain, and he was thrown out and killed by a fatal skull fracture against a flagpole, aged just 38. Enzo Ferrari sent no condolences to his funeral - still angry that Behra's own Porsche-based Formula Two effort had been outperforming Ferrari's factory team. Jean Behra raced in Formula 1 from 1952 to 1959, across 8 seasons as a French driver. He scored a total of 51.14 championship points over his career.