Louis Gérard

Louis Gérard, winner of the RAC Tourist Trophy in 1938 in a Delage D6-70. Louis Gustave Adolphe Gérard (16 April 1899 – 11 May 2000) was a French racing driver. Winner of the RAC Tourist Trophy in 1938, he took part in numerous other sports car races and various Grand Prix events between 1937 and 1951. He mainly raced with reliable but moderately powerful Delage cars. Before World War II, he also attempted to drive across Africa from north to south in less than two weeks.

Biography The second of seven children, Gérard was born in 1899 in Arras (Pas-de-Calais department). During World War I, he joined the army at the age of 17 and served in the heavy artillery. After the war and the end of his military contract, he became a tailor in Paris. He married Marie Yvonne Laurent (1899–1941), with whom he had two children, Jean-Yves and Nicole (future wife of actor Jacques Castelot). He began competing in motor racing in the second half of the 1930s, while he was the owner of slot machines located in Parisian cafés. During World War II, while living in Ferrières (Oise department) in the occupied zone, he was an informant for the Allies and helped organise air raids. He resumed motor racing after the war. At the end of the 1950s, after divorcing his second wife Barbara Raponnet, he married Liliane Françoise Hannedouche (1932–1997), with whom he had a son, Jean-François. He was awarded the Legion of Honour in 1996 for his wartime service. He died in Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer (Var department) in 2000, three years after Liliane.

Motor racing Gérard's career in motor racing began by chance in 1937, when he was 38 years old. A car enthusiast since he lived in Paris, he was encouraged by his son Jean-Yves to buy a Delage D6-70 3-litre coupé on display on Avenue Victor Emmanuel III. after breaking the lap record. In July, with Georges Monneret as teammate, he finished second in the Spa 24 Hours despite terrible weather conditions. In September 1938, in persistent rain, he won the RAC Tourist Trophy organised by the Royal Automobile Club of England at the Donington circuit.

Noticed by Enzo Ferrari during the 1938 Spa 24 Hours, Gérard was contacted by him to become an official Alfa Romeo driver the following year. In addition, his victory at Donington earned him an invitation to participate in the East London Grand Prix and Grosvenor Grand Prix held in South Africa in January 1939. As both races were reserved for single-seater cars, and in light of Enzo Ferrari's proposal, Gérard exchanged his two-seater Delage for a Maserati 6CM. Unfortunately, once in South Africa with this car in January 1939, he was forced to withdraw from both Grand Prix due to mechanical problems. Despite testimonies exonerating him, Gérard was deemed partially responsible for Mazaud's accident and had his racing licence temporarily suspended.

Subsequently, Gérard mainly raced in one of the five Delage D6 3‑litre cars built after the war. with De Saint Didier as teammate, finishing second in both races. Gérard drove again the 1939 Le Mans Delage twice, first in 1950 at the Coupe du Salon, where he finished second, then in 1951 at the Paris Grand Prix, where, for his last race at the age of 52, he finished eighth behind cars that were newer and more powerful than his own. at Montlhéry in Delage D6 3L; 2nd in the 1950 Coupe du Salon at Montlhéry in Delage D6-70 3L I6; 4th in the 1937 24 Hours of Le Mans in Delage D6-70 3L I6 (with Jacques de Valence de Minardière as teammate); 4th in the 1949 24 Hours of Le Mans in Delage D6 3L (with Francisco Godia Sales as teammate). Grands Prix: 2nd in the 1950 Paris Grand Prix at Montlhéry in Delage D6 3L; 3rd in the 1938 Cork Grand Prix in Delage D6-70 3L I6; 4th in the 1939 Comminges Grand Prix in Delage D6 3L; 6th in the 1939 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps in Delahaye T135CS.