Raymond Sommer

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.

Raymond Sommer

Sommer in 1932
Born	(1906-08-31)31 August 1906 Mouzon, Ardennes, France
Died	10 September 1950(1950-09-10) (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 Years 1931–1935, 1937–1939, 1950 Teams Private Best finish 1st (1932, 1933) Class wins 2 (1932, 1933)

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.
1931	No Team Name	Jean Delemer	Chrysler 80	5.0	14	DNF	DNF
1932	Raymond Sommer	Luigi Chinetti	Alfa Romeo 8C 2300LM	3.0	218	1st	1st
1933	Soc. Anon. Alfa Romeo	Tazio Nuvolari	Alfa Romeo 8C 2300MM	3.0	233	1st	1st
1934	Raymond Sommer	Dr. Pierre Félix	Alfa Romeo 8C 2300	3.0	14	DNF	DNF
1935	Raymond Sommer	Raymond de Saugé Desttrez	Alfa Romeo 8C 2300	3.0	69	DNF	DNF
1937	Raymond Sommer	Giovanni Battista Guidotti	Alfa Romeo 8C 2900A Spider	5.0	11	DNF	DNF
1938	Raymond Sommer	Clemente Biondetti	Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring	5.0	219	DNF	DNF
1939	Raymond Sommer	Prince Bira	Alfa Romeo 6C 2500SS	3.0	173	DNF	DNF
1950	Luigi Chinetti	Dorino Serafini	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
	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
1939	R. Sommer	Alfa Romeo Tipo 308	Alfa Romeo 3.0 L8	BEL 4	FRA 5	GER Ret	SUI				9th	23
Source:[3]

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
1947	Scuderia Milano	Maserati 4CL	Maserati 4CL 1.5 L4s	SUI 4
	Raymond Sommer	Maserati 4CM			BEL Ret
		Maserati 4CL				ITA Ret
		CTA-Arsenal	CTA-Arsenal 1.5 V8s				FRA Ret
1948	Equipe Gordini	Simca Gordini T15	Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4s	MON Ret	SUI Ret
	Centre d'Etudes T.A.	Maserati 4CM	Maserati 4CL 1.5 L4s			FRA Ret
	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 125	Ferrari 125 F1 1.5 V12s				ITA 3
1949	Raymond Sommer	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	GBR	BEL	SUI 3	FRA 5
	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 125	Ferrari 125 F1 1.5 V12s					ITA 5
Source:[4]

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
	Raymond Sommer	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6					BEL Ret		ITA Ret
	Automobiles Talbot-Darracq SA	Talbot-Lago T26C-GS							FRA Ret
Source:[5]

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
	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
	BRM Ltd	BRM P15	BRM P15 1.5 V16s															INT Ret	GOO	PEN

References

1. "Driver – Raymond Sommer". chicanef1.com. Archived from the original on July 5, 2017. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
2. Motor Sport, October 1950, Page 525: Obituary.
3. "THE GOLDEN ERA – OF GRAND PRIX RACING". kolumbus.fi. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
4. "Raymond Sommer – Biography". MotorSportMagazine. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
5. "Raymond Sommer – Grand Prix started". statsf1.com. Retrieved December 12, 2016.

External links

• Raymond Sommer profile at Grand Prix encyclopedia

Sporting positions
Preceded by Earl Howe Tim Birkin	Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1932 with: Luigi Chinetti	Succeeded by Raymond Sommer Tazio Nuvolari
Preceded by Raymond Sommer Luigi Chinetti	Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1933 with: Tazio Nuvolari	Succeeded by Luigi Chinetti Philippe Étancelin