Philippe Étancelin

Easily recognisable by the famous reversed cap that was to become his trademark, 'Phi Phi', as he was known to his friends, began racing in 1927, scoring a big win at Reims with his Bugatti in his first season. In 1929 he won at Reims once more, and claimed further victories at Antibes, Comminges and La Baule, while success continued into 1930 with wins at Pau and in the Algerian GP.

Late in 1931, Étancelin took the decision to order an Alfa Romeo, which he ran relatively successfully until rule changes for 1934 forced him to switch to a Maserati. He often finished second or third with this car over the next few seasons, outright successes mainly eluding him, though he did win at Pau in 1936, and had previously shared the 1934 Le Mans-winning car with Chinetti.

After the war, Étancelin took an Alfa Romeo to the first race in Paris, but it was 1948 before he could compete regularly after taking delivery of a Lago-Talbot. The car was raced to good effect in 1949, 'Phi Phi' winning the Paris GP and finishing second at Marseilles, Monza and Brno. In 1950 - the first season of the World Championship - Étancelin picked up a couple of fifth places, racing his now elderly Talbot on through the 1951 season and into the following year in the few F1 and Libre events for which it was still eligible.

By 1953 this hard trier had virtually retired from racing after finishing third with 'Levegh' in the Casablanca 3 Hours, but the Rouen GP of that year was a non-championship event, so the organisers, hoping to bolster the grid, invited Formula 1 cars to compete as well. 'Phi Phi' was a local man and could not resist the temptation to dust off his trusty Talbot and take up the challenge to the works Ferraris. To the immense delight of a partisan crowd he brought the car home in third place, thus finishing a wonderful career in splendid fashion.