Paul Frère

Paul Frère was a rarity in that he was not a full-time driver, preferring to maintain his profession as an international motoring journalist throughout a long and successful racing career.

He made his debut in the Spa 24 Hours, sharing an MG with Jacques Swaters, the pair finishing fourth in class, but it was not until 1952 that he raced in earnest. After winning a big production car race in an Oldsmobile at Spa, Frère picked up a last-minute drive with HWM in the GP des Frontières at Chimay. Left at the start, he overhauled Downing's Connaught right at the death to score a surprise win. HWM's John Heath immediately offered Paul a drive in the forthcoming Belgian GP and he delighted his entrant by bringing the car home in fifth place in pouring rain.

Frère raced for HWM again in 1953; his luck was out this time in Grands Prix, but he did finish a brilliant second in the rain in the Eifelrennen. For 1954 he accepted a few rides with Gordini in F1, and drove at Le Mans for the first time in an Aston Martin sports car.

The Sarthe classic was to become an important race in Frère's career. Second in the tragic 1955 race in an Aston, he was involved in a first-lap crash in a works Jaguar in 1956, finished fourth in 1957 and '58, second again in an Aston in 1959, and finally won in 1960 sharing a works Ferrari with Gendebien. This partnership incidentally was also victorious in the Reims 12 Hours of 1957.

Ferrari also gave Paul an opportunity to drive his Formula 1 cars, and he did not disappoint, taking fourth place in the 1955 Belgian GP and a quite magnificent second behind Peter Collins at Spa again in 1956. He made a return to single-seaters in 1960, his final season, winning the South African GP in an Equipe Nationale Belge Cooper, then showing his consistency and reliable driving skills on his return to Europe to take fifth places at Syracuse and Brussels and sixth at Pau.