Everything about Georges Boillot totally explained
Georges Boillot (
August 3,
1884–
May 19,
1916) was a
French Grand Prix motor racing driver and
World War I fighter pilot.
Born in
Valentigney,
Doubs, Boillot was a mechanic by training who began automobile racing in 1908. He went on to join drivers
Paul Zuccarelli and
Jules Goux to help create a novel range of racing cars as part of the
Peugeot team. He debuted with them in 1909 in the
Coupe de l'Auto at
Rambouillet and in 1910, went to Italy to compete in the
Targa Florio.
At
Dieppe, France, on
June 26,
1912, Georges Boillot won the
French Grand Prix, in his Peugeot L76, a vehicle designed by the young Swiss engineer Ernest Henry in association with Zuccarelli, Goux and Boillot. This was the first motorcar in the world to have an engine with two overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder. Boillot won the
Coupe de l'Auto in 1913 and became the darling of French racing fans when he won his second straight French Grand Prix at
Amiens, becoming the first driver to win it twice.
That same year, his Peugeot teammate, Jules Goux became the first Frenchman to win the
Indianapolis 500. The following year, France sent a number of competitors to the
Indiana speedway where on
May 27, during qualifying, Boillot came tantalizing close to breaking the 100 mile-an-hour (161 km/h) barrier when he set a new speed record of 99.86 mph (160.70 km/h). Much faster than any other driver, Boillot would most likely have won the race with ease had it not been for repeated tire trouble. He ended up finishing 14th while his fellow Frenchmen finished in the top four positions with
René Thomas getting the win.
In what would turn out to be his last race, the 1914 French Grand Prix at
Lyon, his Peugeot was literally falling apart at the end. After demonstrating his tremendous skills by keeping the vehicle running and near the lead, it finally overheated on the last lap and he was forced to retire.
With the outbreak of
World War I, Boillot joined the new French Air Force. On
April 21,
1916 his plane was shot down in a dogfight over
Verdun-sur-Meuse and crashed near
Bar-le-Duc. Severely injured, he died in a military hospital at
Vaudelaincourt,
Meuse. In his honor, several places in France named a street for him and there's a George Boillot School in
Montlhéry in the
Essonne département near
Paris.
His brother
André was also a race driver and at war's end, won the 1919
Targa Florio. Georges' son, Jean, became
director-general of Peugeot Talbot cars and in 1981 was responsible for involving Peugeot in
rallying.
Indy 500 results
| Year |
Car |
Start |
Qual |
Rank |
Finish |
Laps |
Led |
Retired |
| 1914 | 7 |
29 |
99.860 mph |
1 |
14 |
141 |
0 |
Broken frame
|
| Totals |
141 |
0 |
|
|
| Starts | 1
|
| Poles | 0
|
| Front Row | 0
|
| Wins | 0
|
| Top 5 | 0
|
| Top 10 | 0
|
| Retired | 1
|
|
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