THIRTY NINE YEARS AGO // WILLY MAIRESSE

Willy Mairesse, endurance racer, Ferrari Formula One driver and what some may call a very ‘complete driver,’ took his own life some thirty nine years ago this week. An overdose of sleeping pills took Mairesse from the motoring world, but his legacy lives on. A ten year racing career that included a number of rallies (Marathon de la Route, Tour de France, Tour de Corse), endurance races (Spa 1000 km, Nürburgring 1000 km, Paris 1000 km, Targa Florio, Le Mans 24h, Spa-Francorchamps 24h) and Grand Prix starts, Mairesse was plagued with bad luck, DNF’s and a number of serious accidents. The most serious of which occurred at Le Mans in 1968, when his Ford GT40’s doors blew off while barreling down the Mulsanne straight, causing a horrible accident which some say Mairesse never recovered from both physically and mentally. A career in racing some of us could only dream of, Willy Mairesse took his life at the age of forty // 09.02.2008