Élie Marcel Bayol (28 February 1914 in Marseille – 25 May 1995 in La Ciotat) was a French racing driver who raced in Formula One for the O.S.C.A. and Gordini teams.
He started his career in 1950 racing Monomill DB-Panhards and progressed to Formula 2 races and hillclimbs around France. His best result was a fourth place in the Circuit de Cadours, in 1951. In 1953 he was fourth again at Pau and obtained a pole position at Albi. He also succeeded the same year to win the Aix les Bains Circuit du Lac Grand Prix (Formula 2).
His Formula One World Championship career consisted of entering 8 races over a five-year span. After two years with an OSCA, he joined the Gordini team in 1954 with Jean Behra. He scored his only 2 championship points with a fifth-place finish in Argentina. He also finished fourth at a non-championship event at Pau. In 1956 he raced a few times but then disappeared from single-seater racing. Info from Wiki
French bio http://panhard-racing-team.fr/?page_id=617
Elie Bayol: 1953 Formula One Season By Jeremy McMullen
Elie Bayol’s racing career began rather late. Though born in 1914 Bayol would take part in his first race until 1950. Starting out in sportscars, Bayol was very respectable despite his little racing experience. This talent and skill would make him one of OSCA’s main customers during the brief couple of years when the World Championship competed according to Formula 2 regulations.
Bayol had set a number of speed records at Montlhery in the 500cc and 750cc classes during the early 1950s. Though these would be short-lived they would set the stage for his coming to race Formula 2 and in the World Championship.
In order to be competitive, Bayol would need to have a powerful enough car to give himself a chance. Throughout the 1952 the Scuderia Ferrari team had proven to be absolutely dominant. However, toward the end of the season Maserati had come to pose a threat.
Another Maserati name would come to make a competitive car as well. Toward the later-part of the 1952 season OSCA unveiled its ’20’ single-seater grand prix car. OSCA had been started by the Maserati brothers when their contract with Orsi had come to an end. The Maserati brothers had been very successful throughout the 1930s but the presence of Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz caused their automotive production company to struggle and run into financial trouble. The answer would end up costing the brothers their name, but not their talent.
Bayol, and others, had come to experience the talent the Maserati brothers still possessed when OSCA revealed its MT4 sportscar. This light and nimble sportscar would be successful and very competitive. The ’20’ would basically be the MT4 design, just without fenders. Having raced the MT4 and being very much aware of the competitiveness of that car, Elie Bayol would be one of just a few customers interested in the single-seater grand prix car.
Showing its ability in its and Bayol’s, first World Championship race, the OSCA 20 would power Bayol to a 10th place starting position for the Italian Grand Prix. While it would end unfortunately with gearbox-related problems it was clear Bayol had a competitive chassis at his disposal and it caused him to look forward to the 1953 season with confidence.
The performance of the ’20’ would attract another privateer. The veteran Louis Chiron would also purchase and race a ’20’ during the ’53 season. Now familiar with the car, Bayol looked to really make an impact in the Formula 2 scene.
Bayol’s impact wouldn’t be felt in the first round of the World Championship. The first round would take place in mid-January in Argentina, South America. For the first time, the World Championship was truly a ‘world’ championship. Unfortunately, the cost of travelling the South Atlantic to take part in the first round of the World Championship and one non-championship race was not very economically viable for Bayol and many others. Therefore, like many other privateers and small teams, Bayol’s season wouldn’t begin until racing resumed on the European continent.
While one of the first non-championship races of the season would take place toward the end of March on Sicily, around two months after the first round of the World Championship, Bayol would wait until April before taking part in his first grand prix race of the season. On the 6th of April, Elie Bayol would be busy making final preparations to his OSCA 20 in order to take part in the 14th Grand Prix de Pau.
Alphonse de Lamartine commented, ‘Pau has the world’s most beautiful view of the earth…’ Situated on the northern edge of the Pyrenees Mountains and along the banks of the Gave de Pau, Pau was once the seat of the viscounts of Bearn and the birthplace of the Henry IV of France.
Gouged by the fast-slowing waters of the Gave de Pau from the melted snow of the mountains, Pau rests of the steep banks overlooking the river, and therefore, features tight city streets with tight bends and hairpin turns. This would be the very nature of the 1.75 mile Pau street circuit.
Bayol would find another OSCA 20 in the field. Louis Chiron would be present at the race along with the full force of the Scuderia Ferrari and Equipe Gordini teams. Besides the competition from the other teams, Bayol would also have to face the reality of a 3 hour timed race.
The dominance of Ferrari would be plain to see after practice heading into the race. Alberto Ascari would take the pole completing a lap of the Pau circuit in one minute, thirty-nine and two-tenths seconds. Only one-tenth of a second would separate Ascari’s pole from his teammate Giuseppe Farina’s effort. Mike Hawthorn would set a time just one second slower than Ascari and would complete the front-row sweep for Ferrari.
The OSCA 20 had some power, but handling and acceleration was of a premium around the streets of Pau. Nonetheless, Bayol would put the power to good use and would turn his fastest lap of one minute, forty-four and two-tenths seconds. This would beat out Johnny Claes by just one-tenth of a second for the 7th place starting spot on the grid, or what was the middle of the third row.
The race would see the dominant Ferraris control the pace from the front. Behind them, the rest of the field would fight for position winding its way through the numerous hairpin turns.
