Georges Berger (14 September 1918 in Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, near Brussels – 23 August 1967 at the Nürburgring) was a racing driver who raced a Gordini in his two World Championship Formula One Grands Prix.
He initially competed during the 1950s in a Formula 2 BMW-engined Jicey with which he finished third in the Grand Prix des Frontières at Chimay. In 1953 he raced for the Simca-Gordini team and finished fifth at the same track. He entered the same car (a 1.5-litre 4 cylinder Gordini type 15) in the Belgian Grand Prix but retired after only three laps with engine failure. The following year he raced a Gordini with nothing more than a fourth position at Rouen. After this he faded from single-seater racing.
Later in his career he shared the winning Ferrari at the 1960 Tour de France automobile. He was killed racing a Porsche 911 in the 1967 84-hour Marathon de la Route at Nürburgring. Info from Wiki
Bio by Stephen Latham
Born in Molenbeek Saint-Jean, near Brussels, Georges Berger’s first race came in a Les Rues de Chimay race in 1947, where he finished seventh in an Alvis. At the Paris Motor Show in 1947, a Jicey, designed and built by Jean Caillas, was displayed. Georges and his brother were running a major industrial company and after visiting the company’s factory, he decided to buy the car. A test session was organised at Montlhery but, being unfamiliar with the gear lever’s handling, he accidentally changed from fourth to first gear and the subsequent over-revving caused the engine to explode. Georges decided to use a BMW engine in its place and, after being prepared by fellow driver Eugene Martin, Jean Caillas adapted it to use on the Jicey. The car was entered at the Grand Prix du Roussillon in 1948 and he was fourth in the first heat but ended up off the road in a ditch though both he and the car were fortunately unscathed. Following this he competed at Remparts in Angoulême and, his car now being maintained by mechanic René Foiret, he went on to give Jicey its best international result by finishing third at Chimay in 1950. Eugene Martin had also raced one and taken victory with it in 1949 though this was in the company’s home country in France, in the Grand Prix Aix les Bains at the Circuit du Lac.
He competed in at least one race each year until 1950 though his racing would be sporadic and he was most active from 1953 through 1955. 1950 saw him contest several non-championship F2 races, but though he did not qualify at the Grand Prix de Mons and retired from the Gran Premio di Roma he was thirteenth in the Grandee Trophee Entre Sambe et Meuse in Mettet, Belgium and took his third place career best finish at Chimay’s Grand Prix des Frontiers.
Due to the finances involved with grand prix racing, even for F2, he only contested a couple of races a year. In 1953 he purchased a Gordini T15 but, as the races were held throughout Europe and required a good deal of money to attend, he wouldn’t compete in a major race until the season was underway. In May that year the Grand Prix des Frontieres (a Formula 2 non championship race) was held at Chimay in Belgium. In practice for the 20 lap race Maurice Trintignant and Johnny Claes were on the front row while Georges would start from the fourth row in eighth place. In the race, helped by his familiarity with the track plus retirements to other drivers, he moved up the running order and was close to the top five toward the later-stages of the race. M.Trintignant crossed the line ahead of Roger Laurent and Fred Wacker, though Georges impressively finished fifth in his ageing T15 chassis to make it three Gordinis in the top five. His next race of the season saw him contest his first World Championship race at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. Being an amateur driver in an ageing car, he faced a tough challenge heading into practice and was last in qualifying. The race was run in hot weather, putting a strain on the drivers and the cars and his race came to an end after just 3 laps when his engine failed.
During the year he also drove a Borgward Hansa 1800 in the 24 Hour Spa race with Boy Laloux though they retired due to an accident.
Although there would be occasional races for Equipe Gordini’s factory team, he also competed in races driving under his own name. He would be more often seen racing in France than anywhere else in Europe and 1954 saw him compete in the Bordeaux Grand Prix. Coming into the race, he would face tough opposiion, including Scuderia Ferrari’s Jose Froilan Gonzalez and Maurice Trintignant plus Stirling Moss’s Maserati 250F. He started fifth, on the last row of the grid, though a wet race saw a number of drivers have problems which helped him to move up the field. Harry Schell burnt out his clutch, Prince Bira retired with an oil system problem with his Maserati, Jean Behra’s gearbox failed and S.Moss began to fade. Although he had been lapped several times by F.Gonzalez, he was still running steadily and though he ended up a number of laps down he completed the race in seventh place.
His next race came in the fourth round of the World Championship, at Reims for the French GP and he entered a Gordini T16 under his own name. However, he could not have found himself in a more daunting situation, as he faced seven Maserati 250Fs, three Scuderia Ferraris plus the might of Mercedes-Benz on their return to grand prix racing. He qualified twentieth and started on the ninth row of a ten row grid though it would be a disappointing race as it ended after 46 miles due to engine problems.
Following this he began to look to other forms of racing but he still contested another GP before the end of 1954. Despite the disappointment of Riems in the following week he was in Rouen to compete in the GP de Rouen-les-Essarts. He was back racing for Equipe Gordini for this race and started in twelfth place, on the fifth row. Again, due to retirements (including Jean Behra and Mike Hawthorn being disqualified for receiving push starts, Jose Froilan Gonzalez’s engine failing and Andre Pilette with transmission problems) this allowed him to move up the running order. Amazingly, he found himself running in fourth place behind Roy Salvadori and he battled hard to finish in this fourth position at the flag.
He moved away from single-seater grand prix racing after this and began to focus on sports car racing. 1956 saw him racing a Maserati 150S and events contested included the Mille Miglia (with Foiret), the GP des Frontieres, the Paris 1000km (with Michel) and 12 Hours at Reims. His best results were sixth in the GP Rouen and ninth in a Shell Cup event at Imola.
Continuing with the Maserati the following year he entered the GP RACB at Spa, the 1000km Nurburgring (with Otten) plus teamed with Foiret again for the Mille Miglia. 1958 saw him switch to an AC Ace for Le Mans and he and Patthey finished ninth while the following year he and Willy Mairesse were second in the Tour de France in a Ecurie Francorchamps Ferrai 250GT.
Success started to come to him and in 1960 he and W.Mairesse teamed again and took victory in the Tour de France with the Ferrari. Alongside this, he and Andre Pilette were ninth in the 1000Km Paris and he and Roggemans raced an Alfa Romeo Giulietta for Ecurie Azur in the 1000km Nurburgring. Over the next few seasons he continued with the Ferrari and he and W.Mairesse were again victorious in 1961’s Mille Miglia. The year also saw him race with Beurlys in the 1000Km Nurburgring and though he and Lucien Bianchi retired at Le Mans he finish sixth in a GP Spa GT race plus took seventh with Andre Simon in the 1000km Paris.
In 1964 he teamed with Lucien Bianchi to contest the Tour de France and victory meant he had three wins in the event. When L.Bianchi was driving he did not extend himself on the circuits, so as not to risk the car, and was quick up the hills due to George’s work in reading him his pace notes. A challenging event, to win the Tour de France three times is an impressive feat and 1964’s event saw 117 cars competing over 6000km across France. The tour was organised in two distinct categories, Grand Touring and Touring, with each having both overall and handicap classifications. Alongside Lucien Bianchi/Georges Berger’s Ferrari GTO the field would include several other GTOs plus cars such as Shelby Cobras, Porsche GTSs, Alfa Romeo GTZs, a works MGB, Triumph Spitfires, Renault Alpines while in the Touring category were Ford Mustangs, Jaguars, Alfa Romeo Giulias, Lotus Cortinas and Mini Coopers. The event was comprised of eight circuit races, eight hillclimbs and one timed road stage and the circuits included Le Mans, Reims, Pau and Monza while the hillclimbs were held at venues such as Mont Ventoux, Rouen-les-Essarts and Col de Turini.
The cars were flagged away from Lille on a Friday evening and travelled to Reims, with drivers and teams ready for the following morning’s first race. The Reims circuit consisted of four 90-minute races being held over the Saturday morning, with two races per class. This was followed by a hillclimb at the Col de Bramont but took place at night, with the first competitors starting at 9:45pm and the final at 11:45pm and then instead of resting, the competitors immediately headed to Rouen for races on the Sunday. There were four races at Rouen, lasting 60 minutes, but once the cars finished the teams had to go on to Caen though for the first time in 48 hours, drivers were able to rest overnight. Monday’s race came at Le Mans, with two 2 hour races, one for Gran Turismo and the other for Turismo class and then the field travelled to Cognac, a 900km journey. The weather on the Tuesday was a welcome change for the drivers after the stifling hot cockpits over the previous days and they contested a Circuit de Cognac race, held at a military airfield. Once racing was finished the teams went on a 300km journey to Pau, where the following morning’s stage would start at 6:10am.
This was a Col d’Aubisque Hillclimb and by now the field had been reduced to 70 of the original 117 crews and after this they drove to another hillclimb at the Col du Tourmalet, a paved mountain pass high in the Pyrenees. The final event of the day was held at Pau, which hosted four one hour street circuit races. After a long day, they moved on from Pau, with the remaining competitors driving 680 km through the night to compete on the Thursday morning at the Col du Minier Hillclimb; the first would start their runs at 4:20am! The crews then moved another 160 km to Albi, which would be the sixth of eight circuit races and after the four 60-minute races were complete they travelled 170 km to an overnight stop. The following day started with a closed road stage of the Tour and then on 120 km to the Circuit d’Auvergne, which hosted two 90-minute races. Later in the day came a 450-km run to Mont Ventoux for a hillclimb, which was run at night, and then the remaining teams met in Monza for the final circuit race of the event. The Tour then headed back to France for an overnight stop at Grenoble and then came the final day of the whole event, starting at 6:55am at the Chamrousse Hillclimb. This was followed by the Col de Turini hillclimb and then the final hillclimb at Col de Braus, situated in the Alps. Finally, 36 remaining teams made a short run to the finish in Nice, allowing the drivers to relax and celebrate after the tough eight days.
In 1962 he retired the Ferrari in the 1000Km Nurburgring (with Elde) and at Le Mans (with Darville) though finished third and fourth in the GP Spa and Brussels GT races, fifth at the GP Angola and sixth in the Paris 1000km.
In 1967, he (and Beert) entered the Marathon de la Route, a demanding 84-hour epic endurance race at the Nurburgring, created to replace the Liege-Rome-Liege rally, which pushed car and driver to breaking point. Sadly, during the event, Georges was killed after his Porsche 911 left the road and he succumbed to his injuries.
