Theodore “Teddy” Pilette (born 26 July 1942, in Brussels) is a former racing driver from Belgium.
He participated in 4 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, the first on 12 May 1974 with Bernie Ecclestone’s Brabham team.
Son of André Pilette and grandson of Théodore Pilette, he followed the family path. He started his career by winning many go-kart races before being sent to England to the talent-spotting Jim Russell Racing School. This experience created the opportunity for him to be part of the cast for John Frankenheimer’s movie Grand Prix, and later on Le Mans with Steve McQueen.
On the circuit, Pilette raced for Carlo Abarth in 1963 and 1965, and in 1967 he started racing for the Belgian VDS team. He won the European Formula 5000 Championship in 1973 with a Chevron B24, and again in 1975 with a Lola T400. He also competed in the USA in Formula 5000. He also made 3 attempts at the Indy 500. He attempted to qualify for the 1977 Indianapolis 500 but failed to make the field. He drove in the CART Championship Car race at Watkins Glen International in 1981 but retired after 14 laps due to gearbox failure. It would be his only Champ Car start as he failed to qualify for the 1982 Indianapolis 500 and 1983 Indianapolis 500 and was entered in the Cleveland Grand Prix later that year but the car was driven by Herm Johnson.
In 1977, Capparelli arranged for Pilette to drive with the dying BRM team in Formula One, and also in the Aurora AFX Formula One Championship the following year.
In sports cars Pilette won the Spa 24 Hours with a Ford Capri, in the last race on the long circuit in 1978.
In 1992 he formed the Pilette Speed Tradition Formula Ford team in Europe. In 1994 he built his own Formula Three car, the Pilette F.3, and raced in the German Formula 3 championship with Paolo Coloni. In September 2013, he was elected Vice President of the Grand Prix Drivers Club (formerly known as Club International des Anciens Pilotes de Grand-Prix F1). Info from Wiki
Bio by Stephen Latham
Born on the 26th July 1942 in Brussels, Belgium, Theodore ‘Teddy’ Pilette is a third generation member of the Pilette racing family and the grandson of Theodore Pilette and son of Andre Pilette. Grandfather Theodore took part in the 1913 Indy 500 and finished fifth with a small engined Mercedes whilst Andre participated in 14 Grands Prix between 1951 and 1964. Teddy competed in sports and touring cars and entered 4 World Championship Grands Prix and was twice an F5000 Champion.
After success in karts he moved to the Jim Russell Racing School in England and drives for the team in 1961 with a Lotus 18 and Lola Mk2 saw third and tenth at Snetterton plus fifth at Silverstone and he was fifth with Equipe Nationale Belge’s Lola Mk3 at Avus and sixteenth at Goodwood with Fitzwilliam Racing’s Lola Mk2. He’d started 1962 with an early sixth place finish at Goodwood with Fitzwilliam Racing Team’s Lola Mk2 while in drives with Jim Russell’s Lotus 18 and Lola Mk2 he was third, tenth and thirteenth at Snetterton, sixth at the Commander Yorke Trophy at Silverstone plus sixteenth at Rufforth though he retired at Brands Hatch. In outings later in the year with their Merlyn Mk3 he was fourteenth and seventeenth at Silverstone and Goodwood but did not finish at Snetterton. Competing in Europe with Equipe Nationale Belge he was fifth and sixth at Avus and Chimay with a Lola Mk3 while outings in a Merlyn Mk3 saw fourth at Caserta, eleventh and twelfth at Clermont Ferrand and Reims though he did not finish at Monthlery, Monza and Zandvoort.
Then came a switch to sportscars with the Fiat-Abarth team in 1963 and in March he and Tommy Spychiger were twenty first in an Abarth Simca 1300 at the Sebring 12 Hours though they retired at the Nurburgring 1000km. There were solo outings at Hockenheim and Avus and he won at Solitude in July (plus took pole and fastest lap) while in two shared drives in September he and Mario Poltronieri retired due to mechanical issues at the Tour de France though there was a victory in an Abarth 850 at the Nurburgring 500km with Hans Hermann. In further shared drives the following year he and Freddy Semoulin were thirty fourth in a Lotus Elan at the Nurburgring 1000k then he and Jacky Ickx finished fourteenth in the Spa 24 Hours with a Lotus Cortina. In a single seater outing in July he was eleventh in the Trophee de Auvergne F2 race at Clermont-Ferrand with Merlyn Racing’s Mk.7.
1965 saw Teddy win his class in the Belgian championship with an Abarth 1000 saloon and in a return the next year to the Spa 24 Hours he co drove Autodelta’s Alfa Romeo 1600 GTA with Gustave Gosselin and they finished third. There was also an F3 drive at Chimay’s Grand Prix des Frontières with Precision Liégeoise’s Brabham BT15 but he retired due to a head gasket problem.
During this time he began a successful association that would last well into the seventies with the VDS team, racing a variety of cars for them. Founded in 1964 by Count Rudi van der Straten, Serge Trosch and Lionel Wallman, the VDS Racing Team became one of the most prestigious private racing teams in Belgium. In 1965, during their first participation in the Spa 24 Hours, the Mini Coopers won the King’s Trophy and in 1966 the team also ran two Alfa Romeo GTAs, which were entered regularly in European Touring cars. VDS would later run McLaren, Chevron, Lola and Penske machines and won two F5000 British titles and one F5000 Tasman title plus the CanAm title with a car of its own design, the VDS001.
He raced a Giulia TZ2 and Giulia Sprint GTA with Serge Trosch in 1967 and results included seventh at the Nurburgring 6 Hours, ninth and fifteenth at the Spa and Nurburgring 1000kms, eleventh in the 12 Hour Reims plus fifteenth at the 24 Hour Spa. In solo drives he was fourth in the Nurburgring 500km and in ETCC rounds was second at Zolder, fourth at Budapest, sixteenth at Zandvoort then in August he took victory in a non championship race at Dax, in France.
VDS fielded two Alfa Romeo T33s in 1968, with Teddy, Serge Trosch, Gustave Gosselin and Rob Slotemaker as drivers and the year saw the team’s first participation in the Le Mans 24 Hours. He and Rob Slotemaker were fifth in the Targa Florio, twelfth and twenty ninth in the Spa and Nurburgring 1000kms and twenty third at the 9 Hour Kyalami. An outing with a Giulia Sprint GTA brought seventh place in the 24 Hour Spa but a drive shaft problem after 104 laps ended their Le Mans run. He also shared a T33/2 in an early season drive with Gampiero Biscaldi at the Monza 1000km, though they did not finish due to engine problems and retired from the GP Mugello with Teodoro Zeccoli. In solo drives he was fifth in the 200 Mile Norisring then in July won the Coupes Benelelux at Zandvoort and in the following week he won a North Sea Trophy race at Koksijde Airfield in Belgium. Continuing through August he was fourth in the GP Swerige at Karlskoga, sixth at Wunstorf and fourth at the 500km Zetweg then in September finished fourth at the Preis der Nationen at Hockenheim.
Continuing with the T33/2, the following season started well with victory in the first race in March at Jarama while later drives brought seventh in the Martini Trophy at Silverstone, ninth and tenth in Nordic Challenge races at Mantorp Park and Anderstorp plus he raced at the 6 Hour Jarama in October. Reuniting with Rob Slotemaker they took ninth at the Brands Hatch 6 Hours then sixth and eighth in the 1000km Spa and Monza races. They did not finish at the 6 Hour Vila Real, Nurburgring and Zeltweg 1000kms and Le Mans (due to oil pressure issues after 36 laps) plus retired at the 24 hour Spa while running an Alfa 1600 GTA. In a shared Lola T70 Mk3B GT drive in October with Gustave Gosselin, despite qualifying tenth for Monthlery’s 1000km Paris event they did not start due to fuel injection problems.
The team’s three year association with Autodelta ended at the end of that year and 1970 saw Teddy piloting a Lola T70. Starting with two early races in Buenos Aires in January with Nestor Garcia-Veiga, the pair were fourth in a 1000km race though did not finish in the following week’s 200 Mile event. Back in Europe, although he did not finish at Jarama and Zolder, solo drives produced second in the GP Paris, third at Wunstorf, tenth at Falberg, twelfth in the GP Swerige and he won June’s Coupes de l’ACIF at Monthlery (plus took pole and fastest lap). In Interseries races with the Lola he was fifth at Keimola, sixth and seventh at Croft and Thruxton though retired at Norisring and Hockenheim. Co-driving with Gustave Gosselin, the pair were sixteenth in the 1000km Monza and in July won the 500km Vila Real though suffered retirements at the Spa and Paris 1000km plus did not start at Nurburgring due to differential problems. Their Le Mans entry ended after 109 laps due to gearbox problems and one touring car outing in July with a Steinmetz Opel Commodore came to a halt due to clutch issues at the 24 Hour Spa.
1971 started again in January though this time in the Tasman Series with a McLaren M10B where he was third and sixth at the Levin and Teretonga International races. He retired in the New Zealand GP (oil pressure) and Lady Wigram Trophy (puncture) and continuing into February he was fifth and second at Warwick Farm and Sandown and finished sixth in the championship classification. There were a variety of cars driven once back in Europe and alternating between a McLaren M8C and M8E he was second at Nurburgring and Mendig, plus seventh and tenth at Keimola and Hockenheim though retired at Zolder and Hockenheim. Although he started with the M8C, it was destroyed in an accident at the Kent 100 at Zolder and VDS then switched to the M8E. Outings in a Lola T70 proved frustrating as he retired at the 3 Hour Le Mans while shared drives with Gustave Gosselin saw retirements at Nurburgring, Paris and Le Mans and there was only a sixth place finish at the 1000km Spa. The pair also had one touring car drive back at the 24 Hour Spa with the Steinmetz Opel Commodore but did not finish. From August onwards he contested his first series of European F5000 with a McLaren M10B and though he retired at Brands Hatch he was third at Snetterton and Hockenheim plus sixth at Thruxton and Oulton Park. His last drive came in late October with a McLaren M10B in a non-championship World Championship Victory Race at Brands Hatch, which had an entry list of combined F1 and F5000 cars. He finished fourteenth but the race was halted on lap 15 as Jo Siffert was tragically killed when his BRM had careered into a bank and burst into flames.
He returned to contest the following year’s Tasman Series with the McLaren M10B and was third in the Adelaide 100, second and fifth in the Teretonga and Levin International races, fifth at Surfers Paradise, sixth in both the New Zealand GP and Australian GP plus seventh in the Lady Wigram Trophy and Warwick Farm International 100. His racing back in Europe combined sports cars, F5000 and several non championship F1 races and started in March in the European F5000 series. Drives in the McLaren M18 saw second at Snetterton and Nivelles, third at Oulton Park, fourth at Mallory Park, fifth at Oulton Park and Brands Hatch (twice) plus eighth at Brands Hatch but there were retirements at rounds at Mallory Park, Silverstone, and Brands Hatch and he was fifth in the Championship. He contested three non-championship F1 races in a McLaren M22, finishing thirteenth at Brands Hatch’s Race of Champions in March and ninth at the end of May at the International Gold Cup at Oulton Park but did not finish in the John Player Challenge Trophy in October. In between these outings he also drove a McLaren M18 in April’s International Trophy at Silverstone and was eleventh. June saw a return to Le Mans where he, Derek Bell and Richard Bond finished eighth (and fourth in class) with Ecurie Francorchamp’s Ferrari 365 GTB/4 though in the following month he and Chris Tuerlinckx retired Gulf Opel Transeurope’s Opel Commodore at the 24 Hour Spa. In Interseries races with a McLaren M8E he retired at Imola and was eighth at Silverstone then in June the team acquired a McLaren M8F. Fitted with a 8.1 litre twin-turbo Chevy V8, it was said that dependent on where the boost dial was set, it was capable of producing anything from 900bhp to 1300bhp and when asked what is was like to drive, Teddy declared “it was terrific, that is to say “TERRifyingly horrIFIC.” The car made its racing debut at the Osterreichring in July but it retired on the first lap with fuel starvation problems and at Hockenheim the engine failed on the third lap. The electrics failed after twenty two laps at the Norisring 200 though it finished fifteenth at the next race at the Nurburgring and they achieved their best result with fifth at the final race at Hockenheim.
1973 saw Teddy take his first F5000 Championship title and though he started in March with a McLaren M18 at Brands Hatch, where he was seventh, he campaigned a Chevron for the rest of the season. The second round at Silverstone in early April saw a sixth place finish in the B24 and in further races that month he retired at Snetterton and was fourth at Brands Hatch. A highlight came with his first victory in May at Oulton Park (ahead of Peter Gethin’s similar B24) followed by two third place finishes at Mallory Park plus seventh at Mondello Park. There was a second victory at Brands Hatch in August and he went to take second at Oulton Park, Jyllandsringen and Snetterton, then eighth at Zandvoort, though despite starting from pole he did not finish at Brands Hatch. At season end, Keith Holland, Guy Edwards, Brett Lunger and Peter Gethin also had two victories but Teddy had racked up second and third place finishes, and took the title by three points from Tony Dean, who had eleven top-five finishes. In two non-championship F1 outings in March and April he retired his McLaren M18 due to an accident at the Race of Champions then an engine problem ended his run in a Chevron B24 at the International Trophy. May saw two World Sports-Prototype entries, starting with twelfth place (plus third in class) alongside Richard Bond at the 1000km Spa in an Ecurie Francorchamps Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona and later in the month he was seventeenth (and third in class) in a Koepchen BMW 2002 at the 1000km Nurburgring with Helmut Kelleners. Continuing with the monstrous McLaren M8F for the Interseries, the car now featured a new nose, which was similar to the ‘shovel-nose’ style of the Porsche 917/10 Can-Am car plus a raised centre section and round air intakes for front brake cooling. However, it only raced in a handful of rounds as the team’s priority that year was F5000 and Teddy finished fourth in the opening round in April at Nurburgring, followed by ninth at Imola and Silverstone though retired at Norisring and Hockenheim. Once its competition days were over, the car would later be displayed at Trojan Racing’s private museum and in the 1980’s was also displayed in Tom Wheatcroft’s Museum at Donington Park.
VDS ran two Chevron B24s in the 1974 Tasman Series (the second car was driven by Peter Gethin) and Teddy’s results included second in the New Zealand GP, fourth at Sandown and the Pukekohe GP, sixth at Oran Park and eleventh at Teretonga. There were retirements at Adelaide and Levin though he had a victory at Surfers Paradise and at the series end Teddy was third in the Championship, with Gethin the winner. The B24s were replaced with Chevron B28s for the European F5000 races but the season started with retirements at Brands Hatch and Mallory Park then a fifth place in Silverstone’s Vanwall Trophy. Despite starting on pole and recording the fastest lap, he did not finish at Oulton Park’s Rothmans 5000 and at Zolder then was seventh at Brands Hatch and Thruxton (taking the fastest lap) and fifth (from pole) at Zandvoort. In June he was third at Mugello and second at Monza’s Gran Premio della Lotteria and in following rounds was sixth and fourth at Mallory Park and Mondello Park in July. There was a seventh place at Thruxton but he did not start at Brands Hatch due to an accident in practice, was second at Oulton Park’s Gold Cup plus fourth at Snetterton (and fastest lap).
A later run at Mallory Park ended due to an accident then he was sixth in the final round at Brands Hatch’s Motorshow 200 and he finished fourth in the standings. The year saw his World Championship debut and he finished seventeenth in a Brabham BT42 at the Belgian GP at Nivelles while in two non-championship outings with the B28 in March and April he did not finish at the Race of Champions though was tenth in the International Trophy. Away from single seaters, he co-drove with Paul Keller and Hans Heyer in one World Championship for Makes round in September with a Samson Kremer Porsche 911 Carrera and finished fifteenth at the 1000km Brands Hatch.
The team switched to Lola T400s for the following season and Teddy took his second F5000 title, ahead of team mate Gethin. Starting with ninth at Brands Hatch, he was sixth and fifth at Oulton Park and Brands Hatch, eleventh at Silverstone, though retired at Zolder (gearbox), then had consecutive second place finishes at Zandvoort and Thruxton. There was a retirement at Snetterton (radius arm) but in August he took two consecutive victories at Mallory Park (from pole plus fastest lap) then the next week from pole at Thruxton though retired at Brands Hatch (rear suspension). In the following month he was third and fifth at Oulton Park and Silverstone while October was a fruitful month with two consecutive victories at Snetterton (from pole and fastest lap) and Mallory Park then second place at Brands Hatch. At season’s end he finished ahead of his team mate with 4 victories to Gethin’s 3 and by 174 points to 143. He entered the Race of Champions but did not qualify with the T400 while in sports cars he and John Lepp retired their March 75S at the 1000km Spa though he was twelfth at Le Mans with Ecurie Francorchamp’s Ferrari 365 GTB/4 alongside Hughes de Fierlant and Jean-Claude Andruet. It was said that Andruet would not sleep for the entire 24 hours and when Teddy asked him about this he told him that the only way to keep awake was to eat strawberries!
He was in America for 1976’s SCCA/USAC F5000 series with a Lola T430 with grids featuring drivers such as Al Unser, Jackie Oliver, Brian Redman, Alan Jones, Vern Schuppan, Patrick Tambay, Peter Gethin, John Cannon, Danny Ongais and Brett Lunger. In the seven race series, he suffered one retirement due to engine problems at Watkins Glen while finishes included third at Mosport, fifth and sixth at Road America, tenth at Riverside and twelfth at Pocono to finish eighth in the standings.
There was one touring car outing in 1977 when he returned to contest the Spa 24 Hours alongside Louis van Noort and Huub Nijsten and finished twenty sixth with Stape Racing’s Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV. He was signed to drive with the Stanley BRM GP team though their uncompetitive P207 failed to qualify at Hockenheim, Zandvoort and Monza plus he did not attend the Austrian race as the car was unavailable. This would be the team’s final GP outings but despite the disappointments he contested the Aurora AFX F1 Championship the following year with a BRM P207B. He did not finish at the first round at Oulton Park due to engine problems and suffered further engine retirements during the season at Snetterton, Mallory Park and Thruxton (twice). Another Mallory Park drive ended due to gearbox issues, then rear suspension damage at Brands Hatch while the final round at Snetterton came to a halt due to a distributor lead. He missed Zandvoort and Donington Park and his only two finishes came at Brands Hatch’s Evening News Trophy where he was fifth plus fourth (and fastest lap) at Oulton Park’s Formula 1 Trophy in late June. There was disappointment on his return to Le Mans, teamed with Raymond Tourol, Nick Faure and ‘Beurlys’ (Jean Blaton), as their Ferrari 512BB retired after 39 laps due to gearbox problems. In an ETCC round at Zolder he raced a VW Golf with Richard Lloyd but they were disqualified after receiving a push start following repairs. However, he and Gordon Spice were involved in a memorable Spa 24 Hours with a Ford Capri and this was the last race on the circuit, which was held on public roads, as work was expected to be completed on a new track in the following year. There were three classes and in practice the Ford Capris dominated the top ten positions, behind a Chevrolet Camaro. There were a number of BMWs, with Derek Bell sharing one car, though the fastest BMW in practice was a CSi co-driven by Reine Wisell plus also in the field was Brian Redman (with Jacky Ickx) in a VW Scirocco. At the start, the Fords passed the Camaro as it was locked in second gear but it went go on to set fastest lap and ran in the the top three during the night. Gordon Spice took the lead in the Belga Castrol Capri and the battles would be between the Fords and BMWs, with a number of pit stops plus driver changes (drivers having to complete four hours’ unbroken driving).
After some impressive driving Teddy and Gordon eventually won, ahead of two BMW 530is, with the top two finishers completing the same number of laps (305). The race had been an intense affair as, at the 23 hours point, it was a BMW that held first place, with the Ford running behind after suffering a holed radiator. Spice pushed hard to recover ground and eventually re-took the lead with 30 minutes remaining and it was said the prize giving in the Spa casino was an even longer and more emotional affair than usual.
Return visits to the Spa 24 Hours over the following years unfortunately ended in retirement, in the first with Carlo Facetti in Luigi Racing’s Camaro, then with the BBL team’s Ford Capri (alongside Patrick Neve) and their Chevrolet Camaro Z28 in 1981 with Michel de Deyne and ‘Davit.’ He, Pascal Witmeur and Gofflot retired from 1982’s event due to injection system issues with the Dealer Opel Team Opel Monza then in 1984 suspension problems ended the drive in the TWR Jaguar XJS alongside David Sears and Enzo Calderari. During this period, Teddy was back in a single seater cockpit for a CART race at Watkins Glen in 1981 but his Megard Racing McLaren retired after fourteen laps due to gearbox issues. His grandfather Theodore was the first Belgian to race at the Indianapolis 500 in 1913 and despite having the smallest engine, he finished fifth with his Mercedes-Knight car, averaging 68.148 mph (109.674 km/h). In 1982’s Spa 1000km, he, Jurgen Lassig and Jean-Paul Libert were tenth in Weralit Racing Team’s Porsche 935 K3. However, his Le Mans run in 1987 alongside Peter Fritsch and Jean-Paul Libert ended after twelve laps due to engine problems with the Dahm Cars Racing Team’s Porsche turbo powered Argo JM19.also
His racing tailed off after this and in 1992 he formed Pilette Speed Tradition and during the year was involved with Jean Blaton (the main shareholder in Garage Francorchamps) in developing a one-off Ferrari 348 for racing at a Ferrari event at Spa. To be titled the 348TBF (Teddy/Blaton/Francorchamps) he recalled how “the car cost a fortune and I spent six or seven months working on it. This car was actually built at Garage Francorchamps but was not paid for by Jacques Swaters but by Jean Blaton himself. Both Jean Blaton and I drove the car at the Spa event and it was almost as quick as an F40 Ferrari. Then the car disappeared to Modena and became, the prototype of the 348 Challenge car for the first Ferrari Challenge series.” In 1994 he built his own F3 car, a Fiat engined Pilette PWT 94C, which was based on a Ralt 94C-chassis. Designed by Martin Ogilvie, who had worked on the Lotus 78 and 79 models plus the twin-chassis Lotus 88, the car unfortunately proved a disappointment. Then in 2000 Pilette Speed Tradition was in America with its Dallara VW F300 at the first US F3 Championship. Paul Jenkins was fourth and third at Hallett (Tulsa) plus sixth and fourth at Sonoma, then Robert Sollenskog was second at Memphis and Marcelo Gaffoglio finished third at San Diego.
In later years Teddy spent his time between Thailand and France and in 2013 he was elected Vice President of the Grand Prix Drivers Club (formerly known as Club International des Anciens Pilotes de Grand-Prix F1).
Teddy Pilette – Third generation of a racing family – from 
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