Wigram drivers T. PILETTE

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33424, 4 January 1974, Page 7

Wigram drivers T. PILETTE

Motor racing runs in the Pilette family’s blood: Teddy’s grandfather, Theodore Pilette, .was a member of the Mercedes team in the 1914 French Grand Prix. His father, Andre, was Belgium’s top driver in the immediate post-war era. He drove 41-litre Formula 1 . Talbot-Lagos for Ecurie Beige, and in the mid-19505, raced works Gordinis. Andre Pilette retired in 1965, at the age of 46, to leave his son to uphold the family tradition. Thirty - one - year -old Teddy Pilette is the 1973 European Formula 5000 champion. He runs a Volkswagen agency in Brussels, and lives there with his wife, Christine, and their two children. He was one of the first graduates of the Jim. Russell Racing Drivers’ School in England, and in 1962 he drove in Formula Junior races with his father throughout Europe. In his first race with a Lotus 18 at Snetterton he finished third.

Teddy’s progress up the motor racing ladder was slow. His fellow-coun-trymen Willy Mairesse, Lucien Bianchi and Mauro Bianchi were much betterknown.

Pilette’s sponsor, Count van der Straeten, is an enthusiastic follower of motor racing and a wealthy man. Among the companies he heads is the giant Stella Artois beer concern. He ran a team of Minis in 1964 and then began a long association with Alfa Romeo. This is where Pilette came in, and soon Teddy became the team’s star driver.

No major wins came Pilette’s way as the competition was far too fierce, but good placings in import a n t long-distance events enhanced his reputation.

Pilette’s debut in Formula 5000 was in the 1971 Tasman Cup series. With A. McLaren, his first regular single-seater drive since 1962. Teddy was second at Sandown Park, third at Teretonga, fifth at Warwick Farm and sixth at Pukekohe. In 1971 Count van der Straeten decided once again to concentrate on Formula 5000 and the old McLaren MIOB was shipped for its second Tasman Cup series. Teddy set something of a record by finishing all eight races to claim seventh place in the 1972 championship standings. Back in Europe all was not so rosy. Team VDS ordered a new McLaren M 22 model from Trojan and were loaned the MIBB

model used unsuccessfully by David Hobbs in the Tasman Cup series as a “stop gap”. As it transpired, neither car was particularly competitive. His second places gained at Snetterton and Nivelles with the MIBB were really the result of determination. At the end of the year Teddy was placed fifth in the championship. In an effort to become competitive a new Chevron 824 Formula 5000 car was ordered for 1973, while the team’s Interserie McLaren MBF was drastically modified, fitted with a Porsche 917-type body and powered by an 8-litre turbocharged Chevy engine developing 1100 b.h.p. The Chevron was, of course, a highly competitive machine, taking Teddy to victory in the European championship. During his championship trailblazing, Teddy scored two wins, three seconds, two thirds, a fourth and several minor placings. The Interserie machine was a disaster and was abandoned in mid-season, the team instead buying a second Chevron to run in F5OOO, driven by Chris Craft. For the forthcoming Peter Stuyvesant §lOO,OOO series and the 1974 Rothmans European Championship, Racing Team VDS will represent the official works Chevron learn in Formula 5000. Works driver Peter Gethin will join Teddy Pilette to make it one of the strongest teams in the championship.