Monday,

23rd of February - Today ist the 1st anniversary of Paul Frére’s passing and what better way to remember the Belgian, than a snapshot from one of his 11 Grands Prix starts. Do you know where this shot was taken and the car he’s driving? Don’t worry, it’s not as difficult as you might think at first.

23/2/1959, Giorgio Ascanelli is born in Ferrara, Italy.

After working as a calculation engineer at Ferrari and with Abarth in rallying, Ascanelli got his break in Formula 1 as Gerhard Berger’s race engineer with the Scuderia Ferrari. He moved on to Benetton, where he engineered world champion Nelson Piquet before rejoining Gerhard at McLaren and then engineering Ayrton Senna in 1993. With Berger having returned to Ferrari, Ascanelli got lured back to Ferrari to work with Berger again and then with Jean Alesi. More recently, Ascanelli moved to Maserati, building up its very successful sports car racing programme from scratch. But when Gerhard Berger, at the time co-owner of the Toro Rosso F1 team, invited his former race engineer to become the team’s technical director, Giorgio didn’t think twice. With Sebastian Vettel scoring the team’s first victory in the 2008 Italian GP, Ascanelli’s career has another milestone to it.

23/2/1946, Alberto Colombo is born in Veredo, Italy.

After the 1974 Italian Formula 3 title no less than six seasons in European F2 made the bulk of Colombo’s career. In 1978 he had three shots to impress in F1 with all the odds against him, as there was no budget for testing at all. In both outings in the ATS HS1, in Belgium and Spain, he’d make it past the pre-qualifying, but didn’t make the grid. For the Italian GP his fellow contryman Arturo Merzario ran a second A1 chassis for Colombo at Monza, but with a car even worse than the ATS, Colombo failed already at the pre-qualifying hurdle. After another couple of F2 seasons he retired from racing to run the Sanremo team throughout the 1980s as team owner and manager.

23/2/2008, Paul Frère dies.

Despite being born in France, Paul Frère held Belgian citizenship and raced on a semiprofessional basis for 15 years under Belgian license, including 10 Formula 1 races with a an astonishing 2nd place in the 1965 Belgian GP as his best result and a brief appearance in the 1966 Grand Prix movie. He also won the 1960 24 Hours of Le Mans, driving for Ferrari with fellow Belgian Olivier Gendebien. His greatest talent, however, lay in his ability to relate his experiences to others through the written word. Frère has contributed to many magazines, and has written several highly acclaimed books on his experiences in the automotive world. He never fully recovered from severe road accident in Germany in September of 2006 suffering a shattered pelvis, several broken ribs and punctures to both lungs. Paul Frère passed away in February 2008 and prior to the Belgian Grand Prix that year, the Stavelot Bend at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit was renamed into Curve Paul Frère in his honor.

Born: 30rd of January 1917 in Le Havre, France;
Died: 23rd of February 2008 in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France.

23/2/1928, Hans Herrmann is born in Stuttgart, Germany.

When the Mercedes-Benz factory team entered Formula 1 at the 1954 French Grand Prix, Hans Herrmann was a junior driver behind Juan Manuel Fangio, Karl Kling, Hermann Lang and later Stirling Moss. He drove the fastest lap in in the Silver Arrows’ comeback race, but had to retire. But a podium finish at the 1954 Swiss Grand Prix compensated for that. A crash in practise for the 1955 Monaco GP ended his season prematurely. After Marcedes’ withdrawal he kept going in F1 with Cooper, Maserati, BRM and ended up with the disappointing Porsche 718 in 1961. Herrmann then spend 1962 to 1965 with minor sports car races and hillclimbing. In 1966 he returned to Porsche for a comeback in the World Sportscar Championship and missed the win in the 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans with a Porsche 908 by only 120 Meters, only to be rewarded with victory in the big race in the following year, among many other successes, sharing a 917 with Richard Attwood. After his driving career he built a successful company for automotive supplies and still enjoys driving his old race cars at classic car meetings.

23/2/1960, Arthur Legat dies.

Legat was a Belgian garage owner and amateur racer, popular in his region for his long lasting appearances at the Chimay circuit between 1926 and 1959. The highlight of his driver’s career obviously being his participations in the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps in 1952 and 1953, competing in both events with a Veritas Meteor. He holds the record for the oldest driver to make his debut in a Formula 1 World Championship – he was 53 years, 7 months and 21 days old when he entered his home GP in 1952.

Born: 1st of November 1898 in Haine-Saint-Paul, Belgium.
Died: 23rd of February 1960 in Haine-Saint-Paul, Belgium, aged 61.

23/2/2001, Sergio Mantovani dies.

A hobby driver with considerable talent and a smooth driving style, Mantovani entered Grand Prix racing in 1954 with a semi-works Maserati 250F and scored 5th places in both the German GP and the Swiss GP. His career ended prematurely at only 25 years of age after crashing a spare factory car heavily while testing for the non-Championship Turin GP suffering the amputation of a leg as a consequence. He remained involved in motor racing as a member of the sporting commission of the Automobile Club of Italy.

Born: 22th of May 1929 in Cusano Milanino, Italy.
Died: 23rd of February 2001 in Milan, Italy, aged 71.

23/2/1953, Satoru Nakajima is born in Okazaki City, Japan.

Satoru Nakajima was the first full time Japanese Formula 1 driver ever. His debut came after winning five domestic F2 titles and running comprehensive tests in Japan with a Williams chassis in 1985 to develop the Honda engine. After a year in the European F2 Championship with Ralt-Honda and he landed the second Lotus drive alongside Ayrton Senna in 1987, fully backed by Honda and scoring a total of seven points that year. The highlight of his career was his drive to fourth place in the rain-soaked 1989 Australian GP, setting the fastest lap. Tragically that was the only season he wasn’t able to rely on Honda-power. In 1990 he moved to Tyrrell – again with backing from Honda – and after the 1991 season announced his retirement. In 1990 he moved to Tyrrell – again with backing from Honda – and after the 1991 season announced his retirement as a driver and going into team-ownership in the domestic racing scene. PIAA Nakajima Racing became one of the most successful, multiple title-winning team in Formula Nippon and a team in Super GT. He also acted as a mentor to Tora Takagi and now takes care of the F1 career of son Kazuki.