Jean Guichet’s Le Mans career coincided with Ferrari’s heyday in La Sarthe. When Guichet made his 24-hour debut for the Italian marque in 1961, Ferrari ruled the Le Mans roost, collecting winners’ trophies there every year for six years between 1960 and 1965.

Ferrari paraded a star-studded cast on the 24 Hours of Le Mans stage at that time. There was Enzo Ferrari himself, of course, his importers Luigi Chinetti and Jacques Swaters, his sporting director Eugenio Dragoni, and some of the most talented drivers around: Phil Hill, Olivier Gendebien, brothers Pedro and Ricardo Rodriguez, Willy Mairesse, Lorenzo Bandini, Ludovico Scarfiotti, Wolfgang von Trips, John Surtees, Giancarlo Baghetti, Jochen Rindt, Masten Gregory, Richie Ginther and Herbert Müller.

Among them, Jean Guichet, boss of a shipbuilding yard turned part-time racing driver, stood out somewhat with his unusual background and admirable driving skills. At his maiden Le Mans race, he made it to the third step of the podium alongside teammate Pierre Noblet. Then in 1962, the pair finished second behind Olivier Gendebien, the then record-holder with four Le Mans wins, and his American teammate, Phil Hill. But the best was yet to come...

In 1964, he made a surprising choice of co-driver in Nino Vaccarella, a driver with a great reputation who otherwise worked as a maths teacher in Palermo! Two hours into the race, the Frenchman and the Sicilian were in third position. During the night, they took the lead several times, benefiting from the issues plaguing the other Ferrari driven by John Surtees and Lorenzo Bandini.

Guichet and Vaccarella moved back to the front midway through the race and stayed there until the end, finishing with a five-lap lead over the runners-up, Graham Hill and Jo Bonnier in yet another Ferrari. The strong pace maintained by Guichet and Vaccarella (the latter equalling the times of Surtees who registered the fastest race lap) meant that they even set a new distance record, completing 4,965 km – extremely close to the elusive 5000-km mark. The 5k barrier was smashed by the Ford driven by Dan Guerny and AJ Foty in 1967 in what was described as the race of the century. That year was also the last time Jean Guichet would race Le Mans in a Ferrari.

He did however return to Le Mans three times. He drove a Matra in 1969, the final time he completed the 24-hour race, supported by his 1964 teammate Nino Vaccarella, a nice coincidence in one of the most distinctive careers in French motorsport history.

 

Photo: In 1962, Jean Guichet and Pierre Noblet finished second at the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the wheel of the cult Ferrari GTO. Today, there are still around thirty of these cars around and it is now one of the most expensive classic cars in the world.