Real name Pierre Bouillin, 'Levegh' will always be remembered as the poor soul killed in the horrific Le Mans disaster. A brilliant sportscar driver, Levegh was extremely experienced and versatile in a range of machinery. Nephew of Alfred Velghe, who also raced (and indeed won the 1900 Paris-Toulouse-Paris city-to-city race) but arranged his surname to create his pseudonym of Levegh, Pierre also chose the same alias for his racing. By day, he was a car dealer in Paris who raced in sportscars almost exclusively for much of his career. Sadly he was also involved in a fatal crash 8 years before the Le Mans disaster when he crashed at the French Grand Prix of 1947, killing two spectators. Levegh, who watched the first ever Le Mans race in 1923, ran a garage and a brush factory. He played ice hockey for France, but also was proficient at tennis before taking up racing in 1937.

Biography last updated 10 Aug 2024