Editors: Marcel Visbeen, Dennis Drenthe, Mattijs Diepraam. Feedback: feedback#carelgodindebeaufort.nl (# = @). This tribute site is in no way connected to the Beaufort family.

Cornelie Petter-Godin de Beaufort

Carel’s faithful sister Cornelie followed him across Europe, acting as his team manager, time-keeper and general fixer-upper. Cornelie is the Maarsbergen estate’s current resident.

Cornelie Godin de Beaufort (1931) is the first-born child of Jan and Gonda Godin de Beaufort and Carel's only sibling. Like Carel she was born and raised at the Maarsbergen estate where Carel had turned the old coach-house into a garage and where she whitnessed Carel's first steps into the world of motorsports.

When Carel entered the 1957 Mille Miglia, his mother would only allow him to go if Cornelie accompanied him. So she drove to Brescia with her brother and together they did a reconnaisance lap of the 1000-mile course in her VW beetle.

After that first time Carel realised the value of his sister's services and she started to accompany him to races, gradually growing out into something like a team manager for the Ecurie Maarsbergen. She was in charge of everything that could keep Carel's mind off the actual racing: from catering and correspondence to submitting the entry forms and timekeeping. As a matter of fact her timekeeping proved to be so meticulous that at one time Huschke von Hanstein asked her to help out the factory Porsche team.

The only venue where Cornelie never accompanied her brother was the Nürburgring, mainly because there were always enough people from Porsche around to assist him. Therefore she was on holiday during the weekend of the 1964 German Grand Prix and had to read the news of Carel's crash in French sportspaper l'Equipe.

Today Cornelie still lives at the Maarsbergen estate, together with her daughter's family.

Carel and the people in his presence

This section features the stories about the people who were around him while he was alive – his family, his friends, his mechanics, his entourage, his co-drivers, his rivals.