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

Paul Frère

b Le Havre (France), January 30, 1917

Famous driver-cum-writer who lined up with Carel in Ian Frazer-Jones's RS60 for the 1960 Nürburgring 1000kms. During his long and successful racing career Frère chose not to become a full-time driver, preferring to maintain his profession as an international motoring journalist. His well-known manual Competition Driving is one of the clearest exposés on the art ever written.

Such was his talent that the French-born Belgian was a Grand Prix driver after being given an HWM for the 1952 GP des Frontières - which he won. Before, he had been a part-time touring-car driver for four years and suddenly became a hit after winning at Spa in a Jaguar XK120 in 1951. This led to the RACB's invitation to the Belgian GP. Passing the Chimay test with flying colours he was offered an HWM drive and rewarded team boss John Heath's faith by finishing an amazing fifth. The following years Frère continued to guest at his home GP, which led to a fourth for Ferrari in 1955 and second place for Lancia in 1956.

Meanwhile, his sportscar career had also gathered pace. He finished second with Peter Collins in the disastrous 1955 Le Mans race, and after taking that runner-up spot in the 1956 Belgian GP decided to concentrate on sportscars, as they allowed him to - according to his own explanation - get into his stride. He finished fourth in the 1957 and '58 Le Mans editions and won the 1957 Reims 12 Hours alongside Olivier Gendebien. He was second again at Le Mans in 1959, now driving for Aston Martin. Making a brief return to single-seaters he won the 1960 South African GP in an ENB Cooper, beating the likes of Moss, Bristow and Carel Godin de Beaufort, before taking fifth places at Syracuse and Brussels and sixth at Pau. The same year he finally won Le Mans, sharing with Gendebien.


The car that Carel and Paul shared in the 1960 Nürburgring 1000 kms.

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.