French F1 star Jean-Pierre Beltoise has passed away aged 77, the veteran of 88 Grands Prix suffering a stroke at his holiday home in Dakar.

Whenever the dreaded sound of F1 2014 was mentioned, and fans spoke of their nostalgia for the "old V8s and V10s" of previous years, fans of a certain age smiled wryly as they recalled the fabulous sounds of the V12... and in particular the scream of the Matra.

Whilst many, when thinking of Matra, recall the V8 powered version driven by Jackie Stewart or the V12 driven by Chris Amon, it is Jean-Pierre Beltoise who others will recall.

A motor cycle racer, Beltoise contested the world championship between 1962 and 1966 in various classes including 125cc and 250cc. His best season was 1964 when he finished 6th overall in the 50cc class courtesy of a third in his home Grand Prix at Clermont-Ferrand.

By this time he had also tried his hand at racing cars, having broken his arm in a horrendous crash during the 1963 Reims 12-hours.

Switching to single-seaters, in 1965 Jean-Pierre won an F3 event at Reims on his way to winning the French F3 title, moving up to F2 the following season.

At a time when F2 cars often raced alongside their F1 counterparts, Beltoise made his debut at the (old) Nurburgring with Matra, finishing 8th. He also contested and won the prestigious F3 race that supported the Grand Prix

In 1967, still with Matra and still driving the F2 car, he failed to qualify at Monaco but finished 7th in both the United States and Mexican events.

Though he started the 1968 season with the Matra F2 car, at the second race (Spain) he drove a Cosworth powered car to fifth, from then on however it was the screaming Matra V12 that powered him. The Frenchman finished the season 9th overall, equalling his best result (5th) at Monza.

In 1969 he once again drove a Cosworth powered Matra, finishing the season fifth overall, reverting to the all-French V12s again in 1970 - as team boss Ken Tyrrell went off to form his own team - and 1971.

In early 1971, the Frenchman was involved in a controversial incident during the Buenos Aires 1000 kms and which resulted in the death of Ignazio Giunti. As a result of the incident, which occurred when Beltoise was pushing his car up an incline after it ran out of fuel and was subsequently hit by the Italian, who was unsighted as he overtook Mike Parkes, the Frenchman was suspended from racing for a period.

For 1972, the Frenchman joined BRM - now with a British V12 behind him - and it was in this car he scored his only Grand Prix victory - courtesy of a masterful performance on the rain lashed streets of Monte Carlo (pictured). It was BRM's last ever GP win.

Quitting F1 at the end of 1972, Beltoise turned to testing for Ligier and subsequently Touring Cars, winning the French title in 1976 and 1977 with BMW before going on to win the French rallycross title with Alpine-Renault.

In 1981 he once again returned to touring cars, now with Peugeot, and continued raced the 1980s.

His brother-in-law was Francois Cevert, who was Jackie Stewart's teammate at Tyrrell in 1970 to 1973 and whose death during qualifying at Watkins Glen for the 1973 United States Grand Prix was the catalyst for the Scot walking away from the sport.

Among the first to pay tribute to Beltoise were countryment Romain Grosjean and Alain Prost, whilst Eric Boullier said: "Speaking on behalf of everyone at McLaren-Honda, I would like to pay tribute to Jean-Pierre Beltoise, who has passed away.

"A fine driver on two wheels as well as four, he achieved eight podium finishes in Grands Prix, the highlight being a superb victory in torrential rain at Monaco in 1972, the 17th and final Grand Prix win for the legendary BRM team. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this very sad time."

To Jean-Pierre's widow and two sons, Pitpass offers its sincere condolences.

Picture Credits:
Nurburgring, German GP 1968 - Raimund Kommer
Monaco 1972 - McLaren/Twitter

Chris Balfe