Drivers

Eugene Chaboud

The son of a successful businessman, Chaboud was a successful athlete in his youth but after meeting Jean Tremoulet he became interested in motor racing, making his debut in 1936 in a Delahaye sportscar. The following year he raced in a variety of hillclimbs and local races but entered the Le Mans 24 Hours with Tremoulet. He won his first event at the end of the year at the Lapize hillclimb course at Montlhery. The following year, teamed with Tremoulet again, he won the Le Mans 24 Hours in a Delahaye and later in the year showed his abilities as an all-rounder by winning the Chamonix Rally in a Lancia.In 1939 he established Ecurie Francia and won a second major victory in the Paris-Nice road race. His racing career was revived after the war when he took part in the very first postwar race in the Bois de Boulogne, finishing third behind Jean-Pierre Wimille and Raymond Sommer in the Coupe des Prisonniers in his underpowered Delahaye. In 1946 he won the Belgian GP, a sportscar race and had a number of good placings in French events. The following year he was recruited by Ecurie France and became French Champion, using both Delahayes and Talbot-Lago machinery but when Ecurie France and Delahaye split the following year Chaboud established Ecurie Lutetia with Charles Pozzi and continued to run with Delahayes, racing in a variety of international events, his best result being fourth place in the GP des Nations in Geneva.The Delahaye racers were not competitive in 1949 and for a period Chaboud concentrated on his secondhand car business but the lure of the sport was strong and he continued to compete at Le Mans and on the Monte Carlo Rally (he finished second in 1950 in a Simca). In 1950 he raced in the new World Championship on several occasions in Talbot-Lagoes, his best result being fifth place at Reims, when he took over Philippe Etancelin's car in mid-race.In 1951 he was involved in a nasty accident during the Le Mans 24 Hours and having been trapped under the car, he decided that it was time to stop racing. He continued to compete in rallying until 1953 and then retired to run his business.