La Dynastie Pilette – One Century, Three Men and their Cars
By Bernard Geeraerd
While the history of motorsport has seen several examples of families with two generations of drivers, it is extremely rare to have three generations of competitors from the same family competing in the top eschelons of international motorsport. One of the earliest examples of such a family, the Pilettes of Belgium, is the focus of this month’s book chronicling over 75 years of their racing exploits.
The Pilette racing dynasty was founded by grandfather Theodore who was not only a member of the famed 1914 Mercedes team, but also competed in the 1913 Indianapolis 500 driving his Knight-powered Mercedes to a 6th place finish. Theodore’s son, Andre, took up the racing mantle from his father and competed, off and on, in Formula One throughout the ’50s, with career best 6th place finishes in the 1951 Belgium Grand Prix driving a Talbot and again in 1956 driving a Lancia-Ferrari. Andre, would go on to race into the mid-’60s before retiring to start the Pilette International Racing School.
Andre’s son, Teddy, joined the Formula Junior scene in 1961, but came to prominence in 1973 when he won the Rothman’s European F5000 Championship (the first of two F5000 championships he would win) driving a Chevron B24 for Count Rudi Van der Straaden’s VDS team.
“La Dynastie Pilette” tells the tale of each racing member of the Pilette family both in terms of their cars and the races utilizing text and 200 photos, many of which have never been seen before. Fellow Belgian racer Paul Frére has written the foreward for the book and John Andretti (nephew of the great Mario) offers an amusing anecdote about the Pilette International Racing School, where he started out with his cousin Michael. While the book is very nicely done and a fitting tribute to this historic racing family, if it has a drawback, it is that there are only eight pages written in English. However, if you are a fan of the racing Pilettes or can read French, this book is a worthwhile addition to your collection. Available from Apach Editions for 36 Euros. Tel. (32) 2 357 19 50, fax: (32) 2 357 19 50.
