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Robert La Caze

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Robert La Caze
روبير لا كاز
La Caze in 1954
Born(1917-02-26)26 February 1917
Paris, France
Died1 July 2015(2015-07-01) (aged 98)
Le Cannet, Alpes-Maritimes, France
Formula One World Championship career
NationalityMorocco Moroccan
Active years1958
TeamsPrivateer Cooper
Entries1
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums0
Career points0
Pole positions0
Fastest laps0
First entry1958 Moroccan Grand Prix
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years1957, 1959–1960
TeamsGordini, Porsche
Best finishDNF (1957, 1959, 1960)
Class wins0

Robert La Caze[a] (Moroccan Arabic: روبير لا كاز, pronounced [ʁɔbɛʁ la kaz]; 26 February 1917 – 1 July 2015) was a Moroccan and French racing driver, who competed under the Moroccan flag in Formula One at the Moroccan Grand Prix in 1958. La Caze remains the only Moroccan driver to compete in Formula One.[b] In rallying, La Caze was a two-time winner of the Rallye du Maroc in 1954 and 1967.

Born in Paris and raised in Morocco, La Caze started his career in rallying across North Africa, also winning a national title in skiing. Following World War II, La Caze competed in sportscar racing, finishing third at the 12 Hours of Casablanca in 1952, and winning the 3 Hours of Safi the following year. In 1954, La Caze won two classes at the Marrakesh Grand Prix, another class at the Tangier Grand Prix, and won the Rallye du Maroc in a Simca Aronde. He became a class winner at the Agadir Grand Prix [fr] in 1955, also finishing runner-up in the Rallye that year. In Europe, he further competed in the 1955 Mille Miglia, 1956 Tour de France Automobile and the 1957 24 Hours of Le Mans, the latter with Gordini.

La Caze became the first driver to compete in Formula One under an African licence at the 1958 Moroccan Grand Prix, entering a Cooper T45 as a privateer and finishing fourteenth in his Formula Two machinery. La Caze returned to Le Mans in 1959 and 1960, driving a Porsche 550 and 718, respectively. La Caze won his second Rallye in 1967 in a Renault 8 Gordini. Upon retiring from motor racing the following year, La Caze operated a garage and youth sports organisation in Marrakesh until his death in 2015, aged 98.

Career

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Early life

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La Caze was born in Paris, but as the grandson of a French diplomat, he moved to Morocco at a young age and spent most of his life there. He started his motorsport career in rallying, taking part in many events across North Africa. He also became the Moroccan national skiing champion.[2]

Sportscar races and rallies in Morocco

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International motorsport returned to Morocco after the Second World War in the form of a sportscar race, the Agadir Grand Prix [fr]. The event was held from 1950 to 1956, each year featuring multiple races for different engine classes. In 1951, he placed third in the S750 race.[3] In 1952, he placed second in the S1.0 race.[4] In 1953, he placed second in the S1.1 and S2.0 races.[5] In 1954, he placed second in the S1.1 race.[6] In 1955, he won the S1.0 race.[7] In 1956, he set the fastest practice time for the S1.3 race but his final result is unclear; he finished 8th in the feature race [de].[8]

In 1951, La Caze participated in the Rallye du Maroc and finished sixth.[9] In 1952, he finished third in the 12 Hours of Casablanca.[4] In 1953, he won the 3 Hours of Safi and started the 3 Hours of Algeria and 12 Hours of Casablanca, but his result in either race is unclear.[5] 1954 was particularly successful: he won the S1.1 and S1.5 races at the Marrakech Grand Prix, the S1.6 race at the Tangier Grand Prix, and the Rallye du Maroc for the first time.[6][10][11] He was runner-up in the rally in 1955.[12] Outside of Morocco, La Caze raced in the 1955 Mille Miglia, the 1956 Tour de France and the 1957 24 Hours of Le Mans.[13][8]

Moroccan Grand Prix

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The Moroccan Grand Prix returned in 1957, but it was run to Formula One regulations and local competitors could not afford to enter. The event organisers remedied this for the 1958 event, allowing Formula Two cars to enter in a separate class. La Caze secured an F2 entry with a privately owned Cooper. He lacked open-wheel racing experience, but impressed in practice by lapping within two seconds of the F2 class leaders. He qualified fourth out of the F2 entries and steadily improved his pace throughout the race, making a late pass on André Guelfi to secure third in the F2 class and 14th overall.[2][14][15] However, the race was marred by Stuart Lewis-Evans's accident which ultimately proved to be fatal, and the Moroccan Grand Prix would not return.

Last races and later career

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La Caze would race four times alongside Jean Kerguen, who had also been part of the Moroccan Grand Prix F2 field.[14] In 1959, they competed at Le Mans and the Tour de France, finishing fourth overall in the latter.[16] In 1960, they drove to 14th overall in the Rally Isla de Gran Canaria before returning to Le Mans.[17] La Caze won the Rallye du Maroc for the second time in 1967, and drove again in 1968 but retired with an accident.[18][19]

Following his motorsport career, La Caze ran a garage and a youth sports association in Marrakech.[2] He was the oldest living World Championship driver from the death of Paul Pietsch in May 2012 until his own death in July 2015.[20][21]

Racing record

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Complete Formula One results

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(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 WDC Points
1958 Robert La Caze Cooper T45 (F2) Climax Straight-4 ARG MON NED 500 BEL FRA GBR GER POR ITA MOR
14 		NC 0
Sources:[22][23]

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

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Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1957 France Automobiles Gordini France Clarence de Rinen Gordini T15S S2.0 3 DNF
(Engine)
1959 France J. Kerguen
(private entrant) 		France Jean Kerguen Porsche 550A S1.5 229 DNF
(Clutch)
1960 France J. Kerguen
(private entrant) 		France Jean Kerguen Porsche 718 RS60/4 S1.6 92 DNF
(Camshaft)
Source:[24]
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Notes

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  1. ^ Sometimes spelled Robert La Gaze.[1]
  2. ^ André Guelfi was born in Morocco but competed in Formula One under the French flag.

References

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  1. ^ 3 out of 4 mentions in the contemporary Motorsport magazine's report name him "La Gaze": Jenkinson, Denis (November 1958). "1958 Moroccan Grand Prix race report: Moss class of the field but Hawthorn takes F1 crown". Motorsport.com. pp. 732–733. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  2. ^ a b c McMullen, Jeremy (26 March 2014). "Robert La Caze". conceptcarz.com. Archived from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  3. ^ "World Sports Racing Prototypes - Non Championship Races 1951". www.wsrp.cz. Archived from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  4. ^ a b "World Sports Racing Prototypes - Non Championship Races 1952". www.wsrp.cz. Archived from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  5. ^ a b "World Sports Racing Prototypes - Non Championship Races 1953". www.wsrp.cz. Archived from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  6. ^ a b "World Sports Racing Prototypes - Non Championship Races 1954". www.wsrp.cz. Archived from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  7. ^ "World Sports Racing Prototypes - Non Championship Races 1955". www.wsrp.cz. Archived from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  8. ^ a b "World Sports Racing Prototypes - Non Championship Races 1956". www.wsrp.cz. Archived from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  9. ^ "Final results Rallye International de l'Atlas Marocain 1951". ewrc-results.com. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  10. ^ "GP Tangier [S1.6] 1954 - Race Results - Racing Sports Cars". racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  11. ^ "Final results Rallye du Maroc 1954". ewrc-results.com. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  12. ^ "Final results Rallye du Maroc 1955". ewrc-results.com. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  13. ^ "Mille Miglia 1955 - Race Results - Racing Sports Cars". racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  14. ^ a b "Morocco 1958 • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 30 Jul 2021.
  15. ^ Galpin, Darren. "1958 Moroccan Grand Prix". silhouet.com. The GEL Motorsport Information Page. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  16. ^ "World Sports Racing Prototypes - Non Championship Races 1959". www.wsrp.cz. Archived from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  17. ^ "Final results Rally Isla de Gran Canaria 1960". ewrc-results.com. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  18. ^ "Final results Rallye du Maroc 1967". ewrc-results.com. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  19. ^ "Final results Rallye du Maroc 1968". ewrc-results.com. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  20. ^ "Robert La Caze". Driver Database. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  21. ^ Malcevic, Marijan (19 December 2015). "Oldest Living F1 Drivers | SnapLap". snaplap.net. Archived from the original on 25 July 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  22. ^ "All championship race entries, by Robert La Caze". ChicaneF1. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  23. ^ "Robert La Faze". Motor Sport. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  24. ^ "Complete Archive of Robert Lacaze". Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
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