Marcel Balsa
French racing driver (1909–1984) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Emanuel Marcel Lucien Balsa (January 1, 1909[1] in Creuse – August 11, 1984 in Maisons-Alfort) was a French racing driver.
Quick Facts Born, Died ...
Born | (1909-01-01)1 January 1909 Creuse, France |
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Died | 11 August 1984(1984-08-11) (aged 75) Maisons-Alfort, France |
Formula One World Championship career | |
Nationality | French |
Active years | 1952 |
Teams | non-works BMW |
Entries | 1 |
Championships | 0 |
Wins | 0 |
Podiums | 0 |
Career points | 0 |
Pole positions | 0 |
Fastest laps | 0 |
First entry | 1952 German Grand Prix |
Last entry | 1952 German Grand Prix |
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Balsa started in racing after World War II, when he acquired a Bugatti Type 51 and became quite competitive in the French national events. He later built a BMW-engined Formula 2 car, and had a good reputation, until he tried a Jicey-BMW[2] developed by Jean Caillas.[3] With it he finished third in the Grand Prix of Cadours, the same event where fellow racer Raymond Sommer was killed. He returned to his previous race car and in 1952 raced in the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, only to retire after six laps. In 1953 he won a race at Montlhery but then faded from the racing scene.