The Argentinian and the Frenchman from the southern region of Vaucluse, have a very special place in the history of motorsport in relation to the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Formula 1. Three years before his victory at Le Mans, José Froilan Gonzalez (born in 1922) scored the first of Ferrari's 219 F1 victories. That year, he participated for the second time in 24 hours, driving a Talbot-Lago shared with compatriot Onofre Marimon.

It was in 1954 that José Froilan Gonzalez and Maurice Trintignant drove together in Le Mans, in one of the three cars entered by Scuderia Ferrari. Although they both started in La Sarthe in 1950, the former never saw the chequered flag, while the latter finished for the first time in 1953 (sixth in a Gordini). Together they won the race. In his last appearance at the 24 Hours, this victory gave Gonzalez (who his size has earned the nickname of "Bull of the Pampas") a new status: the first driver to win in a Ferrari in Formula 1 and Le Mans.

In 1955, it was the turn of Maurice Trintignant (1917-2005) to enter the story: a year after becoming the first French driver to win in La Sarthe driving a Ferrari, he scored his first victory in Formula 1 at Monaco, followed by a second success in the Principality in 1958, he still remains the only French driver to have won both the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Monaco Grand Prix since the birth of Formula 1 World Championship in 1950.

The 90th anniversary 24 Hours of Le Mans is on the 22nd and 23rd June.

Jean-Philippe Doret - ACO

Photo : CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES (LE MANS, SARTHE), 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, 12th & 13th JUNE 1954. The winning car of Gonzalez and Trintignant was the only one of three Ferrari 375 Plus to take the chequered flag.