Charles Pozzi (27 August 1909 – 28 February 2001) was a French

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

who participated in one World Championship

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship ...

race in 1950, the year of its inception.

Racing career

Born Carlo Alberto Pozzi in

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

of Italian parentage, he became known as Charles, the French translation of his name. He was working as an automobile broker and his career as a racing driver only began when he was already 37 years old. Later in life, as the official French importer of Ferrari and Maserati automobiles, his name was to appear on many racing cars. In 1946, he competed, with his

Delahaye Delahaye was a family-owned automobile manufacturing company, founded by Émile Delahaye in 1894 in Tours, France. Manufacturing was moved to Paris following incorporation with two unrelated brothers-in-law as equal partners in 1898. The comp ...

135CS, in several races including the Grand Prix of Bourgogne – Dijon where he finished in fourth position and the Le Mans Grand Prix, raced on the Nantes race track this year, where he finished in fifth position, driving a

. In 1949, he won the Comminges sports car Grand Prix, in Saint-Gaudens, with a

Delahaye 145 The Delahaye 145 is a luxury car, derived from a racecar design, manufactured by French automaker Delahaye. Based on a sporting tourer, it was designed to be capable for racing. History Only four 4.5 litre naturally aspirated V12 Type 145 ra ...

(chassis N° 48775), equipped with a 4.5-litre six-cylinder

Delahaye 175 The Delahaye Type 175 is a luxury, bespoke, coachbuilt automobile manufactured by French automotive product manufacturer Delahaye. Production build numbers were formally recorded from early 1948 to mid 1951, validating that 107 cars were built. ...

engine.

Major achievements

''Note: 35th Grand Prix de L'ACF results shared with

Louis Rosier Louis Rosier (5 November 1905 in Chapdes-Beaufort – 29 October 1956 in Neuilly-sur-Seine) was a racing driver from France. Career highlights He participated in 38 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 13 May 1950. He achi ...

as co-driver'' * 1947, raced at: ** Grand Prix of Pau, ** Grand Prix Automobile of Marseille, ** Circuit des Remparts in Angoulême, **

Grand Prix du Comminges The Grand Prix du Comminges was an automobile race held in France. The race was named after the Comminges, one of the former Provinces of France in ancient Gascony in what is now the Haute-Garonne department of the Midi-Pyrénées region of France ...

in Saint-Gaudens. * 1948, raced at: **

Grand Prix des Nations The Grand Prix des Nations was an individual time trial (against the clock) for both professional and amateur racing cyclists. Held annually in Cannes, France, it was instituted in 1932 and often regarded as the unofficial time trial championship ...

in Genève, ** DNF at

in Saint-Gaudens (Talbot). * 1949, raced at Grand Prix Automobile of Pau, * 1952, won the

12 Hours of Casablanca The 12 Hours of Casablanca was a sports car endurance race organised on the route of the future Ain-Diab Circuit in Morocco. Only two editions were held in 1952 and 1953, before the race was replaced by the Moroccan Grand Prix in Agadir for the ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...

* 1953, won : ** the first position of the 12H of

Hyères Hyères (), Provençal Occitan: ''Ieras'' in classical norm, or ''Iero'' in Mistralian norm) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. The old town lies from the sea clustered aroun ...

in the 2L category and at the third overall position, ** the second position of the 12H of Reims in the 2L category and the 6th position in the overall ranking. For these two events, he raced on the Ferrari 166MM Berlinetta Vignale which belong to his teammate François Picard. ** the third position at the 12 Hours of

Agadir Agadir ( ar, أݣادير, ʾagādīr; shi, ⴰⴳⴰⴷⵉⵔ) is a major city in Morocco, on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean near the foot of the Atlas Mountains, just north of the point where the Souss River flows into the ocean, and south ...

with a

Lancia Lancia () is an Italian car manufacturer and a subsidiary of FCA Italy S.p.A., which is currently a Stellantis division. The present legal entity of Lancia was formed in January 2007 when its corporate parent reorganised its businesses, but it ...

Aurelia * 1954, finished : ** the 12 hours of Hyères in 2nd position with a Ferrari 500 Mondial,
Ranking 1954 ** the 12 hours of Reims in 9th position with the same car. ** the hillclimb de Planfoy.

Pozzi's business

After his retirement from racing, he founded Charles Pozzi S.A., the official importer of Ferrari and Maserati motor vehicles in France. In 2003, the company was acquired by the Ferrari company. Pozzi died in 2001 in

Levallois-Perret Levallois-Perret () is a commune in the Hauts-de-Seine department and Île-de-France region of north-central France. It lies some from the centre of Paris in the north-western suburbs of the French capital. It is the most densely populated ...

, a suburb in western Paris.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (ma ...

) :''* Indicates Shared Drive with

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pozzi, Charles 1909 births 2001 deaths French racing drivers Grand Prix drivers French Formula One drivers French people of Italian descent Racing drivers from Paris 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers