Claude Haldi (28 November 1942 – 25 December 2017) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

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 ...

. He was known as a frequent competitor at the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

, entering the race 22 times between 1968 and 1993. His endurance racing career was associated with

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...

, with 14 of his Le Mans entries in various Porsche models. He drove for the Porsche factory works teams of Martini Racing in 1973 and Rothmans Porsche in 1987. Beginning in 1985, he drove for the WM Peugeot team. He was a co-driver of the

WM P88 The Welter-Meunier P88 is a Group C Sports prototype, sports prototype race car, designed, developed, and built by the French racing team Welter Racing, specifically to compete in the 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Le Mans that year. It was ...

which broke the top speed record at Circuit de la Sarthe in 1988. Haldi also participated in hill climbs and

rallying Rally is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (often called ''rally racing),'' navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed time or average speed. ...

. He won the Group 4 category of the

European Hill Climb Championship The FIA European Hill Climb Championship (FIA EHC) is an FIA-run motorsport competition held across Europe on closed public road courses. Unlike circuit racing, each driver competes alone, starting from a point at the base of a mountain and reac ...

in 1970 and the 1979 Swiss Rally Championship. Following his retirement from racing, Haldi became president of the Vaud Automobile Club. In this position, he advocated against the Swiss ban on motorsport and proposed the creation of a Formula One circuit in Switzerland.

Racing record

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

1942 births 2017 deaths Swiss racing drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers Porsche Motorsports drivers Sportspeople from Lausanne {{Switzerland-autoracing-bio-stub