Pierre Veyron (1 October 1903 – 2 November 1970) was a French

Grand Prix motor racing Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition, has its roots in organised automobile racing that began in France as early as 1894. It quickly evolved from simple road races from one town to the next, to endurance tests for car and ...

driver active from 1933 through 1953.

Career

Pierre Veyron enrolled at university to study engineering. Veyron's friend, Albert Divo, convinced Veyron to take up racing and introduced Veyron to André Vagniez, an industrialist who provided financial support to Veyron. Vagniez purchased a Bugatti Type 37A that Veyron drove to his first racing victory, winning the 1930 Geneva Grand Prix. Jean Bugatti, son of

Bugatti Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was a German then French automotive industry, manufacturer of high performance vehicle, high-performance automobiles. The company was founded in 1909 in the then-German Empire, German city of Molsheim, Alsace, by the ...

founder Ettore Bugatti, hired Pierre Veyron in 1932 as a test driver and development engineer. Veyron entered races as a Bugatti company driver, winning many including the 1933 and 1934 Berlin Avus races while driving a Bugatti Type 51A. Veyron's most significant race victory was his 1939 win at the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

, co-driving a

Bugatti Type 57 The Bugatti Type 57 and later variants (including the famous Atlantic and Atalante) was a grand tourer built from 1934 through 1940. It was an entirely new design created by Jean Bugatti, son of founder Ettore. A total of 710 Type 57s were pr ...

S Tank with

Jean-Pierre Wimille Jean-Pierre Wimille (; 26 February 1908 – 28 January 1949) was a French racing driver and a member of the French Resistance during World War II. He was a two-time victor of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, winning in 1937 and 1939. He is generally re ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Veyron joined the

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

against German occupation. For his service during the war, the Republic of France awarded him the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

in 1945. After the war, Veyron continued racing, but his main focus was on his family and his oil-drilling technology company. Veyron died in

Èze Èze (; ; ) is a seaside commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. It is located on the French Riviera, 8.5 km (5.2 mi) to the northeast of Nice and 4.5 km (2.7 ...

, France in 1970. Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. named the Veyron 16.4

supercar A supercar, also known as an exotic car, is a street-legal sports car with race track-like power, speed, and handling, plus a certain subjective ''cachet'' linked to pedigree and/or exclusivity. The term 'supercar' is frequently used for th ...

in honor of Veyron.

Racing record

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%" , - ! Year ! Team ! Co-Drivers ! Car ! Class ! Laps ! ! , - ! , align=left nowrap, Roger Labric
''(private entrant)'' , align=left nowrap, Roger Labric , align=left nowrap, Bugatti Type 50S , 5.0 , 73 , colspan=2, DNF , - ! , align=left nowrap, Roger Labric
''(private entrant)'' , align=left nowrap, Roger Labric , align=left nowrap, Bugatti Type 50S , 5.0 , 116 , colspan=2, DNF , - ! , align=left nowrap, Roger Labric
''(private entrant)'' , align=left nowrap, Roger Labric , align=left nowrap,

G Tank , 5.0 , 130 , colspan=2, DNF , - ! , align=left nowrap,

''(private entrant)'' , align=left nowrap,

, align=left nowrap,

C Tank , 8.0 , 249 , style="background:#ffffbf;", 1st , style="background:#ffffbf;", 1st , - ! , align=left nowrap,

Amédée Gordini Amedeo "Amédée" Gordini (23 June 1899 – 25 May 1979) was an Italian-born race car driver and sports car manufacturer in France. Biography Gordini was born in Bazzano, currently part of the Metropolitan City of Bologna in the Emilia-Romagn ...

Automobiles Gordini , align=left nowrap, José Scaron , align=left nowrap,

Simca Simca (; Mechanical and Automotive Body Manufacturing Company) was a French automaker, founded in November 1934 by Fiat S.p.A. and directed from July 1935 to May 1963 by Italy, Italian Henri Pigozzi. Simca was affiliated with Fiat and, after Simc ...

Gordini Gordini () is a division of Renault Sport Technologies (Renault Sport). In the past, it was a sports car manufacturer and Car tuning, performance tuner, established in 1946 by Amédée Gordini (1899–1979), nicknamed "Le Sorcier" (The Sorcerer) ...

T8 , S1.1 , 88 , colspan=2, DNF
(Transmission) , - ! , align=left nowrap, Manufactures
d'Armes de Paris , align=left nowrap, Fernand Lacour , align=left nowrap, M.A.P. Diesel , S5.0 , 39 , colspan=2, DNF
(Overheating) , - ! , align=left nowrap, Equipe

, align=left nowrap, Georges Monneret , align=left nowrap,

T15S , S1.5 , 130 , colspan=2, DNF
(Engine) , - ! , align=left nowrap,

Donald Healey Donald Mitchell Healey CBE (3 July 1898 – 13 January 1988) was a noted English car designer, rally driver and speed record holder. Early life Born in Perranporth, Cornwall, the elder son of Frederick (John Frederick) and Emma Healey ...

Motor Co. , align=left nowrap, Yves Giraud-Cabantous , align=left nowrap,

Nash-Healey The Nash-Healey is a three-seat luxury sports car or grand tourer produced from 1951 to 1954. It was marketed by the Nash-Kelvinator Conglomerate (company), conglomerate in North America as a Halo effect#Marketing, halo car to promote sales of i ...

, S5.0 , ? , colspan=2, DNF
(Engine) , - ! {{24hLM, 1953 , align=left nowrap, {{flagicon, GBR

Inc. , align=left nowrap, {{flagicon, FRA Yves Giraud-Cabantous , align=left nowrap,

Sports , S5.0 , 9 , colspan=2, DNF
(Engine) , - !colspan="8", {{center, {{small, Sources:{{cite web, title=Pierre Veyron, url=https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/track-record/driver/pierre-veyron-5450, publisher=

Automobile Club de l'Ouest The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (English: Automobile Club of the West), sometimes abbreviated to ACO, is the largest automotive group in France. It was founded in 1906 by car building and racing enthusiasts, and is most famous for being the organ ...

, access-date=28 May 2025

References

{{reflist {{start box {{s-sports {{succession box, title= Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans , before=

Eugène Chaboud Marius Eugène Chaboud (12 April 1907 – 28 December 1983) was a French racing driver. He participated in three Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, scoring one championship point. He also participated in numerous non-Championship Formul ...

Jean Trémoulet, after= Luigi Chinetti
Peter Mitchell-Thomson, years= {{24hLM, 1939 with:

{{end box {{24 Hours of Le Mans winners {{DEFAULTSORT:Veyron, Pierre 1903 births 1970 deaths Bugatti people French racing drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans winning drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers {{France-autoracing-bio-stub