Editors: Marcel Visbeen, Dennis Drenthe, Mattijs Diepraam. Feedback: feedback#carelgodindebeaufort.nl (# = @). This tribute site is in no way connected to the Beaufort family.

The last knight of Grand Prix racing

Dutch nobleman Carel Godin de Beaufort was Grand Prix racing’s last true amateur. A colourful sportsman purposely wanting to beat the works teams on his own, Carel was a popular figure in the F1, F2 and sportscar paddocks of the late fifties and early sixties. He usually made his towering presence felt by his practical jokes and sledgehammer wit, but his talent couldn’t be underestimated. Often, his Porsches were seen fighting better cars, events which eventually led to Carel becoming Holland’s first F1 World Championship points scorer.

He was respected among his peers, loved by mechanics and adored by the people of his hometown Maarsbergen. Personally faced with the perils of motor racing he left his reckless youth behind and grew into one of the safest pair of hands in the pack. Thus it was a shock when he didn’t return from a practice lap during qualifying for the 1964 German GP.

Carel died 30 years old.

A tribute to his life and legacy

dB wants to pay tribute to Carel’s life and legacy, remembering an age when sex was still safe and motor racing was dangerous.

We cover the people that surrounded him, and the important places in his life. We feature his cars and teams, and will endeavour to give full account of all of his races.

Finally, we will list as many Carel resources as we can, and report on what’s keeping people focused on Carel to this very day.

Your input is being welcomed

Being a website instead of a book, this biographical effort will forever remain an unfinished symphony. Not only will we continue to add new information to the site, we also welcome your input, whether it be constructive criticism on the present content or new additions that will help this site grow into the definitive Carel Godin de Beaufort resource on the Web.