Sébastien Enjolras (April 4 1976 – May 3 1997) was a French
racing driver. Considered to be one of
the most promising French drivers of his generation, he was killed
in a practice crash for the
1997 24 Hours of Le Mans
race.
Career
Enjolras
was born in Seclin
. He
was the son of
Michel Enjolras, a
preparer of
rally cars, and the brother
of
Pascal, a rally driver. He began
racing
karts in 1989. In 1994 he moved
up to
formula racing, finishing third
in the
Formula
Renault Campus championship. He moved to the
senior domestic
championship in 1995, finishing seventh in the championship. He
stayed on for another year and won the title in 1996 for the
La Filière team, ahead of future
Formula One drivers
Sébastien Bourdais and
Franck Montagny. This performance was
partially overshadowed when he failed a
dope test at the end of the year, testing
positive for
cannabis. Although banned for
six months, he did was not stripped of his championship and
returned to racing when it expired. For 1997 he moved up to the
French Formula Three
Championship with La Filière, and finished a posthumous
thirteenth in the final standings.
Enjolras also tried
sports car
racing in 1996, when he drove one of the
Welter Racing team's cars in the LMP2 class of
the Le Mans 24 Hours alongside compatriots
William David and
Arnaud Trévisiol, the
Peugeot-powered entry failing to finish. He returned
with the team for 1997.
Death
On a pre-qualifying run for the Le Mans 24 Hours a month before the
race, the rear bodywork detached from Enjolras' car, causing it to
become airborne and fly over the safety barriers after the
Arnage corner. The car overturned and exploded at high
speed, killing Enjolras instantly. Welter withdrew Enjolras' and
its other entries, and single-piece bodywork was subsequently
banned.
The scene of Enjolras' crash is currently denoted by a memorial
stone behind the
armco barriers.
Racing record
Career summary
References
Wikis
Map
Search