Byol, Eli

Career start

A native of Marseille, Bayol began his racing career quite late even for the 50s - at the age of 36. His first cars were various 500- and 750-cc DB-Panhard manufactured by Deutsch and Bonn. Speaking at them in Formula 2 races, as well as in competitions in climbing the hill, Eli quickly achieved certain successes. So, in 1950, he spoke at Le Mans for the factory team paired with Rene Bonnet himself, where he took third place in his class and 23rd in the overall standings. In 1951, a performance in the same lineup was even more successful - second in class and 21st overall. In ordinary races, the results were slightly worse - the fourth place in Kadur was the best finish.

OSCA (1952-1953)

By the 1952 season, Bayol ordered a new car from the Maserati brothers - the OSCA 20, but its production was delayed until August, which led to the use of the OSCA MT4 sports car modified accordingly. On such a car they managed to finish fourth in Pau, fifth in Marseille and sixth on the track “Lac”. After receiving a new car, however, no improvement in results happened; moreover, they turned out to be worse. He managed to win only seventh place in the Grand Prix of Pain, and in the Grand Prix of Kommenzha he was completely disqualified. Only at the end of the season in the Grand Prix of Modena did they manage to improve the situation somewhat, finishing sixth. In the French championship, he took only 13th place with five points. In addition, in Le Mans with the usual partner Bonn, it was not possible to get to the finish line.

A similar chain of unsuccessful performances did not prevent Eli from participating in the Formula 1 World Championship, which was held that year according to the technical specifications of Formula 2. In the Italian Grand Prix, competition was very high - according to the decision of the organizers, the qualification was to weed out as many as nine racers out of 35 declared for the race. Byol not only overcame this barrier, but also showed already 10th place at the start! This result, as it turns out later, will be his best career start. In the race, his efforts were in vain - already on the first lap the gearbox failed and he went down.

Performances continued in 1953. The best result of that year was the victory in Aix-les-Bains on the Lac circuit, won in the presence of such eminent racers as Bera, Macklin, Collins, Shell, Trintignan and Graffenried. In Poe, he, as a year earlier, became fourth, and in Albi he won the pole - but could not turn it into any result. In the Grand Prix races, he qualified in France and Italy in the high 15th and 13th places, respectively, but both times came down due to an unreliable engine. In Switzerland, he played in training, but the start did not come out. At Le Mans, this time he performed at the Talbot Lago T26GC with Louis Rosier, but, like a year earlier, did not finish.

Gordini (1954-1956)

In 1954, Beiol received an invitation from Amedeo Gordini to speak with Jean Bera for the Gordini factory team - probably due to excellent qualification results. The debut at the first race in Argentina turned out to be what you need - finishing fifth, Eli got two points in the championship offset. Further, the results were also seemingly not bad - already the traditional fourth place in Pau and the fifth in Bordeaux, but in the last competition, Bayol ignored the order from the boxes, demanding to transfer the car to the team leader Bera - for which he was immediately dismissed by Amedeo, who was completely upset. In Le Mans, he finished 10th, returning to cooperation with Rene Bonnet.

By the beginning of the 1955 season, the Frenchman apologized to Amedeo Gordini, after which he was reinstated. In Po this time he came down, as well as in Bordeaux, and in Albi his suspension fell apart. In the Grand Prix of Argentina and Monaco, he also came down. A year full of accidents and technical malfunctions ended in disaster for him - at a training session before Le Mans, he crashed a car and received severe head injuries. Fortunately, he managed to quickly enough and at the same time fully recover, so that after a year he was back on the track. In the Monaco Grand Prix, he won sixth place, although jointly - a little earlier than the middle of the distance, he transferred control of the car to Andre Pillett. He also participated in sports car races a couple of times, finishing sixth in the 12th Reims, paired with Nano da Silva Ramos. Together with the same partner, he also participated in the “1000 kilometers of Paris”, but he did not reach the finish line.

Despite the restoration of health, the former speed was no longer there, so at the end of the year at the age of 42 he ended his career. Eli Byol died in 1995.

Steve Small. The Grand Prix Who's Who . - 2. - Guinness World Records Limited, 1996.- S. 51. - 464 p. - ISBN 0-85112-623-5 .

• Eli Bayol (rus.) On the site wildsoft.motorsport.com
• Byol, Eli at historicracing.com