Toulo de Graffenried
Emmanuel " Toulo » de Graffenried ( born May 18, 1914 in Paris, † 22 January 2007 Lonay ) was a Swiss racing driver.
Baron de Graffenried - as he called himself happy, although in Switzerland the run of titles of nobility is forbidden - remained almost his whole career long associated with cars from the brand Maserati. In the years 1937-1939 he went almost exclusively in the displacement weaker Voiturette class.
He had his best years in the period after the Second World War. Together with his fellow countryman Christian Kautz he founded a private racing team, of course with Maseratis. Among his major achievements include winning the Grand Prix of Great Britain in 1949, third place in Monaco in 1948 and some more podiums.
In the first years of the Formula 1 World Championship he could occasionally go as Alfa Romeo importer in Lausanne with the factory Alfa Romeos, mostly, however, he started to Maserati. In 22 starts in the years 1950 to 1956, he came four times in the points, his best was a fourth place in Belgium in 1953.
In 1957, de Graffenried retired from active racing, but remained on the Formula 1 connected. 1998 turned the 84 -year-old a lap in a race car at the 50 -year anniversary of Silverstone.