The hard charger who punched his team manager
Jean Behra drove with all his heart, but occasionally he allowed it to rule his head, recalls NIGEL ROEBUCK
My childhood years were dominated by Jean Behra, the first - and greatest - hero of my life, and it started one evening in April 1954, when I saw on TV a clip of the Pau Grand Prix, in which Behra's Gordini defeated Maurice Trintignant's Ferrari. It was, the commentator said, the triumph of a better driver over a better car.
These were two very disparate Frenchmen, Trintignant a dapper little man whose driving mirrored his appearance, Behra also small, but stocky and tough, with charisma to throw away.
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