This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Johnny Claes" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(December 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Johnny Claes

Johnny Claes during the 1950 British GP in Silverstone
Born	(1916-08-11)11 August 1916 Fulham,London, England
Died	3 February 1956(1956-02-03) (aged 39) Brussels, Belgium
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Belgian
Active years	1950 –1953,1955
Teams	Écurie Belge,Gordini,HWM,Maserati,Ecurie Nationale Belge
Entries	25 (23 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Careerpoints	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1950 British Grand Prix
Last entry	1955 Dutch Grand Prix

Octave John Claes (/kleɪz/; 11 August 1916 – 3 February 1956) was a British-bornracing driver who competed forBelgium. Before his fame as a racing driver, Claes was also ajazz trumpeter and successful bandleader in Britain.

Claes was born inLondon to a Scottish mother and Belgian father. He was educated in England atLord Williams's School. In England, he began playing trumpet in a jazz band that includedMax Jones on reeds, and another with Billy Mason on piano. In the 1930s, he moved to the Netherlands, where he worked withValaida Snow andColeman Hawkins. He also worked withJack Kluger's band in Belgium. Returning to England, he led his own group, the Claepigeons, making a recording in 1942. In the late 1940s, he abandoned his jazz career and settled in Belgium as a professional racing driver.^[1]

Claes was one of several gentlemen drivers who took part in Grand Prix racing of post-World War II. His first contact with racing was at the 1947French Grand Prix, where he served as interpreter for British drivers. He made his debut in 1948, in his ownTalbot-Lago, raced under theÉcurie Belge banner. Although Claes never scored any points in the World Drivers Championship, he was, like many of his contemporaries, very active in non-Championship Grand Prix races and sports car races. His first win was at the 1950 Grand Prix des Frontières, held at theChimay race track.

In April 1951, Claes crashed into a crowd while practicing atSan Remo Grand Prix inSanremo, Italy. He was uninjured but an observer was killed and three onlookers were seriously injured.^[2] In 1952 he exchanged his outdated Talbot for aGordini, and later for aConnaught, always with the Écurie Belge colours, but he also raced occasionally for works teams, including Gordini andMaserati. He also won the 1953Liège–Rome–Liège Rally and took a class win at the 195424 Hours of Le Mans. Claes teamed withPierre Stasse to finish 12th in the1954 24 Hours of Le Mans. They drove aPorsche.^[3] Together with compatriotJacques Swaters, Claes finished third in the1955 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Later in 1955, Claes's health problems worsened, as he had contractedtuberculosis. Claes sold his outfit to Swaters, who merged it with his ownÉcurie Francorchamps to formÉcurie Nationale Belge. Claes entered occasional events until the end of the year, but finally succumbed to the disease in Brussels in 1956, aged 39.

(key)

(key)

• 1916 births
• 1956 deaths
• Belgian racing drivers
• Belgian Formula One drivers
• Ecurie Nationale Belge Formula One drivers
• Gordini Formula One drivers
• Hersham and Walton Motors Formula One drivers
• Maserati Formula One drivers
• 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
• People educated at Lord Williams's School
• Scottish jazz trumpeters
• Male trumpeters
• Scottish racing drivers
• English Formula One drivers
• British jazz bandleaders
• English people of Belgian descent
• English people of Scottish descent
• World Sportscar Championship drivers
• 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis
• People from Fulham
• Sportspeople from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
• Racing drivers from London
• 20th-century Scottish male musicians
• Tuberculosis deaths in Belgium
• 20th-century trumpeters
• British male jazz musicians
• Formula One team owners
• British emigrants to Belgium
• Porsche Motorsports drivers
• 24 Hours of Spa drivers

• Wikipedia articles incorporating the Cite Grove template
• Wikipedia articles incorporating the Cite Grove template without a link parameter
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles needing additional references from December 2025
• All articles needing additional references
• Use dmy dates from December 2023
• Use British English from March 2012
• All Wikipedia articles written in British English