Team story
Origins
Jean Behra had already achieved results in Porsche sports cars when he wanted his own Formula 2 single-seater. With assistance from the manufacturer and the work of Neri and Colotti, the Behra-Porsche was created, using RSK mechanical components. This was not the future Porsche works Formula 1 programme, but an initiative commissioned by the French driver.
The Formula 1 journey
Maria Teresa de Filippis tried to qualify it at Monaco in 1959 but was unsuccessful. After Behra's death at the Avus, the car passed to Camoradi. Masten Gregory raced it in Argentina in 1960, while Fred Gamble is listed tenth at Monza: these are the constructor's two recorded World Championship starts.
Historical timeline
Three chapters in the story of Behra-Porsche
Three episodes to revisit the people, cars and races that shaped this journey.
First appearance · Argentine Grand Prix
Masten Gregory · Argentine Grand Prix 1960. The recorded position is P12; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This is the first recorded race start, or the first entry if the team never started a race.
Sporting landmark · Italian Grand Prix
Fred Gamble · Italian Grand Prix 1960. The recorded position is P10; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This marks the first win or podium where one exists, otherwise the highest recorded placing for this constructor.
Latest recorded appearance · Italian Grand Prix
Fred Gamble · Italian Grand Prix 1960. The recorded position is P10; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This is the last race start attributed to this constructor in the archive, not necessarily the end of the organisation behind it.
A distinctive way of racing
Porsche's 1.5-litre flat-four powered a single-seater intended for Formula 2. Admission to some Grands Prix did not make it a car designed for the 2.5-litre Formula 1 regulations then in force. Hans Herrmann took a second place with it in Formula 2 at Reims, outside its World Championship record.
What remains
The car outlived the man who commissioned it and was preserved in the Miles Collier collection at the Revs Institute, also being displayed at Audrain. This physical continuity links Behra, de Filippis and the Camoradi drivers. The 1959 Monaco attempt was not de Filippis's World Championship debut, however: she had already raced a Maserati in 1958.