Ben Pon is a
vintnerA vintner is a wine merchant. You pronounce it like this In some modern use, in particular in American English, the term is alsoused as a synonym for winemaker....
and former
OlympianThe Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
and motor racing driver from the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. He competed in one
Formula OneFormula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
race, the
1962 Dutch Grand PrixThe 1962 Dutch Grand Prix was the eleventh time the Dutch Grand Prix motor race was held. The race also held the honorary designation of the 22nd European Grand Prix. It was run to Formula One regulations as the opening round of the 1962 World Drivers' Championship on 20 May 1962...
, but had a far longer career in
sports car racingSports car racing is a form of circuit auto racing with automobiles that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built or related to road-going sports cars....
, before turning his back on the track to concentrate on the
wineWine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
trade. He also represented the Netherlands in
clay pigeonClay pigeon shooting, also known as clay target shooting, and formally known as Inanimate Bird Shooting, is the art of shooting at special flying targets, known as clay pigeons or clay targets, with a shotgun or any type of firearm....
shooting at the
1972 Summer OlympicsThe 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972....
.
His father,
Ben Pon (senior) Ben Pon was a Dutch businessman. In 1947, Pon's Automobielhandel , became the first dealer outside of Germany to sell vehicles manufactured by Volkswagen....
, was an importer of
Volkswagen BeetleThe Volkswagen Type 1, widely known as the Volkswagen Beetle or Volkswagen Bug, is an economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003...
s into the United States, and is considered to be the "father" of the
Volkswagen Type 2The Volkswagen Type 2, officially known as the Transporter or Kombi informally as Bus or Camper , was a panel van introduced in 1950 by German automaker Volkswagen as its second car model – following and initially deriving from Volkswagen's first model, the Type 1 , it was given the factory...
due to his initial interest and input into the project.
Ben Pon was a personal friend of Formula One driver
Carel Godin de BeaufortJonkheer Karel Pieter Antoni Jan Hubertus Godin de Beaufort was a Dutch nobleman and motor racing driver from the Netherlands...
. It was de Beaufort's own Ecurie Maarsbergen privateer team that provided a
Porsche 787The Porsche 787 was a Formula Two racing car built in 1960, based on the 1500 RS-K race sports car.Built to the 1960 Formula Two formula, the Type 787 was driven by such notables as Wolfgang von Trips and Dan Gurney to victory and obtaining the unofficial "Coupe des Constructeurs" — Formula Two's...
for him to race at
ZandvoortThe 1962 Dutch Grand Prix was the eleventh time the Dutch Grand Prix motor race was held. The race also held the honorary designation of the 22nd European Grand Prix. It was run to Formula One regulations as the opening round of the 1962 World Drivers' Championship on 20 May 1962...
, in his home Grand Prix on May 20, 1962. He failed to finish the race due to an accident. The impact was so violent that Pon vowed never again to race single-seaters, and in the years that followed he remained true to his word, while achieving many successes in
sports car racingSports car racing is a form of circuit auto racing with automobiles that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built or related to road-going sports cars....
also driving a
PorschePorsche has been successful in many branches of motorsport of which most have been in long distance races.Despite their early involvement in motorsports being limited to supplying relatively small engines to racing underdogs up until the late 1960s, by the mid-1950s Porsche had already tasted...
. Pon retired from professional sports car racing in 1965.
Since his retirement in the sports arena, Pon has turned his attention to the wine trade. He is now known for his Bernardus Winery in Carmel Valley, California, and owns the oldest wine negotiating business in the Netherlands.
Complete Formula One World Championship results
| Year |
Entrant |
Chassis |
Engine |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
WDC |
Points |
| 1962 The 1962 Formula One season was the 13th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1962 World Championship of Drivers and the 1962 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers which were contested concurrently over a nine race series that commenced on May 20 and ended on December 29...
|
Ecurie Maarsbergen |
PorschePorsche has been successful in many branches of motorsport of which most have been in long distance races.Despite their early involvement in motorsports being limited to supplying relatively small engines to racing underdogs up until the late 1960s, by the mid-1950s Porsche had already tasted...
787The Porsche 787 was a Formula Two racing car built in 1960, based on the 1500 RS-K race sports car.Built to the 1960 Formula Two formula, the Type 787 was driven by such notables as Wolfgang von Trips and Dan Gurney to victory and obtaining the unofficial "Coupe des Constructeurs" — Formula Two's...
|
PorschePorsche has been successful in many branches of motorsport of which most have been in long distance races.Despite their early involvement in motorsports being limited to supplying relatively small engines to racing underdogs up until the late 1960s, by the mid-1950s Porsche had already tasted...
Flat-4A flat-4 or horizontally opposed-4 is a flat engine with four cylinders arranged horizontally in two banks of two cylinders on each side of a central crankcase...
|
NEDThe 1962 Dutch Grand Prix was the eleventh time the Dutch Grand Prix motor race was held. The race also held the honorary designation of the 22nd European Grand Prix. It was run to Formula One regulations as the opening round of the 1962 World Drivers' Championship on 20 May 1962...
Ret |
MON The 1962 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on June 3, 1962.- Classification :- Notes :*Pole position: Jim Clark - 1:35.4*Fastest Lap: Jim Clark - 1:35.5...
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BELThe 1962 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on June 17, 1962.- Classification :* Dan Gurney practiced in a Lotus-BRM owned by Wolfgang Seidel, but after a few laps he deemed the car unraceworthy...
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FRAThe 1962 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Rouen-Les-Essarts on July 8, 1962.- Classification :* Scuderia Ferrari withdrew from the event, and their allocated numbers of 2, 4 and 6 were not used...
|
GBRThe 1962 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Aintree on July 21, 1962.- Classification :* Scuderia Ferrari withdrew their other two entries, cars #4 and #6, to which drivers had not been allocated.-Standings after the race:...
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GERThe 1962 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Nürburgring on August 5, 1962.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standingsConstructors' Championship standings...
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ITAThe 1962 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monza on September 16, 1962.- Classification :- Notes :*Pole position: Jim Clark - 1:40.35*Fastest Lap: Graham Hill - 1:42.3*Final Formula One entry for Gerry Ashmore...
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USA The 1962 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on October 7, 1962 at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York.__FORCETOC__-Summary:...
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RSAThe 1962 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at East London on December 29, 1962.- Classification :- Notes :*Pole position: Jim Clark - 1:29.3*Fastest Lap: Jim Clark - 1:31.0...
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NC |
0 |
External links