After a career racing motorcycles, he switched to four-wheeled competition in 1949 and within three years he had moved on to Formula One, winning the non-championship race at Reims in 1952 with Gordini to establish his reputation with the home fans. He remained with the team for another two seasons but was increasingly frustrated by his unreliable cars.

In 1955 he switched to Maserati and again made an immediate impression with non-championship wins at Pau and Bordeaux, but in championship races he was again off the pace. In 1957, when he finished fourth in the drivers' championship, he registered his best-ever grand prix result in Argentina when he finished second to team-mate Juan Manuel Fangio. He was heading for victory in the British Grand Prix when he suffered clutch failure.

A drive for BRM in 1958 was not a success, but in 1959 he appeared to receive his break in 1959 when he was signed by Ferrari but that relationship ended after Behra, angry at what he saw as a team error at the Reims Grand Prix, punched his team manager. Not long after he was killed in a sports car race.

Behra lost his right ear in a crash in Ireland in 1955 and thereafter had to wear a plastic replacement. In case he mislaid it, he always carried a spare in his top pocket.
Martin Williamson