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<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Belgian racing driver (1882–1919)}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}<br />
{{Infobox racing driver<br />
| name = Josef Christiaens<br />
| image = Josef Christiaens in his Excelsior the 1912 French Grand Prix at Dieppe (cropped).jpg<br />
| caption = Christiaens at the [[1912 French Grand Prix]]<br />
| birth_name = Josef Henri Charles Christiaens<br />
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1882|06|16|df=y}}<br />
| birth_place = [[Saint-Josse-ten-Noode]], <br/> [[Brussels]], Belgium<br />
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1919|02|25|1882|06|16|df=y}}<br />
| death_place = [[Wolverhampton]], [[Staffordshire]], England<br />
| module1 = <br />
{{Infobox Champ Car driver|embed=yes<br />
| Total_Champ_Races = 6<br />
| Years_In_Champ = 2<br />
| Best_Champ_Pos = 12th (tie) ([[1916 AAA Championship Car season|1916]])<br />
| First_Champ_Race = [[1914 AAA Championship Car season|1914]] [[1914 Indianapolis 500|Indianapolis 500]] ([[Indianapolis Motor Speedway|Indianapolis]])<br />
| Last_Champ_Race = [[1916 AAA Championship Car season|1916]] [[Astor Cup (auto race)|Astor Cup]] ([[Sheepshead Bay Speedway|Sheepshead Bay]])<br />
| Champ_Wins = 0<br />
| Champ_Podiums = 2<br />
| Champ_Poles = 0<br />
}}}}<br />
<br />
'''Josef Henri Charles Christiaens''' (occasionally [[anglicized]] as '''Joseph''', 16 June 1882 – 25 February 1919), was a Belgian [[racing driver]], [[aviator]], and [[engineer]].<ref name=OldRacingCarsJosefChristiaens>{{cite web |url= http://www.oldracingcars.com/driver/Wild_Bill_Turner<br />
|title= Josef Christiaens<br />
|website= OldRacingCars.com |access-date= 2016-06-15}}</ref><br />
<br />
== Biography ==<br />
<br />
Christiaens was born in [[Saint-Josse-ten-Noode]] on 16 June 1882 <ref>[https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9392-WBY1-6?i=270&wc=STJY-RMS%3A967074901%2C1488562701&cc=1482191 Saint-Josse-ten-Noode Civil Registry, 1882 births]</ref> to a prosperous Belgian family. On 13 August 1905 he participated in the ''Coupe de Liedekerke et Williame'' race held near [[Dinant]], Belgium. The race spanned 102.740&nbsp;km, but Christiaens failed to complete the race. He also failed to qualify for the ''Il Coupe de Normandie'' with his [[Vivinus]] 6 racecar on 29 August 1909. The Vivinus later gave Christiaens his first victory, winning the 2nd ''Coupe de Liedekerke et Williame'' in [[Ostend]], Belgium on 13 September 1909. He went on to take a string of victories in Europe and in the U.S.<br />
<br />
On 9 September 1916 Christiaens and his {{convert|2300|lb|abbr=on}} English [[Grand Prix Sunbeams 1921, 1922 TT|Sunbeam]] racecar, entered in the [[Harvest Auto Racing Classic]] held at the [[Indianapolis Motor Speedway]], composing of three races held at 20, 50 and 100-mile distances.<ref>'Christiaens Sends Entry: Belgian Auto Driver Will Compete at Indianapolis.' ''The New York Times'', 12 August 1916</ref> [[Johnny Aitken]], in a [[Peugeot]], came in first in all three distances. Christiaens' Sunbeam failed to start the race due to a broken crankshaft.<ref>'Aikens Sweeps Indianapolis Card', ''Motor Age'', 14 September 1916.</ref><br />
<br />
When [[Henri Farman]] flew the [[Gabriel Voisin|Voisin]]-designed biplane and took Ernest Archdeacon for a 1241-metre flight at [[Ghent]], Belgium on 30 May 1908, Christiaens was immediately captivated and inspired by the spirit of flying.<br />
<br />
[[File:Josef Christiaens (Indianapolis, 1914).jpg|thumb|left|Christiaens at the [[1914 Indianapolis 500]]]]<br />
<br />
In March 1910 Christiaens met [[Jorge Chávez|Géo Chavez]] at Camp de Châlons, France and learnt to fly on a Farman plane from him. By 12 April in the same year, he was registered with licence N°7, becoming one of the first 11 pilots registered at the ''Aéro-Club de Belgique'' (Aero Club of Belgium).<br />
<br />
On 14 March 1911, Christiaens received much enthusiasm and assistance from the British Colonial Government in Singapore. A squad of [[Royal Engineers]] soldiers were dispatched to assemble and test the [[Bristol Boxkite]].<ref>{{cite news | url=http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19110315.2.65.aspx | title=The Aviation Display | newspaper=The Straits Times|location=Singapore | date=15 March 1911 }}</ref> On 16 March 1911 Christiaens made history in [[Singapore]] as the first man to fly an airplane on the island.<br />
<br />
Christiaens died in a road accident while performing a test drive on a Sunbeam racecar near Moorfield Works on 25 February 1919 in [[Wolverhampton]], [[Staffordshire]], England. Shortly after leaving the Works, his car crashed into a wall along Upper Villiers Street trying to avoid a horse-cart coming out of Fowler Street.<ref>This is not the case, he swerved and hit a cast iron stench pipe: the works photograph shows the car, with a large u shaped impact in the centre of the chassis. His passenger, Sunbeam mechanic Frank Bill was handicapped from that accident and given a job "for life" by the Sunbeam Company. It is Frank in the one picture wearing the flat cap, not Joseph. This mistake has been copied by numerous people on various websites. I can prove this to be the case, as I have copies of the works photographs {JohnHarrold [http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/Museum/Transport/Cars/Sunbeam/STD.htm Sunbeam, Talbot, Darracq – Wolverhampton History & Heritage Society] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226155258/http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/Museum/Transport/Cars/Sunbeam/STD.htm |date=26 February 2008 }}</ref><br />
<br />
== Motorsports career results ==<br />
<br />
=== Indianapolis 500 results ===<br />
<br />
{|<br />
|----- valign="top"<br />
|<br />
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"<br />
|-<br />
!Year<br />
!Car<br />
!Start<br />
!Qual<br />
!Rank<br />
!Finish<br />
!Laps<br />
!Led<br />
!Retired<br />
|-<br />
![[1914 Indianapolis 500|1914]]<br />
|9 ||7 ||91.210 ||9 ||6 ||200 ||9 ||Running<br />
|-<br />
![[1916 Indianapolis 500|1916]]<br />
|14 ||14 ||86.080 ||16 ||4 ||120 ||0 ||Running<br />
|-<br />
|colspan="6"|'''Totals''' ||320 ||9 ||<br />
|}<br />
|<br />
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"<br />
|-<br />
!Starts<br />
|2<br />
|-<br />
!Poles<br />
|0<br />
|-<br />
!Front Row<br />
|0<br />
|-<br />
!Wins<br />
|0<br />
|-<br />
!Top 5<br />
|1<br />
|-<br />
!Top 10<br />
|2<br />
|-<br />
!Retired<br />
|0<br />
|}<br />
|}<br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
<br />
{{Commons category}}<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
<br />
{{Authority control}}<br />
<br />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christiaens, Josef}}<br />
[[Category:1882 births]]<br />
[[Category:1919 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Aviation pioneers]]<br />
[[Category:Belgian aviators]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Belgian engineers]]<br />
[[Category:Belgian racing drivers]]<br />
[[Category:Indianapolis 500 drivers]]<br />
[[Category:Racing drivers who died while racing]]<br />
[[Category:Sport deaths in England]]<br />
[[Category:People from Saint-Josse-ten-Noode]]</div>wikipedia>Dawnseeker2000