Juan Manuel Bordeu

Juan Manuel Bordeu (28 January 1934 - 24 November 1990): Argentine racing driver from Balcarce, a protégé of Juan Manuel Fangio who had a successful early career but a bad testing accident wrecked his chances in Formula One. Bordeu had a successful early career racing in Formula Junior. He came to Europe to race a Stanguelini in Formula Junior and was due to drive the UDT Laystall team Lotus in the French Grand Prix in 1961 but had a terrible accident in testing at Goodwood. Five days before the British Grand Prix he suffered a terrible accident in a test with a Lotus Elite Sport at Goodwood and almost lost a leg—they put a solid steel nail in his femur.

The car was eventually driven by Lucien Bianchi and Bordeu never got another chance in F1. Despite missing his Formula One opportunity, Bordeu continued racing with notable success. In 1963 he drove a Scuderia Centro Sud Ferrari 250 GTO with Carlo Maria Abate in the 12-hour race at Sebring, finishing 5th overall and first in class. He raced on in Turismo Carretera, winning the title in 1966 for Chevrolet.

He also competed in the Argentine Temporada series where he drove, amongst other cars, a Brabham BT23C FVA for Frank Williams before retiring in 1973. After retiring from racing, Bordeu became involved in motorsport administration, becoming Argentina's delegate of FISA with a seat on the World Motorsport Council until his death from leukemia. At the request of Fangio and Juan Manuel Bordeu, the Juan Manuel Fangio Automobile Museum Foundation was created.