Bonnier in Venezuela

[tomaskarlsson]

According to his own book "Fort, fortare, fortast" (=Fast, faster, fastest), the Swedish racing driver Joakim Bonnier had his home in Venezuela for a couple of years.
He first visited Caracas in 1956, when he participated in the GP with his Alfa Romeo 6C. The car was sold after the race and Bonnier stayed in Venezuela for six weeks.
In 1957 he was part of the Maserati factory team and also part of the end of the team, when he crashed in a lamp-post after a puncture and a collision with team-mate Schell. After that race Bonnier stayed in Caracas to recover. He knew Pepe Herrera, who had been Venezuela's ambassador in Stockholm, and the Herrera family invited Bonnier to rent a house on their farm "Hacienda la Vega", which he did up until 1960, when he moved to Switzerland.
In 1958 the Maserati team folded and Bonnier started his own team again. But he got sponsorship from Volvo, and raced their sedans a couple of times during the year. So he took part in the Venezuela GP with a Volvo but retired.
I have found a note in Swedish magazines that he did one more race in May(?) 1959 with a Volvo in Caracas, but haven't found that race. Is there anyone who could help me with more information? Was there any more race? Who was Herrera? Has anyone found anything more about Bonnier in Venezuela? I don't know how much he lived there, I suppose it was some sort of arrangement so he didn't have to pay the high Swedish tax.

[tomaskarlsson]

While searching on Internet, I have found that the Venezuelan familys name was Herrera-Uslar and they had a Hacienda la Vega. José Herrera-Uslar was Venezula's ambassador in Sweden in the early 1950ies.

[manuel mechanics]

Hello, in fact the Herrera Uslar is an old family with a name in Venezuela. I'd been in the Hacienda la vega, and there is nothing there. Regards

[Caribe70]

Good evening tomaskarlsson,

I was browsing through the forum and saw your question.

The GP of Venezuela of 1958 was the road race between Palmarejo (near Maracaibo) and Caracas.

See here:

http://www.pasionalavelocidad.com/phpBB ... hilit=1958

There were not many races in 1959 in Caracas, I checked the ll GP of La Trinidad and saw a Volvo registered to Freddy Brandt.

See this forum:

http://www.pasionalavelocidad.com/phpBB ... a+trinidad

Hope this helps,

Regards,