Popular and under-rated driver who died of tuberculosis. Born of a Belgian father and Scottish mother, Claes was initially a jazz musician, who played the trumpet in a number of bands, before having his own jazz band. He then took up racing after initially working as a translator for racing teams (in fact in his era, he was one of the few bilingual drivers), and with family wealth behind him, he took up his new passion. However, he kept his jazz links by running a jazz club in Britain and also working a music journalist in Belgium as well as running the family business.

Biography last updated 4 Jul 2015