Jean Nguyen

Jean Nguyen (Born: Tranh Dinh Nguyen) is a French racing driver. He drove for Alfa Romeo in the World Sportscar Championship. He currently serves as the head FIA steward for Formula One.
== Early Life ==
Jean Nguyen was born in Saigon, South Vietnam, in 1939. His father, Dinh Nguyen, was the owner of Việt Long Imports, the largest import/export business in South Vietnam. Through this business, the Nguyen's developed a strong partnership with the colonial French government. At the outbreak of the First Indochina War, Dinh utilised these connections to bring his family to Calais, France, where he continued in the import/export business.
Tranh took the name Jean as a child, in an attempt to fit in at his French school. He learned French as a child in Vietnam, and learned English while at school in France.
With sponsorship from his father, Jean took part in, and won, a provincial Fiat 500 cup at age 17. This drew the attention of Alpine, who recruited him in 1959 to race touring cars at the national level.
== World Sportscar Championship ==
Alpine entered the World Sportscar Championship in 1963 with the A110 in Division 1. After one of their drivers suffered a fatal accident at the 24 hours of Le Mans, Nguyen was brought into the team. He had little success with the marque apart from a win at the 1965 Nurburgring 500km. At the end of the 1966 season, under pressure from new owners Renault, Alpine pulled out of the championship. Nguyen was set to return to touring cars until Alfa Romeo, looking for an experienced driver, signed him to drive the Tipo 33.
The Alfa Romeo was immediately proven to be uncompetitive, with Nguyen finishing 2 laps behind a hastily prepared Chevrolet in the 1st round at Monza. Attrition lead to a win at Spa-Francorchamps, but Nguyen was vocal in the press about the need for upgrades to the car. His calls were echoed by some Division 1 drivers, who said the Tipo 33 was "dangerously slow" on the long straights.
Nguyen partnered with Italian Maruzio D'Agostino for the 3rd round at Charade. The more handling oriented circuit was tipped to favour the Alfa, but the car was again slowest of the sub-two litre division. Nguyen described the loss as an "embarrassment" and left the race immediately to the Alfa Romeo factory in Turin. He spent 3 weeks with the team working on an upgraded version of the car, re-named the Tipo 33/2. 
Despite rumours he could leave to Porsche, Nguyen returned to Le Mans with Alfa Romeo and secured the Division 2 championship with a win, and outright 3rd position.
== Formula One Steward ==
Part way through the 1985 season, Formula One's governing body saw the need to appoint a single drivers' steward to oversee all future Grands Prix. As Nguyen was already in Austria officiating an international round of DTM, the FIA called upon his services for the 1985 Austrian Grand Prix. He continued for the rest of the season, before being offered the job full time for 1986.
Category:Drivers
Category:French
Category:Sports Car