Gérard de Courcelles was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 racing driver

Auto racing

Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of cars for competition. It is one of the world's most watched televised sports.-The beginning of racing:...

 who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans

24 Hours of Le Mans

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...

 for the French Lorraine-Dietrich

Lorraine-Dietrich

Lorraine-Dietrich was a French automobile and aircraft engine manufacturer from 1896 until 1935, created when railway locomotive manufacturer Société Lorraine des Anciens Etablissments de Dietrich and Cie branched into the manufacture of automobiles...

 automobile

Automobile

An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

 company, along with teammate André Rossignol

André Rossignol

André Rossignol was a French racing driver who became the first driver to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice, winning in consecutive years. Rossignol was a driver for the French Lorraine-Dietrich automobile company, and had been on their driving team since the inaugural Le Mans in...

. Previously, De Courcelles had driven cyclecar

Cyclecar

Cyclecars were small, generally inexpensive cars manufactured mainly between 1910 and the late 1920s.-General description:Cyclecars were propelled by single cylinder, V-twin or more rarely four cylinder engines, often air cooled. Sometimes these had been originally used in motorcycles and other...

s in Grands Prix

Grand Prix motor racing

Grand Prix motor racing has its roots in organised automobile racing that began in France as far back as 1894. It quickly evolved from a simple road race from one town to the next, to endurance tests for car and driver...

, but was eventually hired by Lorraine-Dietrich to enter the inaugural 24 Hours. The two drivers ran together for the next two editions of the endurance event until they succeeded in . The following year the two drove separate cars, with De Courcelles assigned to Marcel Mongin. Rossignol however, and new teammate Robert Bloch

Robert Bloch (racing driver)

Robert Bloch is a French racing driver who, along with André Rossignol, won the 1926 24 Hours of Le Mans for French manufacturer Lorraine-Dietrich. Robert Bloch had been part of Lorraine-Dietrich's racing team since the inaugural 24 Hours of Le Mans in , finishing the event, but struggled to...

, went on to win the event once again, with De Courcelles and Mongin in second.

De Courcelles died on 3 July 1927 due to an accident during a Grand Prix event in France.