Jean-Pierre Jabouille

Jean-Pierre Jabouille

Jabouille in 2012
Born (1942-10-01) 1 October 1942
Paris, France
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality France French
Active years 1974 - 1975, 1977 - 1981
Teams Williams, Surtees, Tyrrell, Renault, Ligier
Entries 55 (49 starts)
Championships 0
Wins 2
Podiums 2
Career points 21
Pole positions 6
Fastest laps 0
First entry 1974 French Grand Prix
First win 1979 French Grand Prix
Last win 1980 Austrian Grand Prix
Last entry 1981 Spanish Grand Prix

Jean-Pierre Alain Jabouille[1] (born 1 October 1942) is a French former racing driver. He raced in 55 Formula One Grands Prix, collecting two wins during the first years of Renault's turbocharged programme in the 1970s. Jabouille also raced the 24 Hours of Le Mans from the late 1960s to the early 1990s, driving for Alpine, Matra, Sauber and Peugeot and collecting four 3rd overall finishes in 1973, 1974, 1992 and 1993. Jabouille was one of the last of a breed of Formula One drivers who were also engineers.

Career

Jabouille's Renault RS01 and helmet on display at the Deutsches Museum.
Jabouille in 1975

Jabouille first made his mark in French Formula Three in 1967, and continued in 1968, maintaining the car himself on his way to the runner's up spot behind François Cevert. For 1969 he was contracted as a development driver by Alpine, having several disjointed runs in Formula Two and sports cars. In 1973 he co-drove a Matra to 3rd at the Le Mans 24 Hours, and repeated this feat in 1974, when he also won the Formula Two race at Hockenheim, and finished as runner-up in the European 2-litre series for Alpine. He also made his first appearances in Formula One, failing to qualify a Williams at the French Grand Prix, and a Surtees at the Austrian Grand Prix.

1975 saw Jabouille sever his ties with Alpine, and gain Elf backing to make his own Formula Two chassis. He finished runner-up to Jacques Laffite, but finally made his full Grand Prix debut, finishing 12th in a works Tyrrell at the French Grand Prix. For 1976 he concentrated on Formula Two, finally winning the title.

Formula One with Renault

Jabouille was signed up by Formula One team Renault to develop their new 1.5l turbocharged engine for 1977. The RS01 car debuted at the 1977 British Grand Prix, but initially the turbo engine (a first for Formula One) was fragile and suffered from severe turbo lag, making it difficult to drive on tight circuits. However, Jabouille persevered, recording several notable qualifying positions in 1978, and landed the marque's first points with 4th place at the United States Grand Prix East.

1979 saw Renault expand to run a second car for René Arnoux. Jabouille secured Renault's first Formula One pole at the South African Grand Prix, and then won their first victory, fittingly at the French Grand Prix, also from pole. This was the first victory for a turbocharged car in Formula One. He took two more poles, at the German and Italian Grands Prix, but poor reliability meant the win was his only score.

In 1980 Jabouille took two more poles, and another win at the Austrian Grand Prix. However, a suspension failure in the Canadian Grand Prix left him with a broken leg, just after he had signed with Ligier for 1981.

His injuries saw him sit out the first two races of the 1981 season, but it soon became clear he wasn't fully fit, failing to qualify for two of his four attempts, at which point he decided to retire from Formula One, and he then became manager of the Ligier/Talbot team in 1982.

Sportscars

Jabouille returned to racing in the mid-1980s, driving in the French Supertouring Championship before joining Peugeot to help develop their sports car programme at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This culminated in third place places for the marque in both the 1992 and 1993 races. In 1994 he succeeded Jean Todt as director of Peugeot Sport, but unsuccessful seasons for Peugeot as engine suppliers in Formula One with McLaren and Jordan saw him sacked in 1995. Since then he has run his own sports car team in the ISRS.

Racing record

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Pos. Pts
1968 Matra Sports Matra MS7 Cosworth FVA HOC THR JAR PAL TUL ZAN PER HOC
9
VAL NC 0
1970 Constructions Mécaniques Pygmée Pygmée MDB15 Cosworth FVA THR
DNQ
HOC BAR
11
PAL PER
8†
TUL IMO
DNQ
HOC
DNS
16th 2
1971 Equipe Tecno Elf Tecno TF71 Ford BDA HOC
Ret
THR NÜR JAR
DNQ
PAL
DNQ
ROU
DNS
MAN TUL ALB
DNQ
VAL VAL NC 0
1972 Elf Coombs Racing March 722 Ford BDA MAL
Ret
THR HOC IMO
Ret
MAN
2
PER
Ret
14th 7
Elf 2 PAU
DNQ
PAL HOC ROU
DNS
ÖST
Ret
SAL
9
ALB
Ret
HOC
10†
1973 Elf Coombs Racing Elf 2 Ford BDA MAL HOC THR
Ret
NÜR
Ret
PAU KIN NIV HOC ROU
DNS
MNZ MAN
Ret
KAR PER
Ret
SAL NOR ALB
5†
VAL 24th 3
1974 Ecurie Elf Elf 2 BMW BAR
3
HOC PAU
4
SAL
Ret
HOC
1
MUG
7
KAR PER HOC
3
VAL
Ret
4th 20
1975 Equipe Elf Switzerland Elf 2J BMW EST
8
THR
5
HOC
Ret
NÜR
4
PAU
2
HOC
Ret
SAL
1
ROU
Ret
MUG
Ret
PER
Ret
SIL
Ret
ZOL
Ret
NOG
3
VAL 5th 24
1976 Equipe Elf Switzerland Elf 2J Renault HOC
Ret
THR
14
VAL
1
SAL
6
PAU
3†
HOC
4†
ROU
2
MUG
1
PER
4
EST
2
NOG
Ret
HOC
1
1st 53

Jabouille scored more points than his finishing position as drivers who finished ahead were ineligible for points.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1968 France Société des Automobiles Alpine France Jean Guichet Alpine A220-Renault-Gordini P
3.0
185 DNF DNF
1969 France Société des Automobiles Alpine France Patrick Depailler Alpine A220/69-Renault-Gordini P
3.0
209 DNF DNF
1970 France Equipe Matra-Simca France Patrick Depailler
Australia Tim Schenken
Matra-Simca MS650 P
3.0
70 DNF DNF
1972 France Équipe Matra-Simca Shell United Kingdom David Hobbs Matra-Simca MS660C S
3.0
278 DNF DNF
1973 France Équipe Matra-Simca Shell France Jean-Pierre Jaussaud Matra-Simca MS670B S
3.0
331 3rd 3rd
1974 France Équipe Gitanes France François Migault Matra-Simca MS670C S
3.0
324 3rd 3rd
1976 France Renault Sport France Patrick Tambay
France José Dolhem
Renault Alpine A442 S
3.0
135 DNF DNF
1977 France Équipe Renault Elf United Kingdom Derek Bell Renault Alpine A442 S
+2.0
257 DNF DNF
1978 France Renault Sport France Patrick Depailler Renault Alpine A443 S
+2.0
279 DNF DNF
1989 Germany Team Sauber Mercedes France Jean-Louis Schlesser
France Alain Cudini
Sauber C9-Mercedes C1 378 5th 5th
1991 France Peugeot Talbot Sport Italy Mauro Baldi
France Philippe Alliot
Peugeot 905 C1 22 DNF DNF
1992 France Peugeot Talbot Sport Italy Mauro Baldi
France Philippe Alliot
Peugeot 905 Evo 1B C1 345 3rd 3rd
1993 France Peugeot Talbot Sport Italy Mauro Baldi
France Philippe Alliot
Peugeot 905 Evo 1B C1 367 3rd 3rd

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 WDC Pts.
1974 Frank Williams Racing Cars Iso-Marlboro FW Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG BRA RSA ESP BEL MON SWE NED FRA
DNQ
GBR GER NC 0
Team Surtees Surtees TS16 AUT
DNQ
ITA CAN USA
1975 Elf Team Tyrrell Tyrrell 007 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG BRA RSA ESP MON BEL SWE NED FRA
12
GBR GER AUT ITA USA NC 0
1977 Equipe Renault Elf Renault RS01 Renault-Gordini EF1 1.5 V6t ARG BRA RSA USW ESP MON BEL SWE FRA GBR
Ret
GER AUT NED
Ret
ITA
Ret
USA
Ret
CAN
DNQ
JPN NC 0
1978 Equipe Renault Elf Renault RS01 Renault-Gordini EF1 1.5 V6t ARG BRA RSA
Ret
USW
Ret
MON
10
BEL
NC
ESP
13
SWE
Ret
FRA
Ret
GBR
Ret
GER
Ret
AUT
Ret
NED
Ret
ITA
Ret
USA
4
CAN
12
17th 3
1979 Equipe Renault Elf Renault RS01 Renault-Gordini EF1 1.5 V6t ARG
Ret
BRA
10
RSA
Ret
USW
DNS
13th 9
Renault RS10 ESP
Ret
BEL
Ret
MON
NC
FRA
1
GBR
Ret
GER
Ret
AUT
Ret
NED
Ret
ITA
14
CAN
Ret
USA
Ret
1980 Equipe Renault Elf Renault RE20 Renault-Gordini EF1 1.5 V6t ARG
Ret
BRA
Ret
RSA
Ret
USW
10
BEL
Ret
MON
Ret
FRA
Ret
GBR
Ret
GER
Ret
AUT
1
NED
Ret
ITA
Ret
CAN
Ret
USA
8th 9
1981 Equipe Talbot Gitanes Ligier JS17 Matra MS81 3.0 V12 USW BRA ARG
DNQ
SMR
NC
BEL
Ret
MON
DNQ
ESP
Ret
FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA CAN CPL NC 0

References

  1. FIA Year Book of Automobile Sport 1976. Patrick Stephens Ltd. white p. 38. ISBN 0-85059-229-1.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Jacques Laffite
European Formula Two
Champion

1976
Succeeded by
René Arnoux
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