Henri Pescarolo

Henri Pescarolo
Born (1942-09-25) 25 September 1942
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality France French
Active years 1968 1974, 1976
Teams Matra, March, Williams, BRM, privateer Surtees
Entries 64 (57 starts)
Championships 0
Wins 0
Podiums 1
Career points 12
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 1
First entry 1968 Canadian Grand Prix
Last entry 1976 United States Grand Prix
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Participating years 1966–1968, 1970–1999
Teams Equipe Matra (Matra-Simca), Scuderia Filipinetti, Ligier, Inaltera, Martini Racing-Porsche, Rondeau, Joest Racing, Kouros Racing Team, Tom Walkinshaw Racing (Silk Cut Jaguar), Konrad Motorsport, Courage Compétition, La Filière Elf, Pescarolo Sport
Best finish 1st (1972, 1973, 1974, 1984)
Class wins 6 (1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1984, 1992)

Henri Jacques William Pescarolo (born 25 September 1942[1]) is a former racing driver from France. He competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans a record 33 times, winning on four occasions, and won a number of other major sports car events including the 24 Hours of Daytona. He also participated in 64 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix,[2] achieving one podium and 12 championship points. Pescarolo also drove in the Dakar Rally in the 1990s, before retiring from racing at the age of 57. In 2000 he set up his eponymous racing team, Pescarolo Sport, which competed in Le Mans until 2013. He wore a distinctive green helmet, and wears a full-face beard that partially covers burns suffered in a crash.

Early career and Formula One

Pescarolo at the 1974 Race of Champions

Pescarolo began his career in 1965 with a Lotus Seven.[3] He was successful enough to be offered a third car in the Matra Formula 3 team for 1966, but the car was not ready until mid-season.[3] However, in 1967 he won the European Championship with Matra and was promoted to Formula 2 for 1968.[3] That season he was team-mate to Jean-Pierre Beltoise and achieved several second places and a win at Albi, which led to him being given a drive in Matra's Formula One team for the last three races of 1968.[3]

His career suffered a setback, in 1969, when he crashed on the Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans whilst testing the Matra sports car.[3] Pescarolo was badly burned and did not compete again until mid-season.[3] He returned at the German GP where he drove a Formula 2 Matra into fifth place winning the small capacity class,[3] in his only Grand Prix race that season.

For 1970 Pescarolo was signed full-time by Matra for their Formula One team and once again as team-mate to Beltoise, put in a solid season with a third place at the Monaco Grand Prix being the high point. He also won the Paris 1000 km and Buenos Aires 1000 km sports car races partnered with Beltoise.[3] Pescarolo was not retained by Matra, and in 1971, 1972, and 1973 with Motul sponsorship, he drove for the fledgling Formula One team run by the young Frank Williams, but with little success.[3] In 1974, Pescarolo drove for BRM, again with Motul backing, but the team's best days were gone and a ninth place in Argentina was his best result in a season with many retirements.[4]

Pescarolo did not compete in Formula One in 1975 but returned to the championship in 1976 with a Surtees privately entered by BS Fabrications. Although neither car nor driver was considered to be competitive, failing to qualify for 2 of 9 Grands Prix entered. Pescarolo did begin to show speed in the final 5 races, event scoring a season's best finish of 9th at the 1976 Austrian Grand Prix.[4]

Post Formula One and sportscars

After Pescarolo's retirement from Formula One, he went on to start his own team, which competed until 2012 in the Le Mans Endurance Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which he won as a driver four times (1972, 1973, 1974 and 1984). His team, Pescarolo Sport, was notably sponsored by Sony's PlayStation 2 and by Gran Turismo 4. During the five years that Pescarolo has campaigned Courage C60 prototypes, so many modifications have been made to the model that Courage allowed the team to name the car after themselves, such was the differences between their model and the standard C60. In 2005, it was developed further still to meet the "hybrid" regulations, before the change to LMP1/2 format.

In 1977,[5] 1978[6] and 1979 Pescarolo drove in Australia's most famous motor race, the Bathurst 1000 for touring cars held at the Mount Panorama Circuit, driving on all three occasions with 1974 race winner John Goss. Unfortunately all races resulted in a DNF for the Goss built Ford XC Falcon GS500 Hardtops, completing only 113 laps (of 163) in 1977, 68 in 1978 and 118 in 1979. The 1977 race saw Pescarolo's Le Mans rival Jacky Ickx win the race in a semi-works Falcon driving with Allan Moffat.

Franck Montagny driving the Pescarolo C60 during practice for the 2006 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Pescarolo holds the record for Le Mans starts with 33 and has won the race on four occasions as a driver.[7] He has yet to win the race as a team owner, coming very close in 2005 with the Pescarolo C60H. His team did manage to win the LMES championship in the same year. His team was also second at Le Mans in 2006, followed by a third in 2007 behind a pair of diesel-powered prototypes.

Pescarolo drove the Dakar Rally in the 1990s, and is also a keen helicopter pilot.[7]

Racing record

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1966 France Matra Sports France Jean-Pierre Jaussaud Matra M620-BRM P
2.0
35 DNF DNF
1967 France Equipe Matra Sports France Jean-Pierre Jaussaud Matra MS630-BRM P
2.0
55 DNF DNF
1968 France Equipe Matra Sports France Johnny Servoz-Gavin Matra MS630 P
3.0
283 DNF DNF
1970 France Equipe Matra-Simca France Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra-Simca MS660 P
3.0
79 DNF DNF
1971 Switzerland Scuderia Filipinetti United Kingdom Mike Parkes Ferrari 512F S
5.0
? DNF DNF
1972 France Equipe Matra-Simca Shell United Kingdom Graham Hill Matra-Simca MS670 S
3.0
344 1st 1st
1973 France Equipe Matra-Simca Shell France Gérard Larrousse Matra-Simca MS670B S
3.0
355 1st 1st
1974 France Equipe Gitanes France Gérard Larrousse Matra-Simca MS670C S
3.0
337 1st 1st
1975 France Gitanes Automobiles Ligier France François Migault Ligier JS2-Ford Cosworth S
3.0
146 DNF DNF
1976 France Inaltera France Jean-Pierre Beltoise Inaltera LM-Ford Cosworth GTP 305 8th 1st
1977 Germany Martini Racing Porsche System Belgium Jacky Ickx Porsche 936/77 S
+2.0
45 DNF DNF
1978 Germany Martini Racing Porsche System Belgium Jacky Ickx
Germany Jochen Mass
Porsche 936/78 S
+2.0
255 DNF DNF
1979 France ITT Oceanic Jean Rondeau France Jean-Pierre Beltoise Rondeau M379-Ford Cosworth S
+2.0
279 10th 2nd
1980 France ITT Jean Rondeau France Jean Ragnotti Rondeau M379-Ford Cosworth S
+2.0
124 DNF DNF
1981 France Oceanic Jean Rondeau France Patrick Tambay Rondeau M379-Ford Cosworth 2
+2.0
41 DNF DNF
1982 France Otis Automobiles Jean Rondeau France Jean Ragnotti
France Jean Rondeau
Rondeau M382-Ford Cosworth C 146 DNF DNF
1983 France Ford France Belgium Thierry Boutsen Rondeau M482-Ford Cosworth C 174 DNF DNF
1984 Germany New-Man Joest Racing Germany Klaus Ludwig Porsche 956B C1 360 1st 1st
1985 Italy Martini Lancia Italy Mauro Baldi Lancia LC2-Ferrari C1 358 7th 7th
1986 Switzerland Kouros Racing Team Germany Christian Danner
Austria Dieter Quester
Sauber C8-Mercedes C1 86 DNF DNF
1987 Switzerland Kouros Racing United Kingdom Mike Thackwell
Japan Hideki Okada
Sauber C9-Mercedes C1 123 DNF DNF
1988 United Kingdom Silk Cut Jaguar
United Kingdom Tom Walkinshaw Racing
United Kingdom John Watson
Brazil Raul Boesel
Jaguar XJR-9LM C1 129 DNF DNF
1989 Germany Joest Racing France Claude Ballot-Léna
France Jean-Louis Ricci
Porsche 962C C1 371 6th 6th
1990 Germany Joest Porsche Racing France Jean-Louis Ricci
France Jacques Laffite
Porsche 962C C1 328 14th 14th
1991 Austria Konrad Motorsport
Germany Joest Porsche Racing
Germany Louis Krages
Germany Bernd Schneider
Porsche 962C C2 197 DNF DNF
1992 France Courage Compétition France Bob Wollek
France Jean-Louis Ricci
Cougar C28LM-Porsche C3 335 6th 1st
1993 Germany Joest Porsche Racing France Bob Wollek
Germany Ronny Meixner
Porsche 962C C2 351 9th 4th
1994 France Courage Compétition France Alain Ferté
France Franck Lagorce
Courage C32LM-Porsche LMP1
C90
142 DNF DNF
1995 France Courage Compétition France Franck Lagorce
France Éric Bernard
Courage C41-Chevrolet WSC 26 DNF DNF
1996 France La Filière Elf France Franck Lagorce
France Emmanuel Collard
Courage C36-Porsche LMP1 327 7th 2nd
1997 France La Filière Elf France Jean-Philippe Belloc
France Emmanuel Clérico
Courage C36-Porsche LMP 319 7th 4th
1998 France Courage Compétition France Olivier Grouillard
France Franck Montagny
Courage C36-Porsche LMP1 304 15th 4th
1999 France Pescarolo Promotion Racing Team France Michel Ferté
France Patrice Gay
Courage C50-Porsche LMP 327 9th 8th

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Yr Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 WDC Points
1968 Matra Sports Matra MS11 Matra V12 RSA ESP MON BEL NED FRA GBR GER ITA CAN
Ret
USA
DNS
MEX
9
NC 0
1969 Matra Sports Matra MS7 (F2) Cosworth Straight-4 RSA ESP MON NED FRA GBR GER
5
ITA CAN USA MEX NC 0
1970 Equipe Matra Elf Matra-Simca MS120 Matra V12 RSA
7
ESP
Ret
MON
3
BEL
6
NED
8
FRA
5
GBR
Ret
GER
6
AUT
14
ITA
Ret
CAN
7
USA
8
MEX
9
12th 8
1971 Frank Williams Racing Cars March 701 Cosworth V8 RSA
11
17th 4
March 711 ESP
Ret
MON
8
NED
13
FRA
Ret
GBR
4
GER
Ret
AUT
6
ITA
Ret
CAN
DNS
USA
Ret
1972 Team Williams Motul March 721 Cosworth V8 ARG
8
RSA
11
ESP
11
MON
Ret
BEL
NC
FRA
DNS
GER
Ret
AUT
DNS
ITA
DNQ
CAN
13
USA
14
NC 0
Politoys FX3 GBR
Ret
1973 STP March Racing Team March 721G/731 Cosworth V8 ARG BRA RSA ESP
8
BEL MON SWE NC 0
Frank Williams Racing Cars Iso-Marlboro IR FRA
Ret
GBR NED GER
10
AUT ITA CAN USA
1974 Motul Team BRM BRM P160E BRM V12 ARG
9
BRA
14
RSA
18
ESP
12
BEL
Ret
MON
Ret
NED
Ret
NC 0
BRM P201 SWE
Ret
FRA
Ret
GBR
Ret
GER
10
AUT ITA
Ret
CAN USA
1976 Team Norev / B&S Fabrications Surtees TS19 Cosworth V8 BRA RSA USW ESP BEL MON
DNQ
SWE FRA
Ret
GBR
Ret
GER
DNQ
AUT
9
NED
11
ITA
17
CAN
19
USA
NC
JPN NC 0

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Henri Pescarolo.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Johnny Servoz-Gavin
French Formula Three
Champion

1967
Succeeded by
François Cevert
Preceded by
Jean-Pierre Beltoise
Monaco Formula Three Support
Race Winner

1967
Succeeded by
Jean-Pierre Jaussaud
Preceded by
Helmut Marko
Gijs van Lennep
Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
1972 with:
Graham Hill
Succeeded by
Henri Pescarolo
Gérard Larrousse
Preceded by
Henri Pescarolo
Graham Hill
Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
1973 and 1974 with:
Gérard Larrousse
Succeeded by
Jacky Ickx
Derek Bell
Preceded by
Vern Schuppan
Al Holbert
Hurley Haywood
Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
1984 with:
Klaus Ludwig
Succeeded by
Klaus Ludwig
Paolo Barilla
Louis Krages

References

  1. Jenkins, Richard. "The World Championship drivers — Where are they now?". OldRacingCars.com. Retrieved 2007-07-29.
  2. Steve Small. The Guinness Complete Grand Prix Who's Who. p. 286. ISBN 0851127029.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Steve Small. The Guinness Complete Grand Prix Who's Who. p. 287. ISBN 0851127029.
  4. 1 2 Steve Small. The Guinness Complete Grand Prix Who's Who. pp. 286–287. ISBN 0851127029.
  5. 1977 Hardie-Ferodo 1000
  6. 1978 Hardie-Ferodo 1000
  7. 1 2 "Henri Pescarolo Profile". GrandPrix.com. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
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