Jacques Laffite

Jacques Laffite

Born: November 21, 1943
Age: 80
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Biography

Jacques-Henri Laffite (born in Paris, 21 November 1943) is a French former racing driver who competed in Formula One from 1974 to 1986. He achieved six grand prix wins, all while driving for the Ligier team. He is now a TV commentator on French television TF1.

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Early years

Jacques-Henri Laffite was born in Paris on 21 November 1943, He attended the Cours Hattemer, a private school.

Formula One career

Laffite debuted in Formula One in 1974 for Frank Williams' Iso-Marlboro team. The following year he raced for the same team, now named Williams, scoring a 2nd place in the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring.

In 1976 Laffite moved to the French Ligier team, scoring 20 points and a pole position at the Italian Grand Prix. The next two seasons were transitional, although he managed to win his first Grand Prix at Anderstorp in the 1977 Swedish Grand Prix.

The 1979 season opened with Laffite winning the first two races. He fought for the World Championship title until the last races, but eventually placed only 4th, with 36 points. The following two seasons were similar, with two more 4th places in the Championship and a further 3 victories. In 1982, however, Laffite finished only 17th in the final classification, with only 5 points scored.

During the early 1980s, Laffite also made three end of season trips to Australia to race in the non-championship Australian Grand Prix. He failed to finish his first race 'Down Under' in 1981 (he was lucky to start after his car hit the wall on the outside of the last turn of the short (1.609 km (1.000 mi)) Calder Park Raceway in qualifying, but his local crew were able to repair it for the race). He finished second to fellow Frenchman Alain Prost in 1982, and third behind Brazilian Roberto Moreno and Australian John Smith in 1983. In all of his pre-F1 AGP drives, Laffite drove a Formula Pacific or Formula Mondial Ralt RT4 powered by a 1.6 litre Ford l4 engine.

Results in the next two seasons weren't much better, when he moved back to England, again to race for Williams (11 and 5 points, respectively). Now in his forties, Laffite returned to Ligier in 1985: in that season he was on the podium three times (Great Britain, Germany and Australia), for a total of 16 points. In 1986 he scored 14 points including two more podium finishes in the first half of the season, but he broke both legs in a crash at the start of the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, and thereafter retired from Formula One. The race was stopped and restarted without Laffite, who was thus classified as a non-starter and ended his career tied with Graham Hill for the most Grand Prix starts. He was the most successful driver in Ligier's history, having taken six of their nine wins.

As a result of Laffite's injuries, new safety rules were enforced from the 1988 season that stated that in all cars the driver's feet must be behind the front axle line.

Post-Formula One career

Laffite recovered from his injuries and later raced in touring cars. He is now a television commentator for the French network TF1, best known for his reaction to the incident at the 1997 European Grand Prix in which Michael Schumacher collided with Jacques Villeneuve, and Laffite reacted with curse words on live television.

In October 2008, at the age of 64, he tested a Renault R27 F1 car at the Paul Ricard circuit.

Jacques Laffite, golf enthusiast, is a shareholder of Dijon-Bourgogne Golf.

Deeply attached to the Creuse for Golf Fisheries and nature. It has a property in Creuse near Aubusson

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 Pos Pts
1974 BP Racing France March 742 BMW M12 BAR
HOC
PAU
SAL
HOC
MUG
KAR
PER
HOC
VAL
3rd 31
1975 Écurie Elf Ambrozium Martini Mk 16 BMW M12 EST
THR
HOC
NÜR
PAU
HOC
SAL
ROU
MUG
PER
SIL
ZOL
NOG
VAL
1st 63
1976 Fred Opert Racing Chevron B35 BMW HOC THR VAL SAL PAU
HOC ROU MUG PER EST NOG
0
Willi Kauhsen Racing Team March 762 Hart HOC
1977 Fred Opert Racing Chevron B40 Hart SIL THR HOC
NÜR VAL PAU
MUG ROU NOG
PER MIS EST DON 0
1978 Maublanc Racing Team March 782 BMW THR HOC NÜR PAU
MUG VAL ROU DON 0
Ecurie Univac NOG
PER MIS HOC

† Laffite was ineligible for points, as he already scored points in F1.

Complete Formula One World 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 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 GBR GER
AUT
ITA
CAN
USA
NC 0
1975 Frank Williams Racing Cars Williams FW02 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG
BRA
RSA
ESP 12th 6
Williams FW04 MON
BEL
SWE NED
FRA
GBR
GER
AUT
ITA
USA
1976 Ligier Gitanes Ligier JS5 Matra MS73 3.0 V12 BRA
RSA
USW
ESP
BEL
MON
SWE
FRA
GBR
GER
AUT
NED
ITA
CAN
USA
JPN
7th 20
1977 Ligier Gitanes Ligier JS7 Matra MS76 3.0 V12 ARG
BRA
RSA
USW
ESP
MON
BEL
SWE
FRA
GBR
GER
AUT
NED
ITA
USA
CAN
JPN
10th 18
1978 Ligier Gitanes Ligier JS7 Matra MS76 3.0 V12 ARG
BRA
RSA
USW
BEL
8th 19
Ligier JS9 Matra MS78 3.0 V12 MON
ESP
SWE
FRA
GBR
GER
AUT
NED
ITA
USA
CAN
1979 Ligier Gitanes Ligier JS11 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG
BRA
RSA
USW
ESP
BEL
MON
FRA
GBR
GER
AUT
NED
ITA
CAN
USA
4th 36
1980 Equipe Ligier Gitanes Ligier JS11/15 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG
BRA
RSA
USW
BEL
MON
FRA
GBR
GER
AUT
NED
ITA
CAN
USA
4th 34
1981 Equipe Talbot Gitanes Ligier JS17 Matra MS81 3.0 V12 USW
BRA
ARG
SMR
BEL
MON
ESP
FRA
GBR
GER
AUT
NED
ITA
CAN
CPL
4th 44
1982 Equipe Talbot Gitanes Ligier JS17 Matra MS81 3.0 V12 RSA
BRA
USW
SMR BEL
DET
CAN
17th 5
Ligier JS19 MON
NED
GBR
FRA
GER
AUT
SUI
ITA
CPL
1983 TAG Williams Williams FW08C Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 BRA
USW
FRA
SMR
MON
BEL
DET
CAN
GBR
GER
AUT
NED
ITA
EUR
11th 11
Williams FW09 Honda RA163-E 1.5 V6t RSA
1984 Saudia Williams Honda Williams FW09 Honda RA163E 1.5 V6t BRA
RSA
BEL
SMR
FRA
MON
CAN
DET
DAL
14th 5
Williams FW09B Honda RA164E 1.5 V6t GBR
GER
AUT
NED
ITA
EUR
POR
1985 Equipe Ligier Ligier JS25 Renault EF4B 1.5 V6t BRA
POR
SMR
MON
9th 16
Equipe Ligier Gitanes CAN
DET
FRA
GBR
GER
AUT
NED
ITA
BEL
EUR
RSA AUS
1986 Equipe Ligier Ligier JS27 Renault EF4B 1.5 V6t BRA
ESP
SMR
MON
BEL
CAN
DET
FRA
GBR
GER HUN AUT ITA POR MEX AUS 8th 14

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Class No Tyres Car Team Co-Drivers Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1972 S
3.0
22 Ligier JS2
Maserati 3.0L V6
Automobiles Ligier Pierre Maublanc 195 DNF DNF
1973 S
3.0
62 Ligier JS2
Maserati 3.0L V6
Automobiles Ligier Guy Ligier 24 DSQ DSQ
1974 S
3.0
15 Ligier JS2
Maserati 3.0L V6
Automobiles Ligier Alain Serpaggi 310 8th 5th
1977 S
+2.0
8 Renault Alpine A442
Renault 2.0L Turbo V6
Renault Sport Patrick Depailler 289 DNF DNF
1978 S
+2.0
10 Mirage M9
Renault 2.0L Turbo V6
Grand Touring Cars Inc. Vern Schuppan
Sam Posey
293 10th 5th
1990 C1 6 G Porsche 962C
Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
Joest Porsche Racing Henri Pescarolo
Jean-Louis Ricci
328 14th 14th
1993 GT 71 D Venturi 500LM
Renault PRV 3.0 L Turbo V6
Jacadi Racing Michel Maisonneuve
Christophe Dechavanne
210 DNF DNF
1994 GT2 49 P Porsche 911 Carrera RSR
Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6
Larbre Compétition Jacques Alméras
Jean-Marie Alméras
94 DNF DNF
1996 GT1 38 M McLaren F1 GTR
BMW S70 6.1L V12
Team Bigazzi SRL Steve Soper
Marc Duez
318 11th 9th

[ Source: Wikipedia ]


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