Jean-Pierre Jabouille

Jean-Pierre Alain Jabouille (1 October 1942 – 2 February 2023) was a French racing driver and engineer, who competed in Formula One from Template:F1 to Template:F1. Jabouille won two Formula One Grands Prix across seven seasons.

Jabouille raced in 55 Formula One Grands Prix, collecting two wins during the first years of Renault's turbocharged programme in the late 1970s and early 1980s. 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 third-place overall finishes in 1973, 1974, 1992, and 1993.

Early and personal life

Jean-Pierre Alain Jabouille was born on 1 October 1942 in Paris, then occupied by Nazi Germany.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Career

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

Jabouille in 2012

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 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 neo 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 an Iso–Marlboro 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

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, who was an engineer by trade persevered and developed the RS01 throughout, recording several notable qualifying positions in 1978, and landed the marque's first points with 4th place at the United States Grand Prix East at Watkins Glen, a circuit particularly tough on fuel consumption- one of the Renault turbo's biggest weaknesses.

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. A suspension failure in the Canadian Grand Prix caused a sizeable accident, which 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 was not fully fit, failing to qualify for two of his four attempts, at which point he decided to retire from Formula One. Subsequently, he stayed with Ligier and became team manager in 1982. In 1984 he transferred to Ligier's joint entry with Curb Racing in the 1984 CART series, as team manager.

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 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. Following that, he ran his own sports car team in the ISRS.

Death

Jabouille died on 2 February 2023 at the age of 80.<ref name="MotorsportDeath">Template:Cite news</ref>

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
1968	European Formula Two	Matra Sports	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	24 Hours of Le Mans	Société des Automobiles Alpine	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1969	24 Hours of Le Mans	Société des Automobiles Alpine	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1970	European Formula Two	Constructions Mécaniques Pygmée	2	0	0	0	0	2	16th
	24 Hours of Le Mans	Equipe Matra-Simca	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
1971	European Formula Two	Equipe Tecno Elf	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1972	European Formula Two	Elf John Coombs	8	0	0	0	1	7	14th
	24 Hours of Le Mans	Équipe Matra-Simca Shell	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
1973	European Formula Two	Elf John Coombs	5	0	0	0	0	3	24th
	24 Hours of Le Mans	Équipe Matra-Simca Shell	1	0	0	0	1	N/A	3rd
1974	European Formula Two	Ecurie Elf	7	1	1	3	3	20	4th
	World Sportscar Championship	Équipe Gitanes	2	0	0	0	1	0	NC
	Formula One	Frank Williams Racing Cars	0	0	0	0	0	0	NC
		Team Surtees	0	0	0	0	0
1975	European Formula Two	Ecurie Elf	13	1	1	3	3	24	5th
	World Sportscar Championship	Elf Alpine-Renault	4	1	2	1	2	0	NC
	Formula One	Elf Team Tyrrell	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1976	European Formula Two	Ecurie Elf	12	3	4	1	6	53	1st
	World Sportscar Championship	Elf Alpine-Renault	4	0	0	0	1	0	NC
	24 Hours of Le Mans	Renault Sport	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
1977	Formula One	Equipe Renault Elf	4	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	24 Hours of Le Mans	Équipe Renault Elf	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
1978	Formula One	Equipe Renault Elf	14	0	0	0	0	3	17th
	24 Hours of Le Mans	Equipe Renault Elf Sport Calberson	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	4th
		Equipe Renault Elf Sport						N/A	DNF
1979	Formula One	Equipe Renault Elf	14	1	4	0	1	9	13th
1980	Formula One	Equipe Renault Elf	13	1	2	0	1	9	8th
1981	Formula One	Equipe Talbot Gitanes	3	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1987	World Touring Car Championship	Bastos Racing Team	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1989	24 Hours of Le Mans	Team Sauber Mercedes	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	5th
1990	World Sportscar Championship	Peugeot Talbot Sport	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1991	24 Hours of Le Mans	Peugeot Talbot Sport	1	0	1	0	0	N/A	DNF
1992	24 Hours of Le Mans	Peugeot Talbot Sport	1	0	1	0	1	N/A	3rd
1993	24 Hours of Le Mans	Peugeot Talbot Sport	1	0	1	0	1	N/A	3rd
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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	Template:Tooltip	Pts
Template:F2	Matra Sports	Matra MS7	Cosworth FVA	HOC	THR	JAR	PAL	TUL	ZAN	PER	HOC Template:Small	VAL									NC	0
Template:F2	Constructions Mécaniques Pygmée	Pygmée MDB15	Cosworth FVA	THR Template:Small	HOC	BAR Template:Small	ROU Template:Tooltip	PER Template:Tooltip	TUL	IMO Template:Small	HOC Template:Small										16th	2
Template:F2	Equipe Tecno Elf	Tecno TF71	Ford BDA	HOC Template:Small	THR	NÜR	JAR Template:Small	PAL Template:Small	ROU Template:Tooltip	MAN	TUL	ALB Template:Small	VLL	VLL							NC	0
Template:F2	Elf John Coombs	March 722	Ford BDA	MAL Template:Small	THR	HOC						IMO Template:Small	MAN Template:Small	PER Template:Small							14th	7
		Alpine A367					PAU Template:Tooltip	PAL	HOC	ROU Template:Small	ÖST Template:Small				SAL Template:Small	ALB Template:Small	HOC Template:Tooltip
Template:F2	Elf John Coombs	Alpine A367	Ford BDA	MAL	HOC	THR Template:Small	NÜR Template:Small	PAU	KIN	NIV	HOC	ROU Template:Small	MNZ	MAN Template:Small	KAR	PER Template:Small	SAL	NOR	ALB Template:Tooltip	VLL	24th	3
Template:F2	Ecurie Elf	Alpine A367	BMW	BAR Template:Small	HOC	PAU Template:Small	SAL Template:Small	HOC Template:Small	MUG Template:Small	KAR	PER	HOC Template:Small	VLL Template:Small								4th	20
Template:F2	Ecurie Elf	Elf 2J	BMW	EST Template:Small	THR Template:Small	HOC Template:Small	NÜR Template:Small	PAU Template:Small	HOC Template:Small	SAL Template:Small	ROU Template:Small	MUG Template:Small	PER Template:Small	SIL Template:Small	ZOL Template:Small	NOG Template:Small	VLL				5th	24
Template:F2	Ecurie Elf	Elf 2J	Renault	HOC Template:Small	THR Template:Small	VLL Template:Small	SAL Template:Small	PAU Template:Tooltip	HOC Template:Tooltip	ROU Template:Small	MUG Template:Small	PER Template:Small	EST Template:Small	NOG Template:Small	HOC Template:Small						1st	53
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24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Template:Tooltip	Template:Tooltip
1968	Template:Flagicon Société des Automobiles Alpine	Template:Flagicon Jean Guichet	Alpine A220-Renault-Gordini	P 3.0	185	DNF	DNF
1969	Template:Flagicon Société des Automobiles Alpine	Template:Flagicon Patrick Depailler	Alpine A220/69-Renault-Gordini	P 3.0	209	DNF	DNF
1970	Template:Flagicon Equipe Matra-Simca	Template:Flagicon Patrick Depailler Template:Flagicon Tim Schenken	Matra-Simca MS650	P 3.0	70	DNF	DNF
1972	Template:Flagicon Équipe Matra-Simca Shell	Template:Flagicon David Hobbs	Matra-Simca MS660C	S 3.0	278	DNF	DNF
1973	Template:Flagicon Équipe Matra-Simca Shell	Template:Flagicon Jean-Pierre Jaussaud	Matra-Simca MS670B	S 3.0	331	3rd	3rd
1974	Template:Flagicon Équipe Gitanes	Template:Flagicon François Migault	Matra-Simca MS670C	S 3.0	324	3rd	3rd
1976	Template:Flagicon Renault Sport	Template:Flagicon Patrick Tambay Template:Flagicon José Dolhem	Renault Alpine A442	S 3.0	135	DNF	DNF
1977	Template:Flagicon Équipe Renault Elf	Template:Flagicon Derek Bell	Renault Alpine A442	S +2.0	257	DNF	DNF
1978	Template:Flagicon Equipe Renault Elf Sport Calberson	Template:Flagicon Guy Fréquelin Template:Flagicon Jean Ragnotti Template:Flagicon José Dolhem	Renault Alpine A442A	S +2.0	358	4th	4th
	Template:Flagicon Equipe Renault Elf Sport	Template:Flagicon Patrick Depailler	Renault Alpine A443	S +2.0	279	DNF	DNF
1989	Template:Flagicon Team Sauber Mercedes	Template:Flagicon Jean-Louis Schlesser Template:Flagicon Alain Cudini	Sauber C9-Mercedes	C1	378	5th	5th
1991	Template:Flagicon Peugeot Talbot Sport	Template:Flagicon Mauro Baldi Template:Flagicon Philippe Alliot	Peugeot 905	C1	22	DNF	DNF
1992	Template:Flagicon Peugeot Talbot Sport	Template:Flagicon Mauro Baldi Template:Flagicon Philippe Alliot	Peugeot 905 Evo 1B	C1	345	3rd	3rd
1993	Template:Flagicon Peugeot Talbot Sport	Template:Flagicon Mauro Baldi Template:Flagicon Philippe Alliot	Peugeot 905 Evo 1B	C1	367	3rd	3rd
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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 Template:Small	GBR	GER							NC	0
	Team Surtees	Surtees TS16													AUT Template:Small	ITA	CAN	USA
1975	Elf Team Tyrrell	Tyrrell 007	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	SWE	NED	FRA Template:Small	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	USA				NC	0
1977	Equipe Renault Elf	Renault RS01	Renault-Gordini EF1 1.5 V6 t	ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	ESP	MON	BEL	SWE	FRA	GBR Template:Small	GER	AUT	NED Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	USA Template:Small	CAN Template:Small	JPN	NC	0
1978	Equipe Renault Elf	Renault RS01	Renault-Gordini EF1 1.5 V6 t	ARG	BRA	RSA Template:Small	USW Template:Small	MON Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	ESP Template:Small	SWE Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	GER Template:Small	AUT Template:Small	NED Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	USA Template:Small	CAN Template:Small		17th	3
1979	Equipe Renault Elf	Renault RS01	Renault-Gordini EF1 1.5 V6 t	ARG Template:Small	BRA Template:Small	RSA Template:Small	USW Template:Small														13th	9
		Renault RS10						ESP Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	MON Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	GER Template:Small	AUT Template:Small	NED Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	CAN Template:Small	USA Template:Small
1980	Equipe Renault Elf	Renault RE20	Renault-Gordini EF1 1.5 V6 t	ARG Template:Small	BRA Template:Small	RSA Template:Small	USW Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	MON Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	GER Template:Small	AUT Template:Small	NED Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	CAN Template:Small	USA				8th	9
1981	Equipe Talbot Gitanes	Ligier JS17	Matra MS81 3.0 V12	USW	BRA	ARG Template:Small	SMR Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	MON Template:Small	ESP Template:Small	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	CAN	CPL			NC	0
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External links

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