Ligier JS11

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The Ligier JS11 was a successful ground effect car designed by Gerard Ducarouge. It was powered by the Ford Cosworth DFV married to a Ligier in-house buiilt gearbox. It competed in the 1979 and 1980 world championships and proved to be very competitive.

Driven by Jacques Laffite, the car won the first two races of the 1979 season, and was thought by many to be a championship winner until Ferrari introduced its 312T4 chassis. Even so, the Ligiers stayed in contention throught the season, with Patrick Depailler winning a further race in Spain. The team eventually finished third behind Ferrari and Williams in the constructors' championship.

For 1980, the JS11 was updated with improved aerodynamics, and the team took on Didier Pironi in place of Depailler. Again the car was fast and competitive, but the Brabham BT49 and the Williams FW07 proved to be the cars to beat, with Alan Jones taking the world championship. Even so, the team still scored two wins, and would surely have taken more but for several suspension and tyre faliures in the mid season. This was due to the immense pressure exerted on the suspension arms and the wheels by the ground effect, which caused them to splinter and crack under hard braking. This effectively cost Ligier the chance to fight with Williams and Brabham for both titles.

The team finished second in the constructors' championship in 1980 ahead of Brabham, and the JS11 evolved into the JS17 for 1981. The JS11 was used as a primary test car for Michelin to experiment with their tyres.

In all the JS11 took five wins, seven pole positions and scored 127 points in its career.

[edit] Media

The JS11 was made famous in the cartoon The Transformers as the Autobot Mirage.

Ligier
Formula One cars: JS5 | JS7 | JS9 | JS11 | JS11/15 | JS17 | JS17B | JS19 | JS21 | JS23 | JS25 | JS27 | JS29B | JS29C | JS31 | JS33 | JS33B | JS35B | JS37 | JS39 | JS39B | JS41 | JS43