Jean-Pierre Jarier

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Jean-Pierre Jarier
Nationality Flag of France French
World Championship Career
Active years 1971, 1973 - 1983
Team(s) March, Shadow, Penske, Ligier, ATS, Lotus, Tyrrell, Osella
Races 143
Championships 0
Wins 0
Podium finishes    3
Pole positions 3
Fastest laps 3
First race 1971 Italian Grand Prix
Last race 1983 South African Grand Prix

Jean-Pierre Jarier (born July 10, 1946) is a French Grand Prix racing driver, now retired. He was born at Charenton, near Paris.

Following impressive results in Formula France, Jarier moved up to French Formula Three, finishing 3rd overall in 1970, before moving on to the Shell Arnold European Formula Two team in 1971. He peaked with two 3rd places, and also made his Grand Prix debut at Monza when the team rented a March Engineering 701. However, the team dropped him midway through 1972 for financial reasons. For 1973 he signed to the March Engineering Formula Two team, and was also given a Formula One seat by the outfit. Formula One was difficult in the uncompetitive 721G, but Jarier stormed to the Formula Two title with eight wins.

For 1974, he concentrated on Formula One, signing with the Shadow team. He shouldered the responsibility of being team leader following the tragic death of team-mate Peter Revson, finishing 3rd at the Monaco Grand Prix on his way to 14th overall.

1975 began with a bang, as he put the Shadow on pole position for the Argentine Grand Prix, only for a component to break in the warm-up, preventing Jarier from taking the start. He repeated the feat at the Brazilian Grand Prix, and then dominated the race until a fuel metering unit failed, ending his race. Bad luck and poor reliability would curse his season, though the Shadow team fell from the pace as well. His only points-scoring finish would be for 4th place in the shortened Spanish Grand Prix.

Jarier spent a third year with Shadow in 1976, qualifying 3rd and setting fastest lap at the opening Brazilian Grand Prix, before spinning off on James Hunt's oil. However, this was a false dawn, and the car became uncompetitive, Jarier failing to score points.

He switched to the new ATS team in 1977, driving a Penske. He scored a point in his first race for the team, and then had one-off drives for Shadow and Ligier when the German team elected to miss the final races of the year. He would also dabble in sports cars, winning two races in an Alfa Romeo T33 with Arturo Merzario, and coming second at the Le Mans 24 Hours with Vern Schuppan in a Mirage.

His second year at ATS in the in-house HS1, was less successful, and he was fired after an argument with team principal Hans Gunther Schmidt after failing to qualify the car for the Monaco Grand Prix. He was briefly rehired for the German Grand Prix, only to miss the grid again, and again argue with Schmidt, leaving once more. However, at the end of the year he was signed by Team Lotus to take the seat left by Ronnie Peterson's death. He set fastest lap at the United States East Grand Prix, running 3rd before he ran out of fuel, and then took pole and dominated at the Canadian Grand Prix before an oil leak ended his race.

These showings saw him signed by Tyrrell. He was a regular points-scorer over two seasons with the team, his best result being 3rd place at the 1979 British Grand Prix.

He began 1981 with a temporary drive for Ligier, standing in while Jean-Pierre Jabouille returned to fitness, for two races. He then managed to secure a drive with Osella midway through the season, giving some respectable performances for the small, underfunded team.

1982 saw a full season with Osella, with Jarier securing the team's best ever finish with 4th at the San Marino Grand Prix (which was boycotted by the majority of British teams). While the rest of the year would be difficult, Jarier was instrumental in keeping the team's morale up following the death of Riccardo Paletti at the Canadian Grand Prix. The following year saw a full season with Ligier, but after a good run at Long Beach ended with a collision with Keke Rosberg, he seemed to lose hope, and finished the season without points.

Following this, Jarier retired from motorsport, but was tempted back to drive in the Porsche Supercup in 1994. This led to several sports car drives, winning the 1998 and 1999 French GT Championships. Jarier introduced himself to a new generation by contributing major stunt work to the film Ronin, directed by John Frankenheimer who also directed the 1966 classic, Grand Prix.

[edit] Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Yr Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Team WDC Points
1971 March SAF
SPA
MON
DUT
FRA
GBR
DEU
AUT
ITA
NC
CAN
USA
March - -
1973 March ARG
Ret
BRA
Ret
SAF
NC
SPA
BEL
Ret
MON
Ret
SWE
Ret
FRA
Ret
GBR
DUT
DEU
AUT
Ret
ITA
CAN
NC
USA
11
March - -
1974 Shadow ARG
Ret
BRA
Ret
SAF
SPA
Ret
BEL
13
MON
3
SWE
5
DUT
Ret
FRA
12
GBR
Ret
DEU
8
AUT
8
ITA
Ret
CAN
Ret
USA
10
Shadow 14 6
1975 Shadow ARG
DNS
BRA
Ret
SAF
Ret
SPA
4
MON
Ret
BEL
Ret
SWE
Ret
DUT
Ret
FRA
8
GBR
14
DEU
Ret
AUT
Ret
ITA
Ret
USA
Ret
Shadow 18 1.5
1976 Shadow BRA
Ret
SAF
Ret
SAW
7
SPA
Ret
BEL
9
MON
8
SWE
12
FRA
12
GBR
9
DEU
11
AUT
Ret
DUT
10
ITA
19
CAN
18
USA
10
JPN
10
Shadow - -
1977 Penske ARG
BRA
SAF
SAW
6
SPA
DNQ
MON
11
BEL
11
SWE
8
FRA
Ret
GBR
9
DEU
Ret
AUT
14
DUT
Ret
ITA
Ret
USA
9
CAN
JPN
Ret
Ligier 20 1
1978 ATS ARG
12
BRA
DNS
SAF
8
SAW
11
MON
DNQ
BEL
SPA
SWE
FRA
GBR
DEU
DNQ
AUT
DUT
ITA
USA
15
CAN
Ret
Lotus - -
1979 Tyrrell ARG
Ret
BRA
Ret
SAF
3
SAW
6
SPA
5
BEL
11
MON
Ret
FRA
5
GBR
3
DEU
AUT
DUT
Ret
ITA
6
CAN
Ret
USA
Ret
Tyrrell 12 14
1980 Tyrrell ARG
Ret
BRA
12
SAF
7
SAW
Ret
BEL
5
MON
Ret
FRA
Ret
GBR
5
DEU
15
AUT
Ret
DUT
5
ITA
13
CAN
7
USA
NC
Tyrrell 13 6
1981 Ligier SAW
Ret
BRA
7
ARG
RSM
BEL
MON
ESP
FRA
GBR
8
DEU
8
AUT
10
DUT
Ret
ITA
9
CAN
Ret
LAS
Ret
Osella - -
1982 Osella SAF
Ret
BRA
9
SAW
Ret
RSM
4
BEL
Ret
MON
DNQ
SAE
Ret
CAN
WD
DUT
14
GBR
Ret
FRA
Ret
DEU
Ret
AUT
DNQ
SWI
Ret
ITA
Ret
LAS
DNS
Osella 20 3
1983 Ligier BRA
Ret
SAW
Ret
FRA
9
SMR
Ret
MON
Ret
BEL
Ret
SAE
Ret
CAN
Ret
GBR
10
GER
8
AUT
7
DUT
Ret
ITA
9
EUR
Ret
SAF
10
Ligier - -
Preceded by
Mike Hailwood
European Formula Two Champion
1973
Succeeded by
Patrick Depailler