Jean-Pierre Jabouille

Jean-Pierre Jabouille

Jabouille in 2012
Born	(1942-10-01) 1 October 1942
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	French
Active years	1974 - 1975, 1977 - 1981
Teams	Williams, Surtees, Tyrrell, Renault, Ligier
Races	55 (49 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	2
Podiums	2
Career points	21
Pole positions	6
Fastest laps	0
First race	1974 French Grand Prix
First win	1979 French Grand Prix
Last win	1980 Austrian Grand Prix
Last race	1981 Spanish Grand Prix

Jean-Pierre Alain Jabouille^[1] (born October 1, 1942, Paris, France) is a French former racing driver. He raced in 55 Formula One Grands Prix, collecting two wins during the first years of Renault's turbocharged programme in the 1970s. 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 3rd overall finishes in 1973, 1974, 1992 and 1993. Jabouille was one of the last of a breed of Formula One drivers who were also engineers.

Biography

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

Jabouille in 1975

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's 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 Two 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 a Williams 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.

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 persevered, recording several notable qualifying positions in 1978, and landed the marque's first points with 4th place at the United States Grand Prix East.

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. However, a suspension failure in the Canadian Grand Prix 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 wasn't fully fit, failing to qualify for two of his four attempts, at which point he decided to retire from Formula One, and he then became manager of the Ligier/Talbot team in 1982.

Jabouille returned in the mid-1980s to drive in the French Supertouring Championship, before joining Peugeot to help develop their sports car programme at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, culminating in a third place in 1992 and 1993. In 1994 he succeeded Jean Todt as director of Peugeot Sport, but unsuccessful seasons for the marque in association with McLaren and Jordan saw him sacked in 1995. Since then he has run his own sports car team in the ISRS.

Racing record

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

^† Drivers who finished ahead of Jabouille but were ineligible for points so Jabouille scored more points than the position he finished.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1972	Équipe Matra-Simca Shell	David Hobbs	Matra-Simca MS660C	S 3.0	278	DNF	DNF
1973	Équipe Matra-Simca Shell	Jean-Pierre Jaussaud	Matra-Simca MS670B	S 3.0	331	3rd	3rd
1974	Équipe Gitanes	François Migault	Matra-Simca MS670C	S 3.0	324	3rd	3rd
1976	Renault Sport	Patrick Tambay José Dolhem	Renault Alpine A442	S 3.0	135	DNF	DNF
1977	Équipe Renault Elf	Derek Bell	Renault Alpine A442	S +2.0	257	DNF	DNF
1978	Renault Sport	Patrick Depailler	Renault Alpine A443	S +2.0	279	DNF	DNF
1989	Team Sauber Mercedes	Jean-Louis Schlesser Alain Cudini	Sauber C9-Mercedes	C1	378	5th	5th
1991	Peugeot Talbot Sport	Mauro Baldi Philippe Alliot	Peugeot 905	C1	22	DNF	DNF
1992	Peugeot Talbot Sport	Mauro Baldi Philippe Alliot	Peugeot 905 Evo 1B	C1	345	3rd	3rd
1993	Peugeot Talbot Sport	Mauro Baldi Philippe Alliot	Peugeot 905 Evo 1B	C1	367	3rd	3rd

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

References

Renault in Formula One   Équipe Renault Elf (1977–1985) Notable personnel Bernard Dudot Jean Sage Michel Tétu Notable drivers Jean-Pierre Jabouille René Arnoux Alain Prost Eddie Cheever Derek Warwick Patrick Tambay Formula One cars RS01 RS10 RE20 RE20B RE30 RE30B RE30C RE40 RE50 RE60 RE60B Related Renault Renault Sport   Renault F1 Team (2002–2010) Notable personnel Flavio Briatore Pat Symonds James Allison Bob Bell Steve Nielsen Rob White Patrick Faure Dino Toso Éric Boullier Gérard Lopez Notable drivers Jarno Trulli Giancarlo Fisichella Heikki Kovalainen Nelson Piquet Jr. Robert Kubica World Champion(s) Fernando Alonso Drivers' titles 2005 2006 Constructors' titles 2005 2006 Formula One cars R202 R23 R24 R25 R26 R27 R28 R29 R30 Related Renault Renault Sport RF1 Driver Programme   Lotus Renault GP (2011) Notable personnel Éric Boullier James Allison Gérard Lopez Eric Lux Alan Permane Notable drivers Nick Heidfeld Vitaly Petrov Bruno Senna Formula One cars R31 Related Genii Capital Group Lotus LRGP Academy Renault Sport F1   Renault as engine manufacturer Drivers' titles 1992 1993 1995 1996 1997 2005 2006 2010 2011 2012 2013 Constructors' titles 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 2005 2006 2010 2011 2012 2013