 Ligier in 2014 | |
| Born | (1930-07-12)12 July 1930 Vichy,Allier, France |
|---|---|
| Died | 23 August 2015(2015-08-23) (aged 85) Nevers,Nièvre, France |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  French |
| Active years | 1966 –1967 |
| Teams | privateerCooper, privateerBrabham |
| Entries | 13 (12 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Careerpoints | 1 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1966 Monaco Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1967 Mexican Grand Prix |
Guy Camille Ligier (French pronunciation:[ɡika.mijli.ʒje]; 12 July 1930 – 23 August 2015) was a French racing driver and team owner. He maintained many varied and successful careers over the course of his life, including rugby player, butcher, racing driver andFormula One team owner.
Ligier is the father of Philippe and Pascale Ligier and the grand father of Etienne Ligier former French motorsport hopeful.
The son of a farmer, Ligier was orphaned at 7 years of age. He left school in his mid-teens and went to work as a butcher's assistant in his home town ofVichy.[1][2]
Athletic and competitive, Ligier became a Frenchrowing champion in 1947. He also had a passion for rugby and was good enough to play for the French Army during National Service earning a place on the French national B team.[1] His rugby career was cut short due to injuries.[3]
Determined to become successful, Ligier saved all of the money he earned working as a butcher to fund his aspirations. In 1960, he rented a backhoe and, a short time later, bought a bulldozer of his own and went into the construction business.[4]
With help from Pierre Coulon, Vichy's Mayor, Ligier founded the public works company "Ligier Travaux Publics".[4] With motorway construction booming in France, Ligier was able to rapidly expand his business. By 1961, he had 1200 employees and 500 machines and had also diversified into bridges, dams and development. During this period, his business contacts allowed him to make important friends in (then) local politiciansFrançois Mitterrand andPierre Bérégovoy.[1]
When his rugby career ended, Ligier switched to racing but on motorcycles. He would win the French Motorbike Championship in the 500cc class riding a Norton Manx "LA" in 1959 and in 1960.
Ligier made an early foray into auto racing with aSimca 1300 at the 1957 Parisian Salon Cups inMontlhéry, but it was in 1960 that he first tried his hand at single-seater racing with aFormula JuniorElva-DKW, which he drove at Monaco and Montlhéry.[5][6][7]
By 1964, Ligier was racingPorsche sportscars as part ofAuguste Veuillet's team, starting with a356 and then a904 Carrera GTS, in which he placed seventh withRobert Buchet at the1964 24 Hours of Le Mans.[8] That same year, Ford France signed Ligier to drive one of two Formula 2 Brabham BT6 cars. These were year-old models, but one would be replaced by a newerBrabhamBT10 during the season. Ligier's teammate wasJo Schlesser.[4] Ligier finished fifth in his debut at Enna-Pergusa.[9] So at the relatively late age of 34 Ligier began his "real" career as a driver.[4]
In 1965, Ligier won the 24th Grand Prix de Albi Sports in aGT40 for Ford.[10] In 1966 he droveShelby Mustang GT350 chassis 5R209 rented toMartial Delalande to a second-place finish in the 14th "Rallye des Routes du Nord".[11][12]
Ligier broke into Formula One as aprivateer, entering his ownCooper-MaseratiT81 in the1966 Monaco Grand Prix.[13] In five starts with this car he either ran unclassified or out of the points. That year he and Schlesser also joined forces to become the exclusive importer of Ford-Shelby products to France.[14][15]
Teaming with Schlesser in a Ford France GT40 again that year produced good results – a fifth-place finish at theNürburgring 1000 km.[16] Although his year was ended by a knee broken while practicing for the German GP, things could have been worse. Following the crash doctors had wanted to amputate and it was only through the intervention of Schlesser that the leg was saved.[4]
In 1967, Ligier fielded another car of his own, aBrabham-RepcoBT20, in theBritish Grand Prix. His (effective) sixth-place finish in Germany produced the only championship point of his F1 career.[16] Ligier also won the 12 Hours of Reims when sharing aGT40 Mk IIB with Schlesser.[17]
In 1968, Ligier drove a Ford Escort TC in the Coupes de Vitesse. That was the same year that Ford France was winding down its motorsports involvement, so Ligier partnered with Schlesser andJosé Behra to launch Ecurie InterSport with a pair ofMcLarenFormula 2 cars.[18][19] Schlesser was killed that year in his Formula One debut at theFrench Grand Prix while at the wheel of the magnesium-bodied air-cooledHonda RA302 Formula One car.[20] The shocking loss of his friend prompts Ligier to retire from racing.
Ligier had one outing in a Ford Escort TC in the 1969 Coupes de l'ACIF, but he returned to regular competition in 1970 for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a car bearing his own name, theLigier JS1, and continued to participate in various endurance races with his own cars until 1974.[16]
In total, Ligier participated in thirteen Grand Prix Formula 1 races, getting one point in the drivers' world championship with an eighth-place finish in the German Grand Prix in 1966 due to the two finishers in front of him being F2 cars, and so ineligible for F1 points.[21]
In 1968, Ligier established "Ligier Cars" to build his own sports-racing cars in fulfillment of the dream that he and former teammate, business partner and close friend, the late Jo Schlesser had shared to build a "good car".[22] Ligier hiredMichel Têtu to design the cars, and the first car produced was theJS1 prototype, the "JS" in this and all subsequent names being a tribute to Schlesser. Only three JS1s were built before production switched to its successor, theJS2.
TheJS3 racing prototype was actually built in the time between the JS1 and JS2. Following limited success in the sports-racing field Ligier turned his attention to Formula 1 when he bought the assets ofEquipe Matra Sports. With the experienced team, including designer Gerard Ducarouge and the Matra V12 engine Ligier formedÉquipe Ligier in 1976.[23] The team became successful in the early 1980s with driversJacques Laffite,Patrick Depailler andDidier Pironi.
In 1981, Ligier's old friend François Mitterrand became President of France. When Ligier ran into trouble in 1983 the President ordered that government-owned companies such asElf,Gitanes and Loto should supply sponsorship.[24] Ligier also had preferential treatment when it came to engines, political pressure being applied toRenault to force the company to supply the team, which used Renault engines from 1984 to 1986 and from 1992 to 1994. However, this did not always give them the latest and greatest of the available Renault engines. Due to exclusive contracts withLotus during the original turbo era (1977-1988) and withWilliams in the 3.5L era (1989-1994), Ligier usually only got the previous year's engines to race, though with the demise of the Renault factory team after1985, Ligier would (from about halfway through the season) get the newest engines along with Lotus in1986.
The Ligier-Mitterrand-Bérégovoy alliance reached its peak in the early 1990s with the reconstruction of theMagny-Cours racing circuit as a new headquarters for Ligier and as a racing circuit to host the French Grand Prix. President Mitterrand and Prime Minister Bérégovoy backed the idea.[25]
At the 1996 Grand Prix of Monaco, driverOlivier Panis won the ninth and final Formula 1 victory for Ligier.[26]
Equipe Ligier managed to contest 326 Grand Prix races, make 50 podiums appearances, notch nine victories, claim second place in the 1980 World Championship and build over 20 Formula 1 cars.[27] It was also home to an illustrious list of drivers over the eighteen years that it competed under the Ligier name.
Following the demise of theMonica car company in 1975, Ligier purchased the French assets and remaining unassembled vehicles.[28] Ligier did not resume production of the Monica.
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Having built a variety of sports-racing and Formula 1 cars, Ligier began to diversify his automobile company in the 1980s. Beginning with tractor cabs, the Ligier Group later began production of "voitures sans permis" or "voiturettes", a class of microcar in France that may be driven without an operator's license, with the release of theLigier JS4.[29] The two-door JS4 has a nearly cubic steel monococque and a glass rear door, and was originally equipped with a 49 ccMotobécane engine.[30] It was short and quite wide, reflecting recent legal changes allowing "voitures sans permis" to seat two rather than just one.[30]
In 1992, Ligier realized that the socialist government would not last forever and sold his team toCyril de Rouvre (The team was sold again in 1994 toFlavio Briatore).[25] Ligier used the money from the sale to corner the market in natural fertilizer in central France and set about building another fortune.[24]
Within a few months Mitterrand'sSocialist Party experienced a major loss in theelections and Bérégovoy committed suicide on 1 May 1993.[31] Ligier remained involved with the old Formula 1 team in an ambassadorial role until it was sold yet again, this time toAlain Prost in February 1997 and renamedProst Grand Prix.[32]
In 2004, Ligier acquired a majority shareholding inAutomobiles Martini, adding his "Ligier JS" naming to new models such as the Ligier JS49, JS51 and JS53.[33]
The name Ligier returned to the motor racing spotlight in 2014 whenJacques Nicolet'sOnroak Automotive began building cars.[34] Some were campaigned by Nicolet's ownOAK Racing, which fielded aLigier JS P2 prototype running inFIA World Endurance Championship and24 Hours of Le Mans with Nicolet andJean-Marc Merlin driving.
Ligier's son had also become a constructor of Formula 3 cars.[35]
Following his death on 23 August 2015 in Nevers, his funeral took place at the church of St. Blaise de Vichy on 28 August 2015.[22][36][37][38]
Ligier was survived by his wife and their two children, son Philippe and daughter Pascale.[39]
Member/Chevalier of theLegion of Honour.[40][41]
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Auguste Veuillet | Robert Buchet | Porsche 904/4 GTS | GT 2.0 | 323 | 7th | 1st |
| 1965 | Ford France S.A. | Maurice Trintignant | Ford GT40 | P 5.0 | 11 | DNF | DNF |
| 1966 | Ford France S.A. |  Bob Grossman | Ford GT40 | S 5.0 | 205 | DNF | DNF |
| 1967 | Ford France S.A. | Jo Schlesser | Ford Mk IIB | P +5.0 | 183 | DNF | DNF |
| 1970 | Automobiles Ligier | Jean-Claude Andruet | Ligier JS1-FordCosworth | P 2.0 | 65 | DNF | DNF |
| 1971 | Automobiles Ligier | Patrick Depailler | Ligier JS3-FordCosworth | P 3.0 | 270 | NC | NC |
| 1972 | Automobiles Ligier | Jean-François Piot | Ligier JS2-Maserati | S 3.0 | 7 | DNF | DNF |
| 1973 | Automobiles Ligier | Jacques Laffite | Ligier JS2-Maserati | S 3.0 | 24 | DSQ | DSQ |
Source:[42] | |||||||
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | WDC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Guy Ligier | CooperT81 | Maserati 9/F1 3.0V12 | MON NC | BEL NC | FRA NC | GBR 10 | NED 9 | GER DNS | ITA | USA | MEX | NC | 0 | ||
| 1967 | Guy Ligier | CooperT81 | Maserati 9/F1 3.0V12 | RSA | MON | NED | BEL 10 | FRA NC | 19th | 1 | ||||||
| BrabhamBT20 | Repco 620 3.0 V8 | GBR 10 | GER 81 | CAN | ITA Ret | USA Ret | MEX 11 | |||||||||
Source:[43] | ||||||||||||||||
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Guy Ligier | CooperT81 | Maserati 9/F1 3.0V12 | RSA | SYR NC | INT DNS | OUL | ||
| 1967 | Guy Ligier | CooperT81 | Maserati 9/F1 3.0V12 | ROC DNS | SPR | INT Ret | SYR | OUL | ESP |
Source:[44] | |||||||||
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Ecurie Inter-Sport | McLarenM4A | Ford | HOC Ret | THR 8 | JAR Ret | PAL DNS | TUL | ZAN | PER | HOC | VAL | NC | 0 |
Source:[44] | ||||||||||||||
