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Érik Comas | |
|---|---|
 Comas at the2005 24 Hours of Le Mans | |
| Born | Érik Gilbert Comas (1963-09-28)28 September 1963 (age 62) Romans-sur-Isère, Drôme, France |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  French |
| Active years | 1991–1994 |
| Teams | Ligier,Larrousse |
| Entries | 63 (59 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Careerpoints | 7 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1991 United States Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1994 Japanese Grand Prix |
| Super GT career | |
| Years active | 1995–2006 |
| Teams | Cerumo,TOM'S,Nismo,Hasemi,Kondo |
| Starts | 80 |
| Championships | 2 (1998,1999) |
| Wins | 6 |
| Podiums | 23 |
| Poles | 3 |
| Fastest laps | 7 |
| Best finish | 1st in1998,1999(GT500) |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
| Years | 1995,1997–1999,2002,2004–2006 |
| Teams | Larbre,Nismo,Oreca,Pescarolo |
| Best finish | 2nd(2005) |
| Class wins | 0 |
Érik Gilbert Comas (French:[e.ʁikkɔ.mas]; born 28 September 1963) is a French formerracing driver, who competed inFormula One from1991 to1994. InJapanese motorsport, Comas won theAll-Japan GT Championship in1998 and1999 withNismo.
He won theFrench Formula Three Championship in 1988, before winningInternational Formula 3000 in1990, after finishing runner-up toJean Alesi oncount-back in1989. He participated in 63Formula One Grands Prix between 1991 and 1994, scoring a total of seven championship points. His last point, in the1994 German Grand Prix, was also the last one for theLarrousse team. After his Formula One career, he won theAll-Japan GT Championship forNismo in the top GT500 class in1998 and1999, and finished runner-up at the24 Hours of Le Mans in2005 withPescarolo.
After his F3000 championship victory in 1990, Comas was selected to drive for the Ligier F1 team in1991. TheLigier JS35 with itsLamborghini engine proved uncompetitive throughout the season. Comas failed to qualify for the race on his first attempt inBrazil, achieved his first finish with 10th atImola, and achieved his highest finish of the season with eighth inCanada, scoring no points during the season. Although he failed to qualify on two other occasions and suffered a spectacular crash atHockenheim, he generally compared well with more experienced teammateThierry Boutsen who also failed to score any points. Early in 1992, Comas's place in the team was briefly threatened byAlain Prost who tested the team's newRenault-powered car with a view to driving for, and possibly buying the team, with Comas revealing years later that he had not been given any testing mileage during the winter.[1] Ultimately Prost chose not to proceed, and Comas retained his drive alongside Boutsen for the season. The 1992 car, theLigier JS37 seemed promising, a brand new design featuring the race-winning Renault V10 engine, but it proved to be only inconsistently competitive. Comas scored his first career F1 point with sixth place inCanada, scored fifth at Ligier's home race inFrance and a further point inGermany during a mid-season revival of the team's fortunes. With four points, he was generally faster than and outscored Boutsen, and finished eleventh in theDriver's Championship. At the1992 Belgian Grand Prix Comas was involved in a severe accident at the Blanchimont corner during Saturday qualifying. Left unconscious in his car beached in the middle of the track with the engine still running at its rev limiter, Comas was rescued byAyrton Senna who stopped his own car and ran to help Comas, by shutting off the car's screaming engine (which was still pumping fuel and could have blown at any moment starting a fire), and holding the Frenchman's head in a stable position until medical assistance arrived.[2] Comas credited Senna with saving his life.
Comas was not retained by Ligier for1993; he instead signed with the smallLarrousse team, running theLH93 chassis powered byLamborghini V12s. The car was uncompetitive, Comas retiring from half the sixteen races of the season, and scoring only one point for sixth atMonza.
Retained by Larrousse in1994, Comas drove theLH94 car, now powered by more reliableFord HB engines. Comas scored a point for sixth at thePacific Grand Prix, and benefited from the retirement of many other cars to take another point atHockenheim. This was both his and Larrousse's final F1 points finish. For the last race of the season inAustralia, Comas relinquished his seat to make way forJean-Denis Delétraz who brought more funding to the team.
At the1994 San Marino Grand Prix due to a radio miscommunication Comas was released onto the track during the red flag after Senna had crashed, arriving at the Tamburello corner where he met the workers and vehicles, including an aid helicopter which had landed at the scene. Having had to brake hard to avoid hitting either marshals, their vehicles, or the helicopter Comas declined to participate in the restart of the race, after witnessing medical staff treating the mortally-injured Senna.[1]
After ending hisFormula One career at the end of the 1994 season, Comas went toJapan to continue his racing career in theAll-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC), Japan's premiere racing series. He won the GT500 title in 1998 and 1999, and was runner-up in the standings in 2000, all three years driving forNissan in a factoryNismo-preparedSkyline GT-R. He left the Nismo team in 2002 to join the factoryToyota team the following year. By the end of the 2003 season, he was the most successful driver in the history of the series, with the most career championship points ever scored by a single driver. This was eventually surpassed by another Nismo driver,Satoshi Motoyama.
Comas spent the 2004/2005 seasons withMasahiro Hasemi's privateer Hasemi Sport team, running non-factoryNissan 350Zs in GT500, including inheriting the team's only win (co-driving withToshihiro Kaneishi) thus far, on the evening of 18 December 2004 at the "All-Star 200" exhibition race onCalifornia Speedway's combined oval/road course after the unofficial winners were penalized sixty seconds on their finishing time for a pit window infraction. The race was a non-points scoring event and as such does not count towards the drivers' or teams' official win record.
In the 2006Super GT championship season (formerly JGTC) he raced for former JGTC driver and24 Hours of Le Mans team ownerMasahiko Kondo's new privateerNissan 350Z racing team. He also branched out into rallying, competing in various events around the world. Along with this, he created Comas Racing Management (CRM), a firm that focuses on the management and development of young up and coming drivers, primarily from his home country of France.
At the fifth race of the 2006 season atSportsland SUGO, Comas was replaced bySeiji Ara due to ill health.[3] After returning for the Pokka 1000 km, on 5 September 2006, Comas announced that because of his health, he would not compete in the final three races of the season.[4]
In 2010 and 2011, Comas won theelectric vehicle category of theRallye Monte Carlo des Véhicules à Énergie Alternative (the opening event of theFIA Alternative Energies Cup) with aTesla Roadster.[5] In 2014 he won theCarrera Panamericana in aStudebaker. Between 2012 and 2017, he rallied aLancia Stratos.
Comas has now retired from all forms of racing. He spends his time running Comas Historic Racing, which provides for paying customers to enter historic rallies driving cars from his fleet of blueAlpine automobiles.[6] In 2019, Comas obtained one of theNissan R390 GT1, a car he competed in the 1998 Le Mans 24 Hours with, and had it restored as well as being made street-legal.[7][8]
| Year | Team | Chassis/Engine | Qualifying | Race1 | Race2 | Overall ranking | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 |  KTR Racing | Ralt・VW | 27th | 16 | 8 | 10th | [10] |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap.)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | DAMS | SIL 5 | VAL 4 | PAU DNQ | JER 2 | PER Ret | BRH 3 | BIR Ret | SPA 2 | BUG 1 | DIJ 1 | 2nd | 39 | |
| 1990 | DAMS | DON 1 | SIL 2 | PAU Ret | JER 1 | MNZ 1 | PER Ret | HOC 4 | BRH Ret | BIR Ret | BUG 1 | NOG 2 | 1st | 51 |
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | LigierGitanes | LigierJS35 | LamborghiniV12 | USA DNQ | BRA Ret | SMR 10 | MON 10 | CAN 8 | MEX DNQ | FRA 11 | GBR DNQ | GER Ret | HUN 10 | BEL Ret | ITA 11 | POR 11 | ESP Ret | JPN Ret | AUS 18 | NC | 0 |
| 1992 | LigierGitanes Blondes | LigierJS37 | RenaultV10 | RSA 7 | MEX 9 | BRA Ret | ESP Ret | SMR 9 | MON 10 | CAN 6 | FRA 5 | GBR 8 | GER 6 | HUN Ret | BEL DNQ | ITA Ret | POR Ret | JPN Ret | AUS Ret | 11th | 4 |
| 1993 | Larrousse F1 | LarrousseLH93 | LamborghiniV12 | RSA Ret | BRA 10 | EUR 9 | SMR Ret | ESP 9 | MON Ret | CAN 8 | FRA 16 | GBR Ret | GER Ret | HUN Ret | BEL Ret | ITA 6 | POR 11 | JPN Ret | AUS 12 | 20th | 1 |
| 1994 | TourtelLarrousse F1 | LarrousseLH94 | FordV8 | BRA 9 | PAC 6 | SMR Ret | MON 10 | ESP Ret | CAN Ret | FRA Ret | GBR Ret | GER 6 | HUN 8 | BEL Ret | ITA 8 | POR Ret | EUR Ret | JPN 9 | AUS | 23rd | 2 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Team Cerumo | Toyota Supra | GT1 | SUZ 5 | FUJ 14 | SEN 15 | FUJ Ret | SUG 11 | MIN DSQ | 19th | 8 | |||
| 1996 | TOM'S | Toyota Supra | GT500 | SUZ 16 | FUJ 4 | SEN 1 | FUJ Ret | SUG 4 | MIN 2 | 3rd | 55 | |||
| 1997 | NISMO | Nissan Skyline GT-R | GT500 | SUZ 1 | FUJ | SEN 2 | FUJ 10 | MIN 9 | SUG 3 | 6th | 50 | |||
| 1998 | NISMO | Nissan Skyline GT-R | GT500 | SUZ 1 | FUJ C | SEN 1 | FUJ 10 | MOT 4 | MIN 4 | SUG 6 | 1st | 67 | ||
| 1999 | NISMO | Nissan Skyline GT-R | GT500 | SUZ 2 | FUJ 5 | SUG 6 | MIN 1 | FUJ 3 | TAI 7 | MOT 3 | 1st | 77 | ||
| 2000 | NISMO | Nissan Skyline GT-R | GT500 | MOT 1 | FUJ 6 | SUG Ret | FUJ 4 | TAI 3 | MIN 3 | SUZ 5 | 2nd | 68 | ||
| 2001 | NISMO | Nissan Skyline GT-R | GT500 | TAI 13 | FUJ 4 | SUG 10 | FUJ 2 | MOT Ret | SUZ 3 | MIN 2 | 4th | 53 | ||
| 2002 | NISMO | Nissan Skyline GT-R | GT500 | TAI 12 | FUJ 6 | SUG 4 | SEP 16 | FUJ 14 | MOT 17 | MIN Ret | SUZ 8 | 19th | 19 | |
| 2003 | TOM'S | Toyota Supra | GT500 | TAI 6 | FUJ 10 | SUG 2 | FUJ 7 | FUJ 5 | MOT 2 | AUT 8 | SUZ 8 | 5th | 61 | |
| 2004 | Hasemi Motorsport | Nissan Z | GT500 | TAI 6 | SUG 6 | SEP 4 | TOK 3 | MOT 7 | AUT Ret | SUZ 3 | 4th | 50 | ||
| 2005 | Hasemi Motorsport | Nissan Z | GT500 | OKA 3 | FUJ 9 | SEP Ret | SUG 15 | MOT 13 | FUJ 4 | AUT 3 | SUZ 4 | 8th | 42 | |
| 2006 | Kondo Racing | Nissan Z | GT500 | SUZ 10 | OKA 10 | FUJ 10 | SEP 8 | SUG | SUZ 5 | MOT | AUT | FUJ | 18th | 18 |
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Société Larbre Compétition | Jean-Pierre Jarier Jesús Pareja | Porsche 911 GT2 Evo | GT1 | 64 | DNF | DNF |
| 1997 |  NISMO | Kazuyoshi HoshinoMasahiko Kageyama | Nissan R390 GT1 | GT1 | 294 | 12th | 5th |
| 1998 | NISMO |  Jan Lammers Andrea Montermini | Nissan R390 GT1 | GT1 | 342 | 6th | 6th |
| 1999 | NISMO |  Michael KrummSatoshi Motoyama | Nissan R391 | LMP | 110 | DNF | DNF |
| 2002 | PlayStation Team Oreca |  Olivier Beretta Pedro Lamy | Dallara SP1-Judd | LMP900 | 359 | 5th | 4th |
| 2004 | Pescarolo Sport | Soheil AyariBenoît Tréluyer | Pescarolo C60-Judd | LMP1 | 361 | 4th | 4th |
| 2005 | Pescarolo Sport | Emmanuel CollardJean-Christophe Boullion | Pescarolo C60 Hybrid-Judd | LMP1 | 368 | 2nd | 2nd |
| 2006 | Pescarolo Sport | Emmanuel CollardNicolas Minassian | Pescarolo C60 Hybrid-Judd | LMP1 | 352 | 5th | 4th |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Team Cerumo | Toyota Corona EXiV | FUJ 1 18 | FUJ 2 6 | SUG 1 6 | SUG 2 10 | SUZ 1 Ret | SUZ 2 Ret | MIN 1 13 | MIN 2 8 | SEN 1 5 | SEN 2 6 | TOK 1 Ret | TOK 2 8 | FUJ 1 1 | FUJ 2 3 | 8th | 52 |
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Érik Comas | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI | MON | SWE | KEN | POR | ESP | ARG | GRC | NZL | FIN | CYP | FRA | ITA | AUS Ret | GBR | - | 0 |
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Championnat de France Formule Renault Turbo Champion 1986 | Succeeded by Claude Degremont |
| Preceded by Xavier Lapeyre | French Touring Car Championship Champion 1987 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | French Formula Three Championship Champion 1988 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | International Formula 3000 Champion 1990 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship GT500 Champion 1998-1999 With:Masami Kageyama (1998) | Succeeded by |