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Henri Pescarolo | |
|---|---|
 Pescarolo in 1973 | |
| Born | Henri Jacques William Pescarolo (1942-09-25)25 September 1942 (age 83) Montfermeil,Seine-Saint-Denis, France |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  French |
| Active years | 1968–1974,1976 |
| Teams | Matra,Frank Williams,March,BRM,privateerSurtees |
| Entries | 64 (57 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 1 |
| Careerpoints | 12 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 1 |
| First entry | 1968 Canadian Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1976 United States Grand Prix |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
| Years | 1966–1968,1970–1999 |
| Teams | Matra,Filipinetti,Ligier,Inaltéra,Martini,Rondeau,Ford,Joest,Lancia,Sauber,Jaguar,Porsche,Courage,Pescarolo |
| Best finish | 1st(1972,1973,1974,1984) |
| Class wins | 6(1972,1973,1974,1976,1984,1992) |
Henri Jacques William Pescarolo (French pronunciation:[ɑ̃ʁipɛskaʁɔlo]; born 25 September 1942) is a French formerracing driver andmotorsport executive, who competed inFormula One from1968 to1976. Inendurance racing, Pescarolo is afour-time winner of the24 Hours of Le Mans, and won the24 Hours of Daytona in1991 withJoest.
Born and raised inParis, Pescarolo began his career in aLotus Seven aged 22. Pescarolo participated in 64Formula One Grands Prix, achieving one fastest lap, one podium finish, and 12 championship points. He also entered the24 Hours of Le Mans arecord 33 times between1966 and1999, with four overall and six class wins; he won several other majorsportscar racing events, including the:24 Hours of Daytona,1000 km of Monza,1000 km of Spa-Francorchamps,6 Hours of Nürburgring and1000 km Buenos Aires. Pescarolo also drove in theDakar Rally in the 1990s, before retiring from racing aged 57.
Upon his retirement from motor racing in 1999, Pescarolo founded theeponymous racing team,Pescarolo Sport, which competed at Le Mans until2013. He was widely known for his distinctive green helmet, and full-face beard that partially covers burns suffered in a crash.
Born in Montfermeil near Paris,[1] Pescarolo began his career in 1965 with aLotus Seven.[2] He was successful enough to be offered a third car in theMatra Formula 3 team for 1966, but the car was not ready until mid-season.[2] However, in 1967 he won the European Championship with Matra and was promoted to Formula 2 for 1968.[2] That season he was team-mate toJean-Pierre Beltoise and achieved several second places and a win atAlbi, which led to him being given a drive inMatra's Formula One team for the last three races of 1968.[2]
Pescarolo's career suffered a setback, in April 1969 at theLe Mans additional test session for the1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, when his Matra sports car got airborne on theMulsanne Straight.[2] Pescarolo was badly burned and did not compete again until mid-season.[2] He returned in August for the1969 German Grand Prix where he drove a Formula 2 Matra into fifth place winning the small capacity class,[2] in his only Grand Prix race that season.
For 1970, Pescarolo was signed full-time by Matra for their Formula One team and once again as team-mate to Beltoise, put in a solid season with a third place at theMonaco Grand Prix being the high point. He also won the Paris 1000 km and Buenos Aires 1000 km sports car races partnered with Beltoise.[2] Pescarolo was not retained by Matra, and in 1971, 1972, and 1973 withMotul sponsorship, he drove for the fledgling Formula One team run by the youngFrank Williams, but with little success.[2] In 1974, Pescarolo drove forBRM, again with Motul backing, but the team's best days were gone and a ninth place inArgentina was his best result in a season with many retirements.[3]
Pescarolo did not compete in Formula One in 1975 but returned to the championship in 1976 with aSurtees privately entered byBS Fabrications. Although neither car nor driver was considered to be competitive, failing to qualify for two of nine Grands Prix entered, Pescarolo did begin to show speed in the final five races, scoring a season's best finish of ninth at the1976 Austrian Grand Prix.[3]
After Pescarolo's retirement from Formula One, he went on to start his own team, which competed until 2012 in the Le Mans Endurance Series and the24 Hours of Le Mans, which he won as a driver four times (1972, 1973, 1974 and 1984). His team,Pescarolo Sport, was notably sponsored bySony'sPlayStation 2 and byGran Turismo 4. During the five years that Pescarolo has campaignedCourage C60 prototypes, so many modifications have been made to the model that Courage allowed the team to name the car after themselves, such was the differences between their model and the standard C60. In 2005, it was developed further still to meet the "hybrid" regulations, before the change to LMP1/2 format.[citation needed]
In1977,[4]1978[5] and1979 Pescarolo drove inAustralia's most famous motor race, theBathurst 1000 fortouring cars held at theMount Panorama Circuit, driving on all three occasions with1974 race winnerJohn Goss. Unfortunately all races resulted in a DNF for the Goss builtFord XC Falcon GS500 Hardtops, completing only 113 laps (of 163) in 1977, 68 in 1978 and 118 in 1979. The 1977 race saw Pescarolo's Le Mans rivalJacky Ickx win the race in asemi-works Falcon driving withAllan Moffat.[citation needed]
Pescarolo holds the record for Le Mans starts with 33 and has won the race on four occasions as a driver.[6] He has yet to win the race as a team owner, coming very close in2005 with the Pescarolo C60H. His team did manage to win the LMES championship in the same year. His team was also second at Le Mans in2006, followed by a third in2007 behind a pair of diesel-powered prototypes.[citation needed]
Pescarolo drove theDakar Rally in the 1990s, and is also a keen helicopter pilot.[6]
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | Matra Sports | MatraMS7 | Ford | SNE | SIL | NÜR | HOC | TUL | JAR | ZAN | PER | BRH 10 | VAL | NC | 0 | |||||||
| 1968 | Matra Sports | MatraMS7 | Ford | HOC 2 | THR Ret | JAR 4 | PAL DNQ | TUL 3 | ZAN 2 | PER 8 | HOC 2 | VAL 5 | 2nd | 30 | ||||||||
| 1969 | Matra Sports | MatraMS7 | Ford | THR 4 | HOC 5 | NÜR | JAR | TUL Ret | PER NC | VAL | 4th | 13 | ||||||||||
| 1970 | Bob Gerard Racing | Brabham BT30 | Ford | THR | HOC | BAR 2 | ROU Ret | PER | TUL | IMO | HOC | 10th | 6 | |||||||||
| 1971 | Frank Williams Racing Cars | March 712M | Ford | HOC | THR Ret | NÜR Ret | JAR | PAL Ret | ROU | MAN | TUL Ret | ALB DNQ | VAL Ret | VAL | NC | 0 | ||||||
| 1972 | Motul-Rondel Racing | Brabham BT38 | Ford | MAL | THR DNS | HOC Ret | PAU DNQ | PAL DNQ | HOC | ROU Ret | ÖST | IMO | MAN | PER 1 | SAL | ALB | HOC 7 | NC | 0‡ | |||
| 1973 | Motul-Rondel Racing | Motul M1 | Ford | MAL | HOC 4 | THR 1 | NÜR | PAU | KIN | NIV | HOC 5 | ROU | MNZ | MAN | KAR | PER Ret | SAL | NOR 3 | ALB Ret | VAL | NC | 0‡ |
Source:[8] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
‡ Graded drivers not eligible for European Formula Two Championship points
(key) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | Matra Sports | MatraMS5 (F2) | Ford Cosworth FVA 1.6L4 | ROC | SPC | INT | SYR | OUL 8 | |||||||||||||
| MatraMS7 (F2) | ESP 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1971 | Frank Williams Racing Cars | March701 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0V8 | ARG 2 | ROC | ||||||||||||||||
| March711 | QUE Ret | SPR | INT 6 | RIN | OUL Ret | VIC Ret | |||||||||||||||
| 1972 | Team WilliamsMotul | March721 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0V8 | ROC | BRA Ret | INT Ret | OUL | VIC Ret | |||||||||||||
| March711 | REP Ret | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1974 | Team BRM | BRMP160E | BRM P142 3.0V12 | PRE 7 | ROC 7 | INT 4 | |||||||||||||||
Source:[8] | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | French Formula Three Champion 1967 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Monaco Formula Three Support Race Winner 1967 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1972,1973,1974 With:Graham Hill (1972) &Gérard Larrousse (1973-74) | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1984 With:Klaus Ludwig | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
