72-602: Jacques-Henri Laffite ( French pronunciation: [ʒak ɑ̃.ʁi la.fit] ; born 21 November 1943) is a French former racing driver and broadcaster , who competed in Formula One from 1974 to 1986 . Laffite won six Formula One Grands Prix across 13 seasons. Born and raised in Paris , Laffite trained as a racing driver with the Winfield Racing School at Magny-Cours in 1968. Laffite twice entered
144-485: A Formula Pacific or Formula Mondial Ralt RT4 powered by a 1.6-litre Ford I4 engine . Results in the next two seasons were not much better, when he moved back to England, again to race for Williams (11 and 5 points, respectively). Now in his forties, Laffite returned to Ligier in 1985 : in that season he was on the podium three times ( Great Britain , Germany and Australia ), for a total of 16 points. In 1986 he scored 14 points including two more podium finishes in
216-406: A transformative shift, echoing past pivots. The industry, much like the cars it champions , has had to navigate through a global pandemic and a persistent chip shortage, each threatening to derail production schedules . At the same time, a new course is being charted towards an electric future, a dramatic change in direction that is challenging the old guard of gasoline engines. There is also
288-631: A "manufacturer's" logo and "vehicle name", yet use components produced by another automobile manufacturer. There are also other stock car governing bodies, most notably the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). In the UK, British Stock car racing is also referred to as "Short Circuit Racing". UK Stock car racing started in the 1950s and grew rapidly through the 1960s and 1970s. Events take place on shale or tarmac tracks – usually around 1/4 mile long. There are around 35 tracks in
360-410: A distance of 8 mi (13 km). It was won by the carriage of Isaac Watt Boulton . Internal combustion auto racing events began soon after the construction of the first successful gasoline -fueled automobiles. The first organized contest was on April 28, 1887, by the chief editor of Paris publication Le Vélocipède , Monsieur Fossier. It ran 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from Neuilly Bridge to
432-734: A growing number of events for electric racing cars, such as the Formula E , the Eco Grand Prix or the Electric GT Championship . In single-seater ( open-wheel ) racing, the wheels are not covered, and the cars often have aerofoil wings front and rear to produce downforce and enhance adhesion to the track. The most popular varieties of open-wheel road racing are Formula One (F1), the IndyCar Series and Super Formula . In Europe and Asia, open-wheeled racing
504-707: A lap at 388 km/h (241 mph). The series' biggest race is the Indianapolis 500 , which is commonly referred to as "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" due to being the longest continuously run race in the series and having the largest crowd for a single-day sporting event (350,000+). The other major international single-seater racing series is Formula 2 (formerly known as Formula 3000 and GP2 Series ). Regional series include Super Formula and Formula V6 Asia (specifically in Asia), Formula Renault 3.5 (also known as
576-641: A mixture of attrition and tenacious driving saw Laffite take the FW04 to second place behind the Brabham of Carlos Reutemann , bringing much-needed financial aid to a team on the point of collapse. This was to be the team's only points finish of the season, but they improved their position in the Constructors' Championship by one place, to ninth. Before the start of the 1976 season, Canadian oil millionaire Walter Wolf bought 60% of Frank Williams Racing Cars and
648-482: A much easier time following and passing than in open-wheel racing . It often features full-contact racing with subtle bumping and nudging due to the small speed differentials and large grids. The major touring car championships conducted worldwide are the Supercars Championship (Australia), British Touring Car Championship , Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM), World Touring Car Championship and
720-450: A practical mode of transport, but soon became an important way for automobile makers to demonstrate their machines. By the 1930s, specialist racing cars had developed. There are now numerous different categories, each with different rules and regulations. The first prearranged match race of two self-powered road vehicles over a prescribed route occurred at 4:30 A.M. on August 30, 1867, between Ashton-under-Lyne and Old Trafford , England,
792-426: A small, low-cost machine on small tracks. Many of the current top drivers began their careers in karts. Formula Ford represents the most popular first open-wheel category for up-and-coming drivers stepping up from karts. The series is still the preferred option, as it has introduced an aero package and slicks, allowing the junior drivers to gain experience in a race car with dynamics closer to F1. The Star Mazda Series
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#1732801219981864-1144: A sports journalist of Formula One on Canal+. He is also golf enthusiast, is a shareholder of Dijon-Bourgogne Golf . Also deeply attached to the Creuse for Golf Fisheries and nature, he has a property in Creuse near Aubusson . Graded drivers not eligible for European Formula Two Championship points ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Graded drivers not eligible for European Formula Two Championship points ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) * Overall race position shown. Registered WTCC points paying position may differ. ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) ( key ) Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap. Racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing , motor racing , or automobile racing )
936-520: A successful 1968 Formula Two season, he purchased a Brabham Formula One car for Courage in 1969. This allegedly angered Jack Brabham , as the car had been sold to Williams with the expectation that it would be used in the Tasman Series and then converted to Formula 5000 . Courage in fact had a great year, taking second place at both the Monaco and US Grands Prix. Their efforts attracted
1008-823: Is NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing). NASCAR's premier series is the NASCAR Cup Series , its most famous races being the Daytona 500 , the Southern 500 , the Coca-Cola 600 , and the Brickyard 400 . NASCAR also runs several feeder series, including the Xfinity Series and Craftsman Truck Series (a pickup truck racing series). The series conduct races across the entire continental United States . NASCAR also sanctions series outside of
1080-448: Is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non-racing disciplines. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various types were organized, with the first recorded as early as 1867. Many of the earliest events were effectively reliability trials , aimed at proving these new machines were
1152-719: Is a worldwide series that runs only street circuit and race tracks . These cars are heavily based on technology and their aerodynamics. The speed record was set in 2005 by Juan Pablo Montoya hitting 373 km/h (232 mph). Some of the most prominent races are the Monaco Grand Prix, the Italian Grand Prix , and the British Grand Prix . The season ends with the crowning of the World Championship for drivers and constructors. In
1224-650: Is another entry-level series. Indy Lights represent the last step on the Road to Indy , being less powerful and lighter than an IndyCar racer. Students at colleges and universities can also take part in single-seater racing through the Formula SAE competition, which involves designing and building a single-seater car in a multidisciplinary team and racing it at the competition. This also develops other soft skills, such as teamwork, while promoting motorsport and engineering. The world's first all-female Formula racing team
1296-615: Is commonly referred to as 'Formula', with appropriate hierarchical suffixes. In North America, the 'Formula' terminology is not followed (with the exception of F1). The sport is usually arranged to follow an international format (such as F1), a regional format (such as the Formula 3 Euro Series), and/or a domestic, or country-specific, format (such as the German Formula 3 championship, or the British Formula Ford). F1
1368-923: Is the FIA World Endurance Championship . The main series for GT car racing is the GT World Challenge Europe , divided into two separate championships: the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup and the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup . This series has formed after the folding of the various FIA GT championships. The prevailing classes of GT cars are GT3 , GT4 and GT2 class cars. GT2 cars have powerful engines, often exceeding 600 horsepower. However, they have less downforce than GT3 cars and also have less driver aids. GT3 cars are far and away
1440-522: Is undergoing a period of transition, but is still the longest-running road racing series in the U.S. The National Auto Sport Association also provides a venue for amateurs to compete in home-built factory-derived vehicles on various local circuits. In sports car racing, production-derived versions of two-seat sports cars , also known as grand tourers (GTs), and purpose-built sports prototype cars compete within their respective classes on closed circuits. The premier championship series of sports car racing
1512-419: The 1980 and 1981 championships, losing out on the latter by six points to Nelson Piquet and taking several wins across both. Laffite failed to finish 11 of 15 Grands Prix in 1982 , leaving for Williams at the end of the season. After two winless seasons with Williams, amongst further reliability issues, Laffite returned to Ligier in 1985 , scoring several podiums. At the 1986 British Grand Prix , Laffite
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#17328012199811584-568: The 1988 season that stated that in all cars the driver's feet must be behind the front axle line. Laffite recovered from his injuries and later raced in touring cars , finishing 17th in the inaugural World Touring Car Championship driving an Alfa Romeo 75 for Alfa Corse as well as racing three seasons in the German-based DTM series. He is now a television commentator for the French network TF1 , best known for his reaction to
1656-645: The 24 Hours of Le Mans with Ligier before making his Formula One debut at the 1974 German Grand Prix with Frank Williams . Laffite remained at Frank Williams through the 1975 season, scoring his maiden podium at the German Grand Prix and winning the European Formula Two Championship with Martini . He moved to Ligier in 1976 , taking several podiums amongst his maiden pole position in Italy . Laffite retained his seat
1728-680: The 24 Hours of Le Mans , begun in 1923. It is run by the Automobile Club of the West (ACO). Team Ferrari won the race in 2023. With auto construction and racing dominated by France, the French automobile club ACF staged a number of major international races, usually from or to Paris, connecting with another major city, in France or elsewhere in Europe. Aspendale Racecourse , in Australia,
1800-634: The 24 Hours of Le Mans , the Rolex 24 at Daytona , 24 Hours of Spa -Franchorchamps, the 12 Hours of Sebring , the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen , and the 1,000-mile (1,600 km) Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta . There is also the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring on the famed Nordschleife track and the Dubai 24 Hour , which is aimed at GT3 and below cars with a mixture of professional and pro-am drivers. Production-car racing, otherwise known as "showroom stock" in
1872-834: The Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft from 1990 to 1992 . Laffite entered nine editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 1972 to 1996 across multiple classes. Upon retiring from motor racing, Laffite was a presenter for TF1 from 1997 to 2012. Jacques-Henri Laffite was born in Paris on 21 November 1943. He attended the Cours Hattemer , a private school. He was trained as a racing driver in 1968 at Winfield Racing School in France. Laffite debuted in Formula One in 1974 for Frank Williams ' Iso–Marlboro team. The following year he raced for
1944-553: The WeatherTech SportsCar Championship starting in 2014. These races are often conducted over long distances, at least 1,000 km (621 mi), and cars are driven by teams of two or more drivers, switching every few hours. Due to the performance difference between production-based sports cars and purpose-built sports prototypes, one race usually involves several racing classes, each fighting for its own championship. Famous sports car races include
2016-653: The World Touring Car Cup . The European Touring Car Cup is a one-day event open to Super 2000 specification touring cars from Europe's many national championships. While Super GT traces its lineage to the now-defunct JGTC , the cars are much more similar to GT3 race cars than proper touring cars, and also have much more aggressive aerodynamics. The Sports Car Club of America 's SPEED World Challenge Touring Car and GT championships are dominant in North America. America's historic Trans-Am Series
2088-566: The following season , taking his maiden win at the Swedish Grand Prix . After a winless season in 1978 , Ligier constructed the highly-competitive JS11 in response to the ground effect era . Laffite won the opening two rounds of the 1979 season—including a grand slam at the Brazilian Grand Prix —but ultimately finished the championship in fourth after suffering eight retirements. Laffite again finished fourth in
2160-507: The (non-Championship) Brazilian Grand Prix , Carlos Pace was entered in the previous year's March 711, later taking fifth at the Belgian Grand Prix . The Len Bailey -designed Politoys FX3 was a conventional Cosworth-engined car with a Hewland FG400 gearbox. It debuted in the hands of Pescarolo at the British Grand Prix , but the steering failed and the car was heavily damaged. Pescarolo switched back to his March 721 while
2232-529: The 1973 season. The Politoys FX3 was reworked as the Iso–Marlboro FX3B and a second car was built. Two new drivers were signed, New Zealand's Howden Ganley and Italy's Nanni Galli . At the first race in Argentina , Galli qualified 16th with Ganley 19th and last on the grid. Galli's engine failed on the first lap, but Ganley finished the race, although he was not classified due to being 17 laps adrift of
Jacques Laffite - Misplaced Pages Continue
2304-472: The 1980s and 1990s all over the United States. In North America, stock car racing is the most popular form of auto racing. Primarily raced on oval tracks , stock cars vaguely resemble production cars, but are in fact purpose-built racing machines that are built to tight specifications and, together with touring cars, also called Silhouette racing cars . The largest stock car racing governing body
2376-462: The 24 hours of Le Mans (held annually since 1923) and in the (European) Le Mans series , Asian Le Mans Series and the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship . These cars are referred to as LMP (Le Mans prototype) cars with LMH and LMDh cars being run mainly by manufacturers and the slightly less powerful LMP2 cars run by privateer teams. All three Le Mans Series run GT cars in addition to Le Mans Prototypes; these cars have different restrictions than
2448-612: The Bois de Boulogne. On July 22, 1894, the Parisian magazine Le Petit Journal organized what is considered to be the world's first motoring competition, from Paris to Rouen. One hundred and two competitors paid a 10- franc entrance fee. The first American automobile race is generally considered to be the Thanksgiving Day Chicago Times-Herald race of November 28, 1895. Press coverage of
2520-452: The Constructors' Championship. Three Iso–Marlboro FW chassis were ultimately used during 1974, including a newly built car, and these were renamed Williams FW01, FW02 and FW03 for 1975; separate designations despite the three cars being essentially the same. Merzario and Laffite stayed on for the start of the 1975 season as the team continued to use the FW02 and FW03. Williams decided a new car
2592-592: The FIA GT cars. Another prototype and GT racing championship exists in the United States; the Grand-Am , which began in 2000, sanctions its own endurance series, the Rolex Sports Car Series , which consists of slower and lower-cost Daytona Prototype race cars compared to LMP and FIA GT cars. The Rolex Sports Car Series and American Le Mans Series announced a merger between the two series forming
2664-535: The Iso–Marlboro IR was driven by eight different drivers during the rest of the 1973 season. Ganley was the only regular driver and he scored a point with the car at the Canadian Grand Prix towards the end of the season. Of the other drivers; Galli, Pescarolo, Tom Belsø , Graham McRae , Gijs van Lennep , Tim Schenken and Jacky Ickx , only van Lennep was able to score a point, at his home race in
2736-512: The Netherlands . Both Iso Rivolta and Marlboro left before the 1974 season, leaving Williams with financial problems. The two IR chassis were retained, now re-designated the FW after Frank Williams, but initially only a single car was entered for Arturo Merzario , who had replaced Ganley as the team's number one driver. There was an early-season boost as Merzario placed sixth in the third race of
2808-586: The Politoys was rebuilt. In its last appearance as the Politoys FX3, Chris Amon drove the car for the team in the end of season non-Championship 1972 World Championship Victory Race at Brands Hatch , but qualified only 20th and retired with engine failure. Motul and Politoys both withdrew their backing at the end of 1972, but Williams managed to attract backing from cigarette giant Marlboro and Italian sports car manufacturer Iso Autoveicoli S.p.A. for
2880-688: The UK and upwards of 7000 active drivers. The sport is split into three basic divisions – distinguished by the rules regarding car contact during racing. The most famous championship are the BriSCA F1 Stock Cars . Full-contact formulas include Bangers , Bombers, and Rookie Bangers – and racing features Demolition Derbies, Figure of Eight, and Oval Racing. Semi Contact Formulas include BriSCA F1, F2, and Superstox – where bumpers are used tactically. Non-contact formulas include National Hot Rods, Stock Rods, and Lightning Rods. Iso%E2%80%93Marlboro Frank Williams Racing Cars
2952-604: The UK, the major club series are the Monoposto Racing Club , BRSCC F3 (formerly ClubF3, formerly ARP F3), Formula Vee and Club Formula Ford. Each series caters to a section of the market, with some primarily providing low-cost racing, while others aim for an authentic experience using the same regulations as the professional series (BRSCC F3). The SCCA is also responsible for sanctioning single-seater racing in much of North America. There are other categories of single-seater racing, including kart racing , which employs
Jacques Laffite - Misplaced Pages Continue
3024-500: The US, is an economical and rules-restricted version of touring-car racing, mainly used to restrict costs. Numerous production racing categories are based on particular makes of cars. Most series, with a few exceptions, follow the Group N regulation. There are several different series that are run all over the world, most notably, Japan's Super Taikyu and IMSA 's Firehawk Series, which ran in
3096-551: The United States, including the NASCAR Canada Series , NASCAR Mexico Series , NASCAR Whelen Euro Series , and NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race . NASCAR also governs several smaller regional series, such as the Whelen Modified Tour . Modified cars are best described as open-wheel cars. Modified cars have no parts related to the stock vehicle for which they are named after. A number of modified cars display
3168-438: The United States, the most popular series is the IndyCar Series . The cars have traditionally been similar to, though less technologically sophisticated than, F1 cars , with more restrictions on technology aimed at controlling costs. While these cars are not as technologically advanced, they are faster, in part due to their lower downforce compared to F1 cars, and also because they compete on oval race tracks, being able to average
3240-681: The World Series by Renault, succession series of World Series by Nissan ), Formula Three , Formula Palmer Audi and Formula Atlantic . In 2009, the FIA Formula Two Championship brought about the revival of the F2 series. Domestic, or country-specific, series include Formula Three and Formula Renault, with the leading introductory series being Formula Ford . Single-seater racing is not limited merely to professional teams and drivers. There exist many amateur racing clubs. In
3312-482: The event first aroused significant American interest in the automobile. The Targa Florio was an open road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily , Italy near the island's capital of Palermo . Founded in 1906 , it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 and 1973. The oldest surviving sports car racing event is
3384-605: The final races of 1975, rebranding it as the Wolf–Williams FW05 and the Williams FW04 was similarly rebranded as the Wolf–Williams FW04, although it was only used in the opening race of the season, the 1976 Brazilian Grand Prix . At season's end, Wolf decided to restructure the team, removing Frank Williams from the manager's job and putting in former Team Lotus manager Peter Warr . Disillusioned, Williams left
3456-462: The first half of the season, but he broke both legs in a crash at the start of the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch and thereafter retired from Formula One, ending his career tied with Graham Hill for the most Grand Prix starts at 176. He was the most successful driver in Ligier's history, having taken six of their nine wins. As a result of Laffite's injuries, new safety rules were enforced from
3528-515: The first two races. He fought for the World Championship title until the last races, but eventually placed only fourth, with 36 points. The following two seasons were similar, with two more fourth places in the Championship and a further three victories. In 1982 , however, Laffite finished only 17th in the final classification, with only 5 points scored. During the early 1980s, Laffite also made three end of season trips to Australia to race in
3600-509: The incident at the 1997 European Grand Prix in which Michael Schumacher collided with Jacques Villeneuve , and Laffite reacted with curse words on live television. Laffite made his 2007 FIA GT3 European Championship debut at the 2008 Bucharest City Challenge, driving for AutoGT Racing Team. In October 2008, at the age of 64, he tested a Renault R27 F1 car at the Paul Ricard circuit. Laffite has two daughters: Camille and Margot ,
3672-545: The interest of Italian sports car manufacturer De Tomaso , who built a Formula One chassis (designed by Giampaolo Dallara ) for the 1970 season. However, the car was initially uncompetitive, failing to finish the first four races of the year. In the fifth, the Dutch Grand Prix , the De Tomaso 505/38 flipped and caught fire, killing Courage. The death of his friend seriously upset Williams; the subsequent distance
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#17328012199813744-783: The last step up to premier GT-class racing. Other major GT championships include the GT World Challenge America , GT World Challenge Asia , Super GT , and the International GT Open . There are minor regional and national GT series using mainly GT4 and GT3 cars featuring both amateur and professional drivers. Sports prototypes, unlike GT cars, do not rely on road-legal cars as a base. They are closed-wheel and often closed-cockpit purpose-built race cars intended mainly for endurance racing. They have much lower weight, more horsepower and more downforce compared to GT cars, making them much faster. They are raced in
3816-442: The most popular class of GT cars, with premier racing series such as the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA both using GT3 as their top class of GT car. GT3 cars have more significant aero than a GT2 car, but also have less horsepower, typically falling in between 500 and 550 horsepower. GT4 class cars have very little aerodynamics and less horsepower than GT3 machinery, typically around 450 horsepower. GT4 typically serves as
3888-564: The non-championship Australian Grand Prix . He failed to finish his first race in 1981 (he was lucky to start after his car hit the wall on the outside of the last turn of the short (1.609 km (1.000 mi)) Calder Park Raceway in qualifying, but his local crew were able to repair it for the race). He finished second to fellow Frenchman Alain Prost in 1982 , and third behind Brazilian Roberto Moreno and Australian John Smith in 1983 . In all of his pre-Formula One AGP drives, Laffite drove
3960-464: The oldest car racing series still active in the world. The first TC competition took place in 1931 with 12 races, each in a different province. Future Formula One star Juan Manuel Fangio (Chevrolet) won the 1940 and 1941 editions of the TC. It was during this time that the series' Chevrolet-Ford rivalry began, with Ford acquiring most of its historical victories. Over the last few years, auto racing has seen
4032-456: The oldest existing purpose-built and still in use automobile race course in the United States is the 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km) Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana . It is the largest capacity sports venue of any variety worldwide, with a top capacity of some 257,000+ seated spectators. NASCAR was founded by Bill France Sr. on February 21, 1948, with the help of several other drivers. The first NASCAR " Strictly Stock " race ever
4104-437: The reduction of the schedule from 56 to 34 races a year, established 1972 as the beginning of NASCAR's "modern era". The IMSA GT Series evolved into the American Le Mans Series , which ran its first season in 1998. The European races eventually became the closely related European Le Mans Series , both of which mix prototypes and GTs. Turismo Carretera (TC) is a popular touring car racing series in Argentina, and one of
4176-416: The same team, now named Williams , scoring a second place in the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring . In 1976 Laffite moved to the French Ligier team, scoring 20 points and a pole position at the Italian Grand Prix . The next two seasons were transitional, although he managed to win his first Grand Prix at Anderstorp in the 1977 Swedish Grand Prix . The 1979 season opened with Laffite winning
4248-447: The season by six different paying drivers – Ian Scheckter , François Migault , Ian Ashley , Jo Vonlanthen , Renzo Zorzi and Lella Lombardi . Northern Ireland's Damien Magee , meanwhile, substituted for Laffite in Sweden. Around the same time, Frank Williams signed a young engineer, Patrick Head who would partner with his boss when the team reformed as Williams Grand Prix Engineering in 1977. A major shock came in Germany when
4320-419: The season in South Africa , but when the second car was reintroduced, the string of paydrivers employed to drive it produced little in the way of results. After three non-qualifications, Jacques Laffite was brought in to partner Merzario and performances gradually improved, culminating in a fourth-place finish for Merzario in Italy . This gave the team a total of four points, and another tenth-place finish in
4392-487: The sport, former Formula 2 champion Jonathan Palmer reopened the F2 category again; most drivers have graduated from the Formula Palmer Audi series. The category is officially registered as the FIA Formula Two championship. Most rounds have two races and are support races to the FIA World Touring Car Championship . Touring car racing is a style of road racing that is run with production-derived four-seat race cars. The lesser use of aerodynamics means following cars have
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#17328012199814464-450: The team became Wolf–Williams Racing. However, Frank Williams was retained as team manager. Soon afterwards, Harvey Postlethwaite arrived as chief engineer. Simultaneously Wolf bought the assets of the Hesketh team that had recently withdrawn from F1. The team was based in the Williams facility at Reading but used most of the cars and equipment once owned by Hesketh Racing. The team inherited the Hesketh 308C car used by Hesketh Racing during
4536-427: The team principal placed between himself and his drivers has been attributed to this event. The team soldiered on, however, first with Brian Redman , then with Tim Schenken . With no results, the partnership with De Tomaso was dissolved. For 1971, Williams purchased a year-old March 701, and ran Frenchman Henri Pescarolo . The team later upgraded to a new March 711, but results were difficult to come by. The old car
4608-441: The winner. The team fared better in Brazil with Ganley finishing seventh and Galli ninth. Galli was then injured testing a sports car and replaced for the following race in South Africa by local driver Jackie Pretorius . Pretorius retired his FX3B at half-distance with overheating problems, but Ganley managed tenth, albeit six laps down. The FX3B had become obsolete by this time due to new deformable structure regulations and
4680-433: Was a British Formula One team and constructor. Frank Williams had been a motor-racing enthusiast since a young age, and after a career in saloon cars and Formula Three , backed by Williams's shrewd instincts as a dealer in racing cars and spares, he realised he'd reached his peak as a driver and started entering other drivers, in particular his friend and sometime flatmate Piers Courage . After Williams backed Courage in
4752-520: Was also entered for Max Jean at the French Grand Prix . After the success of 1969, Williams was now low on funds, living a hand-to-mouth existence from race to race. Pescarolo did, however, keep the outfit ticking over with fourth place at the British Grand Prix and sixth in Austria . French oil company Motul came on board for the 1972 season, enabling Williams to buy a new March 721 for Pescarolo, while backing from Italian toy manufacturer Politoys provided money to build an in-house chassis. From
4824-415: Was created in 2006. The group was an assemblage of drivers from different racing disciplines and formed for an MTV reality pilot, which was shot at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca . In December 2005, the FIA gave approval to Superleague Formula racing, which debuted in 2008, whereby the racing teams are owned and run by prominent sports clubs such as A.C. Milan and Liverpool F.C. After 25 years away from
4896-518: Was held on June 19, 1949, at Daytona Beach, Florida , U.S.. From 1962, sports cars temporarily took a back seat to GT cars , with the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) replacing the World Championship for Sports Cars with the International Championship for GT Manufacturers. From 1962 through 2003, NASCAR's premier series was called the Winston Cup Series, sponsored by R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company cigarette brand Winston . The changes that resulted from RJR's involvement, as well as
4968-410: Was needed. The new Williams FW04 was the first chassis to carry the Williams name and it replaced the FW02 at the Spanish Grand Prix , and promising British youngster Tony Brise substituted for Laffite, finishing just outside the points in seventh. By this time, however, the team's money problems had become serious, and Merzario left following the Belgian Grand Prix , his place taken for the rest of
5040-421: Was replaced by the new Iso–Marlboro IR . However, the FX3B was raced in two non-Championship races at this time; at the 1973 Race of Champions , Tony Trimmer raced an FX3B to fourth place while Ganley retired his car with handling problems. The New Zealander also retired at the FX3B's last race, the 1973 BRDC International Trophy , this time with low oil pressure. Introduced at the 1973 Spanish Grand Prix ,
5112-450: Was seriously injured in a multi-car collision that broke both of his legs. He subsequently retired from Formula One, having achieved six wins, seven pole positions, seven fastest laps and 32 podiums. Outside of Formula One, Laffite was a race-winner in the World Sportscar Championship with Kauhsen , as well as in the BMW M1 Procar Championship with BMW . He competed in the World Touring Car Championship in 1987 with Alfa Corse , and
5184-578: Was the world's first purpose-built motor racing circuit , opening in January 1906. The pear-shaped track was close to a mile in length, with slightly banked curves and a gravel surface of crushed cement. Brooklands , in Surrey, England, was the first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing venue, opening in June 1907. It featured a 4.43 km (2.75 mi) concrete track with high-speed banked corners. One of
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