Gérard Larrousse

Gérard Gilles Marie Armand Larrousse (born 23 May 1940) is a former sports car racing, rallying and Formula One driver from France. His greatest success as a driver was winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1973 and 1974, driving a Matra-Simca MS670. After the end of his career as racing car driver, he continued to be involved in Formula One as a team manager for Renault. He later founded and ran his own Formula One team, Larrousse, from 1987 to 1994.

Gérard Larrousse

Born	(1940-05-23) 23 May 1940 (age 83)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	French
Active years	1974
Teams	Scuderia Finotto
Entries	2 (1 start)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1974 Belgian Grand Prix
Last entry	1974 French Grand Prix

Racing career

Born in Lyon, Larousse began his motorsport career in rallying before focusing on circuit racing. He won the French Rally Championship with an Alpine A110. His biggest successes in international rallies came in a Porsche 911. He won the Tour de Corse in 1969, and placed second at the Monte Carlo Rally in 1969, 1970 and 1972. On gravel, he achieved a sixth place at the 1970 RAC Rally.

 

Gérard Larrousse driving a Porsche 908/2 at the Nürburgring in 1970

In a team with Vic Elford in 1971, Larrousse won the 12 Hours of Sebring with a Porsche 917K and the 1000km Nürburgring in a Porsche 908/03. He would follow this with victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1973 and 1974 alongside Henri Pescarolo for Matra-Simca. He participated in two Grands Prix, debuting on 12 May 1974, but failed to any score championship points. He drove Brabham BT42s for Scuderia Finotto.

Team management

Following his sports car career, he moved into racing management, running the Elf Switzerland operation in the European Formula Two Championship. From there, Larrousse went on to run the original factory Renault Formula One team during its final days as a full-fledged factory team in 1984 and 1985.

Larrousse also shared ownership of an eponymous Formula One team with various partners, from 1987 to 1994. His team achieved limited success in F1, with a best finish of 6th in the Constructor's Championship in 1990. However the team struggled in following seasons and by 1994, Larrousse was forced to run several pay-drivers to help make ends meet. Although plans were in place to participate in the 1995 season, a lack of funds meant that the team was forced to withdraw from Formula One.

Racing record

 

With Ford Capri RS in 1973 at 6 hours of Nürburgring

Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	WDC	Pts.
1974	Scuderia Finotto	Brabham BT42	Ford V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	BEL Ret	MON	SWE	NED	FRA DNQ	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA	NC	0
Sources:^[1]^[2]

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1967	Ecurie Savin-Calberson	Patrick Depailler	Alpine A210	P 1.15	204	DNF	DNF
1968	Société des Automobiles Alpine	Henri Grandsire	Alpine A220	P 3.0	204	DNF	DNF
1969	Porsche System Engineering	Hans Herrmann	Porsche 908 Coupé	P 3.0	372	2nd	1st
1970	Martini Racing Team	Willi Kauhsen	Porsche 917L	S 5.0	338	2nd	2nd
1971	Martini Racing Team	Vic Elford	Porsche 917LH	S 5.0		DNF	DNF
1972	Ecurie Bonnier Switzerland	Jo Bonnier   Gijs van Lennep	Lola T280-Ford Cosworth	S 3.0	213	DNF	DNF
1973	Equipe Matra-Simca Shell	Henri Pescarolo	Matra-Simca MS670B	S 3.0	355	1st	1st
1974	Equipe Gitanes	Henri Pescarolo	Matra-Simca MS670C	S 3.0	337	1st	1st
Sources:^[3]^[4]^[5]

Complete IMC results

Year	Entrant	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
1970	Porsche System Engineering	Porsche 911 S	MON 2	SWE	ITA	KEN	AUT	GRE	GBR 6
1971	Porsche System Engineering	Porsche 914/6	MON Ret	SWE	ITA	KEN	MAR	AUT	GRE	GBR
1972	Porsche System Engineering	Porsche 911 S	MON 2	SWE	KEN	MAR	GRE	AUT	ITA	USA	GBR
Source:^[1]

References

1. "Gerard Larrousse". Motor Sport. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
2. Small, Steve (2000). "Gérard Larrousse". Grand Prix Who's Who (Third ed.). Reading, Berkshire: Travel Publishing. p. 334. ISBN 978-1-902007-46-5. Retrieved 17 September 2023 – via Internet Archive.
3. "Gerard Larrousse". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
4. "Gerard Larrousse Results". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
5. "Complete Archive of Gérard Larrousse". Racing Sports Cars. pp. 2–6. Retrieved 17 September 2023.

External links

• Gerard Larrousse official website (French)

Sporting positions
Preceded by Henri Pescarolo Graham Hill	Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1973-1974 With: Henri Pescarolo	Succeeded by Jacky Ickx Derek Bell