Guy Ligier

Besides being a driver and F1 team owner, Guy Camille Ligier worked as a butcher, was a French national team rugby player, a motorcycle racer and a construction magnate. He entered 12 Grands Prix in 1966 and 1967, with an eighth place finish in Germany in 1967 his best result.

The son of a farmer, he was born on the 12th July, 1930 in Vichy, in the Auvergne region of central France, though was sadly orphaned at the age of 7 and after leaving school he went to work as a butcher’s assistant. A sporting character, he rowed on the local Allier river and won several French championships plus played rugby for the French Army during National Service, earning a place on the French national B team, but his rugby career was cut short due to injuries. After saving all of the money he earned while working he bought a second hand bulldozer (friends recalled they had never seen bulldozers driven so fast) and went into the construction business and with motorway construction booming his business rapidly expanded and he also diversified into bridges, dams and development.

There was an early foray into car racing in 1957 with a Simca 1300 at Montlhery and during this time he raced motorcycles, becoming the French Motorbike Champion in the 500cc class on a Norton Manx ‘LA’ in 1959 and 1960. He also contested Formula Junior in 1960 with an Elva-DKW, which he drove at Monaco and Montlhery. Racing Porsches, he started with a 356 Carrera in 1963, finishing fourth and seventh at Monthlery before moving on to a 904 GTS the following year where he won the Coupes de Vitesse at Monthlery and had podiums at Magny Cours and the Prix de Paris. He became part of Auguste Veuillet’s team during 1964 and results in the 904 GTS with Robert Buchet saw tenth in the 12 Hour Reims, seventeenth in the 500km Spa plus Le Mans saw what would be his only ever finish there, coming home seventh (and a win in the GT 2.0 Class). Away from the Porsches he drove Ecurie Francorchamp’s Ferrari 250LM in the Paris 1000kms at Monthlery with Annie Soisbault and the year saw his debut in European F2. Signed by Ecurie Ford France to race one of two Brabham BT6 cars (one would later be replaced by a Brabham BT10) alongside teammate Jo Schlesser, he finished fifth in his debut at Enna-Pergusa and was sixth and seventh at Albi and Zolder.

1965 saw him in Ecurie Ford France’s GT40 and he took victories in July at Magny Cours and again in September at the Grand Prix de Albi Sports (from pole plus he recorded the fastest lap). However in shared drives with Maurice Trintignant they suffered retirements at the Nurburgring 1000kms and at Le Mans with a Roadster (due to gearbox issues both times). Continuing with Ecurie Ford France’s Brabham BT6 in European F2, it proved a disappointing time as he suffered a number of retirements and the only finish was thirteenth in the Grand Prix de Reims. In a second outing with Ecurie Francorchamps he raced their 250 GTO with Allen Grant at the Reims 12 Hours, though they retired.

1966 saw his F1 debut with a privately entered Cooper T81-Maserati but he did not finish at Monaco, Belgium and France though came home ninth at Zandvoort and tenth at Brands Hatch and Belgium while in non championship outings he retired at Siracusa and did not start due to engine problems at Silverstone’s International Trophy. His year was ended by a broken knee, sustained while practicing for the German GP, after he lost control at a fast right-hander and the car’s wheels dug in and it took off and flew into the trees. Those who later arrived at the scene noted that the point of impact – judging from the extensive damage to the pine trees that lined the track – was 20 feet up in the air. Guy sustained 47 separate fractures and his right leg was badly damaged (he walked with a slight limp for the rest of his days) but gangrene was setting in and doctors decided that an amputation was necessary. He swiftly made arrangements to leave the hospital, drip still attached, and was driven through the night by Jabby Crombac to a hospital in France instead and his leg was eventually saved.

In a second season with the GT40 he was sixth and twelfth at the Monza 1000km and the Targa Florio with Henri Greder, took a class win with fifth alongside Jo Schlesser at the Nuburgring 1000km but retired at Le Mans (ignition) with Bob Grossman and Greder. There were a number of European F2 races with a Brabham B10 and he drove a Shelby Mustang GT350 to a second-place finish in the Rallye des Routes du Nord. Back in the GT40 with Schlesser in 1967 they were sixth and tenth in the Monza and Nurburgring 1000km races while June saw a victory at the Reims 12 Hours (with a Mk 11) and in later races they were fourth at the Mugello and Paris 1000kms at Monthlery. Guy had hoped his F1 results from the previous year might have helped him into a top drive but it wasn’t to be and he entered 1967 with his Cooper. He retired at Monza and Watkins Glen, was eighth at Nurburgring, tenth and eleventh at Silverstone and Mexico but did not start in Brands Hatch’s non championship Race of Champions due to a crash in practice. Although he started the season with the T81 he switched to a Brabham BT20 at the British GP in June and continued with it for the following races then left F1 at the end of the year.

In 1968 he formed a partnership with Schlesser to run a pair of McLarens in F2 and results with the Ecurie Intersport M4A included fifth at Pau, eighth at Barcelona and Thruxton and thirteenth at Hockenheim. Tragically, his good friend Jo crashed at the French GP and due to the car’s tanks being full with fuel and extensive use of magnesium, he had no chance. Innes Ireland wrote of the incident, ”I have never seen such an inferno develop so quickly and this great towering column of flame and black smoke reached high into the skies” while Vic Elford stated ”It was absolutely horrible. The thing was like a giant firework and it went on for laps before it finally shut down.” Jacky Ickx won the race then went and placed the laurels at the site of the crash.
There were some Ford Escort TC outings in 1969, taking a class win at Montlhery, and during this time he established Ligier Cars’ to build his own sports-racing cars and fulfilling the dream that he and Jo Schlesser had shared. His first car was built near Vichy in his workshop in Abrest, which would remain his base for twenty years before setting up in Magny-Cours. This first car, the JS1, was for road and track use and was presented at the Salon de l’Auto in 1969.

He returned to regular competition in 1970 with the JS1 and continued to participate in various endurance races with his cars until 1974, with them having the JS prefix in honour of his good friend Jo. Starting 1970 with the JS1, he won at Albi and the Coupes de Vitesse and was third at Magny Cours but retired at Nogaro and Paul Ricard. In shared drives he and Jean Claude Andruet did not finish at Le Mans and he retired from the Tour de France alongside Jean Vinatier. 1971 saw the debut of the JS3 at Le Mans qualifying in April and in a solo drive soon after he won the Coupe de Printemps at Montlhery though in the following month he retired at the Coupes de Vitesse and at Magny Cours. At the 24 Hours in June, he and Patrick Depailler were running strongly until transmission problems intervened and the team attempted a repair. John Wyer’s Gulf 917 team offered a spare transaxle, though bolting up a Porsche engine to the JS3’s Cosworth took the mechanics four hours but though they eventually rejoined and it crossed the finish line after completing 270 laps but it was too few for them to be classified.

The following 3 seasons saw a JS2 in action but it would be a frustrating period, with mechanical issues in 1972 ending his Le Mans 4 Hours (with Jean Francois Piot) and the 24 Hours alongside Piot and Jean Pierre Paoli. Major mechanical modifications were made to the car for 1973 and engineer Michel Beaujon told how they worked on its aerodynamics “by giving it a rear wing inspired by an inverted airplane wing profile. It was a first on this type of car! We carried out tests between Boin and Feurs in the Loire department on a long straight road for many kilometers. We arrived around 10pm in the evening and tackled the straight in one direction and then in the other. We also did night testing in the mountains in the Bourbonnais region. Guy said that we’d see the headlights of other cars that might be coming against us. It was a very different era!” He did not start in that year’s Monza and Spa 1000km races and he and Jacques Laffite were disqualified at Le Mans due to illegal oil replenishment. He did not start 1974’s Spa 1000km due to an accident in practice and in 1975, although Guy was not racing, three JS2s qualified in the top 10 at Le Mans and Guy Chasseuil and Jean-Louis Lafosse brought theirs home in second place, behind the Ickx/Bell Gulf Mirage.

After the acquisition of the Matra team’s assets he switched emphasis for 1976 and entered F1 with a Matra V12-powered car. The early races saw the JS5 bearing a large airbox (earning its ‘Teapot’ nickname) but this was drastically downsized following the Spanish GP. Jacques Laffite scored a podium in only their fifth race, at Zolder, and took three podiums in total that year, plus started on pole at Monza. The first win followed a year later at Anderstorp and recalling his time with Ligier, Laffite stated “In the early days it was incredible. There were about 16 of us when we started in 1976. The mechanics were used to Le Mans (where Ligier used to enter his own sport prototypes) and maybe two-three other races per year, but that was it, nothing that bore any relation to F1. The arrival of Matra, Gerard Ducarouge, Jean-Francois Robin helped..They were all very professional, with lots of F1 and sports car experience. We had one truck, a 300 square metre workshop..complete artisans, but fantastic. What Ligier achieved in 1976 and 1977 was amazing….We weren’t the richest. The great thing about the Ligier team, especially thanks to people like Gérard Ducarouge, Michel Boujon and Michel Tétu, was resourcefulness. We would sometimes watch what others were doing. We copied, more or less well. Guy Ligier’s resourcefulness was also that of finding money. We knew how to be inventive.” In 1979 they raced a Cosworth-powered JS11, which began the season winning the first two races and they finished third in the Constructor’s championship and Lafitte was fourth in the drivers, only 15 points behind champion Jody Scheckter. By 1981 they had achieved eight victories, six by Laffite and one each by Patrick Depailler and Didier Pironi, but the competitiveness of the team began to decline around 1982. Thanks to the political support of Guy’s long-time friend François Mitterrand, the team benefitted from a Renault turbo engine deal plus sponsorship from companies such as Loto and Elf Aquitaine made the team more competitive. When Renault left the sport in 1986, they went on to have collaborations with Alfa Romeo, Megatron, Judd and Cosworth plus works contracts with Lamborghini, Renault and Mugen-Honda. Between 1987 and 1991, the team struggled and Guy eventually sold the team to Cyril de Rouvre after a disappointing 1992 season. With the money made from selling the team, he moved into the natural fertiliser market and amassed another fortune. In 1994 the team was sold on to Flavio Briatore and Tom Walkinshaw and 1996’s Mugen-Honda-powered JS43 turned out to be a well balanced car and the team took the chequered flag with Olivier Panis at Monaco, ending a nearly fifteen year long winless streak for the team. The Ligier name last appeared in F1 at 1996’s Japanese GP as Alain Prost bought the team and entered 1997 as Prost Grand Prix and they raced until 2001 before folding.

During the 1980s he formed Ligier Microcars, with production starting in 1980 with the JS4 and when they later bought their competitor, Microcar Company, in 2008 they became the largest manufacturer in France of these cars. In 2004, Guy returned to the world of competition and took over the team and workshops of Tico Martini and launched a JS47 F3 car. He also began construction of his first CN type sport-prototype and introduced the JS49, a sport prototype made for the 2000cc CN class, which can be used in the V de V Challenge. Despite being away from racing for a number of years, he made an agreement in 2012 with French company Onroak Automotive to brand a new generation of sports car prototypes as Ligiers. Their JS P2 began initial testing in March 2014 with the debut being set for Le Mans and two cars were entered, one backed by Nissan’s drivers and engine while the other car was raced by three Chinese drivers and used a Honda powerplant. A third car was purchased by TDS Racing and also used a Nissan engine. The two Nissan JS P2 qualified well, with TDS’s car on pole and an OAK car in third and all three cars finished the 24 hour endurance with TDS in second and OAK in fifth and seventh places in class. TDS Racing then campaigned their Ligier in three ELMS rounds but retired in them. OAK Racing raced in America for the two remaining rounds of the United Sports Car Championship, where Alex Brundle put the Honda-powered car on pole at Circuit of the Americas en route to a second-place finish. The Nissan-powered OAK car moved to the FIA World Endurance Championship where it earned consecutive pole positions in the five remaining races as well as class victories at Fuji and Shanghai. In 2015 a JS P3 was revealed at Le Mans and in 2016 and 2017, ten LM P3 titles were taken in the European and Asian Le Mans Series, the Asian Le Mans Sprint Cup, the V de V Endurance Series and the IMSA Prototype Challenge.

Guy passed away on the 23rd August, 2015, in Nevers and his funeral took place at the church of St. Blaise de Vichy on the 28th August. Jacques Nicolet, president of Oak Racing, paid tribute, stating “Guy was a great sportsman driven by an enormous desire to win and an unbending determination to move forward. He commanded respect and admiration among those who worked for him. He knew how to transmit his enthusiasm to the teams who followed him with undying faith. Our first meeting in 2006 led to a real friendship, one of those that expresses itself through a certain restraint but runs very deep. It’s both an honour and a source of pride to continue his work.” Laffite stated he was “my boss first, then a friend. We were in symbiosis. He was like a second dad in my driving career. A real doting father. He was a great guy in human terms and of friendship, but also a brave man. I was very lucky to meet him. I did Le Mans with him and then I was part of his great F1 adventure.”

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Bio by Peter Kroth

A former rugby player for the French national team, Guy Ligier saved enough money to form his own construction company. With assistance of political allies, François Mitterrand and Pierre Bérégovoy, Ligier’s business boomed in the 60s building roads in France.

Ligier himself began racing Porsches and eventually entered 13 Grands Prix, making 12 starts as a privateer driving a Cooper-Maserati and then a Brabham-Repco with little success. In 1968, Ligier partnered with Jo Schlesser and the two purchased a pair of McLaren Formula 2 cars. After Schlesser was killed in the 1968 French Grand Prix, Ligier retired from driving and entered the sportscar construction business. All Ligier cars were designated with the letters “JS” as a tribute to Schlesser.

In 1974, Ligier’s growing company acquired the assets of Matra Sports and began racing as Equipe Ligier. His first entry would be in the 1976 driven by Jacques Laffite. Laffite would win the Swedish Grand Prix that season. When Ligier faced financial problems, Mitterand, now President of France, ordered that government-run companies Elf, Gitanes, and Loto to provide sponsorship. Mitterand also used his political influence to provide Ligier with Renault Engines.

Ligier would eventually sell his stake in his racing team in 1992 to Cyril de Rouvre but would remain with the team as an ambassador. Between 1976 and 1996, when the team’s assets were sold to Alain Prost, Ligier’s cars would be piloted by drivers such as Laffite, Patrick DePallier, Didier Pironi, Jacky Ickx, Eddie Cheever, Thierry Boutsen, Martin Brundle, Mark Blundell, Andrea de Cesaris, Stefan Johansson, René Arnoux, Aguri Suzuki, and Olivier Panis. The team would account for 332 entries, 326 starts, 50 podiums, and 9 victories.