Henri Jacques William Pescarolo (; born 25 September 1942) is a French former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . In endurance racing, Pescarolo is a four-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and won the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1991 with Joest.
Born and raised in Paris, Pescarolo began his career in a Lotus Seven aged 22. Pescarolo participated in 64 Formula One Grands Prix, achieving one fastest lap, one podium finish, and 12 championship points. He also entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans a record 33 times between and , with four overall and six class wins; he won several other major sportscar racing events, including the: 24 Hours of Daytona, 1000 km of Monza, 1000 km of Spa-Francorchamps, 6 Hours of Nürburgring and 1000 km Buenos Aires. Pescarolo also drove in the Dakar Rally in the 1990s, before retiring from racing aged 57.
Upon his retirement from motor racing in 1999, Pescarolo founded the eponymous racing team, Pescarolo Sport, which competed at Le Mans until . He was widely known for his distinctive green helmet, and full-face beard that partially covers burns suffered in a crash.
Early career and Formula One
Born in Montfermeil near Paris, Pescarolo began his career in 1965 with a Lotus Seven. He was successful enough to be offered a third car in the Matra Formula 3 team for 1966, but the car was not ready until mid-season. However, in 1967 he won the European Championship with Matra and was promoted to Formula 2 for 1968. That season he was team-mate to Jean-Pierre Beltoise and achieved several second places and a win at Albi, which led to him being given a drive in Matra's Formula One team for the last three races of 1968.
Pescarolo's career suffered a setback, in April 1969 at the Le Mans additional test session for the 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, when his Matra sports car got airborne on the Mulsanne Straight. Pescarolo was badly burned and did not compete again until mid-season. He returned in August for the 1969 German Grand Prix where he drove a Formula 2 Matra into fifth place winning the small capacity class, 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 the Monaco Grand Prix being the high point. He also won the Paris 1000 km and Buenos Aires 1000 km sports car races partnered with Beltoise. Pescarolo was not retained by Matra, and in 1971, 1972, and 1973 with Motul sponsorship, he drove for the fledgling Formula One team run by the young Frank Williams, but with little success. In 1974, Pescarolo drove for BRM, again with Motul backing, but the team's best days were gone and a ninth place in Argentina was his best result in a season with many retirements.
Pescarolo did not compete in Formula One in 1975 but returned to the championship in 1976 with a Surtees privately entered by BS 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 the 1976 Austrian Grand Prix.
Career after Formula One – sportscars
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 the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which he won as a driver four times (1972, 1973, 1974 and 1984). Pescarolo won the , an annual award presented by Porsche AG to recognize the world's most successful privateer racing driver competing with Porsche machinery in a customer racing team, in 1984.
His team, Pescarolo Sport, was notably sponsored by Sony's PlayStation 2 and by Gran Turismo 4. During the five years that Pescarolo has campaigned Courage 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.
In 1977,1977 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 19781978 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 and 1979 Pescarolo drove in Australia's most famous motor race, the Bathurst 1000 for touring cars held at the Mount Panorama Circuit, driving on all three occasions with 1974 race winner John Goss. Unfortunately all races resulted in a DNF for the Goss built Ford 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 rival Jacky Ickx win the race in a semi-works Falcon driving with Allan Moffat.
Pescarolo holds the record for Le Mans starts with 33 and has won the race on four occasions as a driver. He has yet to win the race as a team owner, coming very close in 2005 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 in 2006, followed by a third in 2007 behind a pair of diesel-powered prototypes.
Pescarolo drove the Dakar Rally in the 1990s, and is also a keen helicopter pilot.
Racing record
24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 1966 Matra Sports Jean-Pierre Jaussaud Matra M620-BRM P2.0 35 DNF DNF 1967 Equipe Matra Sports Jean-Pierre Jaussaud Matra MS630-BRM P2.0 55 DNF DNF 1968 Equipe Matra Sports Johnny Servoz-Gavin Matra MS630 P3.0 283 DNF DNF 1970 Equipe Matra-Simca Jean-Pierre Beltoise Matra-Simca MS660 P3.0 79 DNF DNF 1971 Scuderia Filipinetti Mike Parkes Ferrari 512F S5.0 120 DNF DNF 1972 Equipe Matra-Simca Shell Graham Hill Matra-Simca MS670 S3.0 344 1st 1st 1973 Equipe Matra-Simca Shell Gérard Larrousse Matra-Simca MS670B S3.0 355 1st 1st 1974 Equipe Gitanes Gérard Larrousse Matra-Simca MS670C S3.0 337 1st 1st 1975 Gitanes Automobiles Ligier François Migault Ligier JS2-Ford Cosworth S3.0 146 DNF DNF 1976 Inaltera Jean-Pierre Beltoise Inaltera LM-Ford Cosworth GTP 305 8th 1st 1977 Martini Racing Porsche System Jacky Ickx Porsche 936/77 S+2.0 45 DNF DNF 1978 Martini Racing Porsche System Jacky Ickx Jochen Mass Porsche 936/78 S+2.0 255 DNF DNF 1979 ITT Oceanic Jean Rondeau Jean-Pierre Beltoise Rondeau M379-Ford Cosworth S+2.0 279 10th 2nd 1980 ITT Jean Rondeau Jean Ragnotti Rondeau M379-Ford Cosworth S+2.0 124 DNF DNF 1981 Oceanic Jean Rondeau Patrick Tambay Rondeau M379-Ford Cosworth 2+2.0 41 DNF DNF 1982 Otis Automobiles Jean Rondeau Jean Ragnotti Jean Rondeau Rondeau M382-Ford Cosworth C 146 DNF DNF 1983 Ford France Thierry Boutsen Rondeau M482-Ford Cosworth C 174 DNF DNF 1984 New-Man Joest Racing Klaus Ludwig Porsche 956B C1 360 1st 1st 1985 Martini Lancia Mauro Baldi Lancia LC2-Ferrari C1 358 7th 7th 1986 Kouros Racing Team Christian Danner Dieter Quester Sauber C8-Mercedes C1 86 DNF DNF 1987 Kouros Racing Mike Thackwell Hideki Okada Sauber C9-Mercedes C1 123 DNF DNF 1988 Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing John Watson Raul Boesel Jaguar XJR-9LM C1 129 DNF DNF 1989 Joest Racing Claude Ballot-Léna Jean-Louis Ricci Porsche 962C C1 371 6th 6th 1990 Joest Porsche Racing Jean-Louis Ricci Jacques Laffite Porsche 962C C1 328 14th 14th 1991 Konrad Motorsport Joest Porsche Racing Louis Krages Bernd Schneider Porsche 962C C2 197 DNF DNF 1992 Courage Compétition Bob Wollek Jean-Louis Ricci Cougar C28LM-Porsche C3 335 6th 1st 1993 Joest Porsche Racing Bob Wollek Ronny Meixner Porsche 962C C2 351 9th 4th 1994 Courage Compétition Alain Ferté Franck Lagorce Courage C32LM-Porsche LMP1C90 142 DNF DNF 1995 Courage Compétition Franck Lagorce Éric Bernard Courage C41-Chevrolet WSC 26 DNF DNF 1996 La Filière Elf Franck Lagorce Emmanuel Collard Courage C36-Porsche LMP1 327 7th 2nd 1997 La Filière Elf Jean-Philippe Belloc Emmanuel Clérico Courage C36-Porsche LMP 319 7th 4th 1998 La Filière Elf Courage Compétition Olivier Grouillard Franck Montagny Courage C36-Porsche LMP1 304 15th 4th 1999 La Filière Elf Pescarolo Promotion Racing Team Michel Ferté Patrice Gay Courage C50-Porsche LMP 327 9th 8th
Complete European Formula Two Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Pts Matra Sports Matra MS7 Ford SNE SIL NÜR HOC TUL JAR ZAN PER BRH VAL NC 0 Matra Sports Matra MS7 Ford HOC THR JAR PAL TUL ZAN PER HOC VAL 2nd 30 Matra Sports Matra MS7 Ford THR HOC NÜR JAR TUL PER VAL 4th 13 Bob Gerard Racing Brabham BT30 Ford THR HOC BAR ROU PER TUL IMO HOC 10th 6 Frank Williams Racing Cars March 712M Ford HOC THR NÜR JAR PAL ROU MAN TUL ALB VAL VAL NC 0 Motul-Rondel Racing Brabham BT38 Ford MAL THR HOC PAU PAL HOC ROU ÖST IMO MAN PER SAL ALB HOC NC 0 Motul-Rondel Racing Motul M1 Ford MAL HOC THR NÜR PAU KIN NIV HOC ROU MNZ MAN KAR PER SAL NOR ALB VAL NC 0 Graded drivers not eligible for European Formula Two Championship points
Complete Formula One World Championship results (key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pts 1968 Matra Sports Matra MS11 Matra MS9 3.0 V12 RSA ESP MON BEL NED FRA GBR GER ITA CAN USA MEX NC 0 1969 Matra Sports Matra MS7 (F2) Ford Cosworth FVA 1.6 L4 RSA ESP MON NED FRA GBR GER ITA CAN USA MEX NC 0 1970 Équipe Matra Elf Matra-Simca MS120 Matra MS12 3.0 V12 RSA ESP MON BEL NED FRA GBR GER AUT ITA CAN USA MEX 12th 8 1971 Frank Williams Racing Cars March 701 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 RSA 17th 4 March 711 ESP MON NED FRA GBR GER AUT ITA CAN USA 1972 Team Williams Motul March 721 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG RSA ESP MON BEL FRA GER AUT ITA CAN USA NC 0 Politoys FX3 GBR 1973 STP March Racing Team March 721G/731 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG BRA RSA ESP BEL MON SWE NC 0 Frank Williams Racing Cars Iso-Marlboro IR FRA GBR NED GER AUT ITA CAN USA 1974 Team BRM BRM P160E BRM P142 3.0 V12 ARG BRA RSA ESP BEL MON NED NC 0 BRM P201 BRM P200 3.0 V12 SWE FRA GBR GER AUT ITA CAN USA 1976 Team Norev Racing with BS Fabrications Surtees TS19 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 BRA RSA USW ESP BEL MON SWE FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA CAN USA JPN NC 0
Non-championship Formula One results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1967 Matra Sports Matra MS5 (F2) Ford Cosworth FVA 1.6 L4 ROC SPC INT SYR OUL Matra MS7 (F2) ESP 1971 Frank Williams Racing Cars March 701 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG ROC March 711 QUE SPR INT RIN OUL VIC 1972 Team Williams Motul March 721 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ROC BRA INT OUL VIC March 711 REP 1974 Team BRM BRM P160E BRM P142 3.0 V12 PRE ROC INT
Major race results 24 hours of Daytona : 1st, 1991 1000 km Buenos Aires : 1st, 1970 6 Hours of Nürburgring : 1st, 1986 Brands Hatch 1000 km : 1st, 1971 1000 km Zeltweg : 1st, 1972, 1974, 1975 Dijon 1000 km : 1st, 1972, 1978, 1979 6 Hours of Imola : 1st, 1974 Spa 1000 km : 1st, 1975 Suzuka 10 Hours : 1st, 1981 1000 km Monza : 1st, 1982 6 Hours of Vallelunga : 1st, 1972, 1978 6 Hours of Kyalami : 1st, 1974 6 Hours of Watkins Glen : 1st, 1972, 1974, 1975 Interserie Siegerland : 1st, 1984 1000 km of Paris : 1st, 1969, 1994
References
See also
Pescarolo Sport