Jean-Pierre Mosnier
#1
Posted 25 February 2003 - 13:04
I met him through a lady that I knew, who he was wooing. She had some connection with an F3 team. We were members of the same motor club and were both on a club ski trip to Soll in Austria. On the last evening, Jean-Pierre turned up at the hotel to see her, having driven down from Munich where he had business. In the morning, my ski party (including Jean-Pierre’s friend) took an early flight home, instead of the evening flight we were booked on (I have never understood why – there was some rumour that London airport would be fog-bound or something) leaving just me and him. So we went out for a morning’s ski-ing. He was taking things very gingerly, due to his recent surgery. As I was not a very good skier in those days (and little better now!), he kindly spent the morning coaching me. He had been a French junior ski team-member, so he knew his parallels from his schuss. I learnt a great deal! Then we had a nice lunch, watching the down-hill racing on the TV and then went our separate ways. I never met him again.
So I would be interested to know what happened to him after that, and how he got involved in these F1 efforts. Can anyone cast any light?
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#2
Posted 17 July 2010 - 20:40
#3
Posted 17 July 2010 - 20:53
#4
Posted 17 July 2010 - 22:06
With reference to Bravo - Escuderia Bravo F1 Espana, in full - I took the phone call from Jean-François Mosnier when he rang Motoring News with details of the project in early November, 1992. He wasn't the money man, as such, but had negotiated backing from a Spanish business consortium and planned to run two Nick Wirth-designed cars in 1993, with Jordi Gené in one and the second driver TBA. Mosnier was a French Anglophile, but plumped for Spain because, he said, "The country has nothing else like it and that made it ideal when raising support. There are too many teams in Britain and Italy."
Sadly, he was taken seriously ill only a few days after announcing the project and died on November 20, aged 46. The cars he'd commissioned morphed into Simteks and eventually appeared in 1994.
I'd known "Mos" for about eight years and he was an engaging individual. He ran the works Lola F3000 team from 1985-1988... and kept the Lola Motorsport name after the deal turned sour. So for 1989, Lola Motorsport struck a late deal to run, er, March 88Bs. The cars were still being put together in the pit garage ahead of the season's first race, at Silverstone - and Mos was in the thick of it, getting covered in carbon shrapnel as bits were filed to fit. He quite often used to make the tea, too.
"Character" is an oft-overused word, but in this instance it is wholly appropriate.