21 replies to this topic

[markpde]

I remember a period in the mid-'70s (I think it might have been 1974) when Gerard Larrousse won an international motor race for several consecutive weekends. Can't recall how many, but it was featured on the front page of Motoring News - most of the wins were in the European 2-litre Sportscar Championship; presumbably the others were with Matra, but I think one was even a rally! It was certainly a remarkable feat, he was obviously at the peak of his abilities.

So how good was Gerard Larrousse? I can't remember him ever driving in Formula One - or even testing - did he ever test, perhaps for Matra or Ligier? In that respect I've often wondered if he was one of the great 'lost talents'.

[Doug Nye]

As an endurance racing driver, very - in anything with enclosed wheels. Judging by the standards he set there - out of his depth in open wheelers. Always seemed a very pleasant bloke too - which yet again could rule him out of the top drawer where single-seater drivers are concerned.

DCN

[plutoman]

He drove briefly in F1 in 1974 in a rent-a-drive Finotto Brabham; one start, one dnq. He also drove a season of F2 in '75, but this, unusually, was at the end of his driving career after his success in sports cars.

[Formula Once]

He did well in rallies for NSU, got a drive for Alpine, won a Formula France-race for then at Albi, joined Porsche and won the Sebring 12 Hours in a 917, won the Tour de France and Le Mans for Matra and, finally, an F2-race at Hockenheim and a sportscar race at Mugello for Renault. Then, in charge of Renault Sport, he led the French to wins at Le Mans, in Formula 1 and the Monte Carlo rally.

I'd say he was pretty good.

PS In 1974, he was the first driver to drive a Finotto-Brabham (Belgian GP) and the only driver to actually race it in a Grand Prix, although he was lucky of course that at Nivelles all 31 cars where allowed to start that year. He retired after 53 laps (while in 21st position) and then failed to qualify at Dijon later that year.

[Sharman]

I know he is a very nice man and a very pleasant person to sit next to at the TNF Monaco lunch. One of the things he touched upon was how frightened he had been EACH time he jumped out of an aeroplane when doing his National Service. 25 jumps and it never got any better, he says he was right because on the 25th he broke both his legs!

[MCS]

Whenever he visited the Lola factory in Huntingdon during the Larousse F1 days, they always ensured that there was a large framed photograph of him in a Lola sportscar in an obvious place (which was rather nice)...

[Formula Once]

As an endurance racing driver, very - in anything with enclosed wheels. Judging by the standards he set there - out of his depth in open wheelers. Always seemed a very pleasant bloke too - which yet again could rule him out of the top drawer where single-seater drivers are concerned.

DCN

Why is it that it is so often suggested that one has to be "not pleasant" to be successful in single-seaters i.e. F1? I know of course of the many bad examples (or good ones in this respect...), but I found men like Laffite, Arnoux, Ickx, Jones, Mario Andretti, Boutsen and Emerson Fittipaldi (to name but a few) all very "pleasant blokes" and put them in my top drawer, or the higher ones at least, performance wise too. And although I never met them, I can only imagine that Phil Hill, Jackie Stewart and Jim Clark (again to name but a few) weren't "unpleasant" either. A seventies F1-team manager recently told me that "you really had to be a bastard to win" and I understand that feeling but it seems that, in my opinion, some had to be that a bit more than others.

Edited by Formula Once, 19 June 2010 - 14:29.

[markpde]

I didn't know about the Finotto-Brabham deal - that must have passed me by. I vaguely remembered him driving in Formula 2, but I suppose 1975 was rather late in the day. Probably his old friend and Martini-Porsche team-mate Vic Elford would be the best judge of his abilities in sportscars.

[Frank de Jong]

Larrousse was good enough for a Ford works contract in 1972, winning two ETCC races.

[alansart]

As an endurance racing driver, very - in anything with enclosed wheels. Judging by the standards he set there - out of his depth in open wheelers.
DCN

He wasn't that bad in the 75 F2 Championship. I seem to remember him being pretty quick at Silverstone and when he got to the finish of a race he was nearer the front than back in what was a fairly competitive field.

75 Results:

Estoril - DNA
Thruxton - DNS
Hockenheim - 1st
Nurburgring - NC
Pau - 4th
Hockenheim - NC
Salzburg - DNF
Rouen - DNA
Enna - 2nd
Silverstone - 2nd
Zolder - 11th
Nogaro - DNF
Vallunga - 6th

Edited by alansart, 21 June 2010 - 14:48.

[arttidesco]

I guess we need a stat man to compare the results of Gerard Larrousse against some on like Vic Elford who also won in Sports Cars and Rallies and Gijs Van Lennep who so far as i know did not drive any rally vehicles, but did win the Formula 5000 championship in 1972.

Edited by arttidesco, 22 June 2010 - 17:54.

[Sharman]

Useless. You,ll never get a true comparison from statistcs. Too many variables in input.

[MCS]

I guess we need a stat man to compare the results of Gerard Larrousse against some on like Vic Elford who also won in Sports Cars and Rallies and Gijs Van Lennep who so far as i know did not drive any rally vehicles, but did win the Formula 5000 championship in 1972.

Van Lennep did some rallying in the late sixties. I'm 95% sure I saw him in the 1970 World Cup Rally Film at the TNF Hertfordshire Film Show recently, although he wasn't driving at the time and doesn't appear in the Entry List to the best of my knowledge.

[Formula Once]

Van Lennep did some rallying in the late sixties. I'm 95% sure I saw him in the 1970 World Cup Rally Film at the TNF Hertfordshire Film Show recently, although he wasn't driving at the time and doesn't appear in the Entry List to the best of my knowledge.

He did indeed, including the Monte Carlo.

[arttidesco]

Knew some one would me right on van Lennep and rallying, here is a picture of Gijs with brother David with their DAF 55 on Monte Carlo rally in 1968 :-) Thanks MCS & FO :-)

[seccotine]

He was better than Van Lennep. No comparison.
The problem with Larrousse is that it was too late when he drove a F1. The car was bad and at 32 - in the 70s, that made him an old driver -, Larrousse wasn't as quick and dedicated as he would have been four or five years earlier.
One more of those careers that wasn't as successful as it could have been (although a career with two wins at Le Mans and several victories in rallies, sportscars, F2 can't seriously be called a failure).

[Formula Once]

He was better than Van Lennep. No comparison.
The problem with Larrousse is that it was too late when he drove a F1. The car was bad and at 32 - in the 70s, that made him an old driver -, Larrousse wasn't as quick and dedicated as he would have been four or five years earlier.
One more of those careers that wasn't as successful as it could have been (although a career with two wins at Le Mans and several victories in rallies, sportscars, F2 can't seriously be called a failure).

No comparison? Not if you don't make one no.

There is no doubt that Gijs lost some of his speed after his crash at Spa, as he admits himself, but his record speak for itself.

By the way: Gijs was older than Gérard when he scored his last world championship point and the car in which he did that wasn't great either.

Hard to say one was better than the other, they merely were both part of a whole bunch of drivers who in those days were doing pretty well, particularly in sportscars.

[arttidesco]

Of course in the decades before Larousse, Van Lennep and Vic Elford drivers found more opportunities to show their versatility Graham Hill won in F1, USAC & sports cars , AJ Foyt won in USAC, Sports Cars and NASCAR, Mario Andretti won in USAC, Sports Cars, F1 and NASCAR, and Jim Clark won in just about everything, Sterling Moss won in F1 and Sports Cars as did Juan Fangio and Mike Hawthorn.

The last two winners of Le Mans and and an F1 race were Michele Alboreto in 1997 and Johnny Herbert in 1991.

[john winfield]

I don't think I'm qualified to say how good Larrousse was but, whenever I saw him in sports cars or Formula 2, he was pretty quick. The last time I saw him race, he won, at Donington, about ten years ago; sorry, I can't remember in which category, or even at which meeting. Hopefully you can see him below in the paddock afterwards. He had just handled an interview, in English, with the young lad on the left who, I would guess was aged about thirteen. The lad wielded a hand-held recorder, had an encyclopaedic knowledge of the sport and was in the throes of developing a motor sport website. He now probably works for Autosport or, at the very least, lurks somewhere on this forum!


http://yfrog.com/5fglarroussej

Ah, that was meant to be a photo, not a link. I'll try and get it right next time. yfrog.com seems appropriate.

Edited by john winfield, 02 July 2010 - 10:00.

[seccotine]

He had this reputation of being a pleasant and well-educated man.
The 13 year-old kid could confirm that.

[thecako]

He had this reputation of being a pleasant and well-educated man.
The 13 year-old kid could confirm that.

See his web site to have his palmares and to see more and more picture of him
www.gerard-larrousse.com

Actualy Gérard work for the "club des pilotes des 24h du mans" to do some event during the next 24 h of le Mans

[Ian McKean]

See my post from elsewhere http://forums.autosp...w...t&p=1020872

I was very impressed by Larrousse on Speech House!