Jean-Pierre Jabouille 1943-2023

Sadly we lost Jean-Pierre.       

https://www.autohebd...est-decede.html

He did not win a lot but heck his wins were significant.

He worked his ass off to make the Turbo work.

Very unlucky with a terrible reliability record which had a negative effect on his results.

Very humble and intelligent man.

As a Viry Fan, it hurts a lot.

Edited by Viryfan, 02 February 2023 - 17:26.

Sadly we lost Jean-Pierre.       

 

https://www.autohebd...est-decede.html

 

He did not win a lot but heck his wins were significant.

 

He worked his ass off to make the Turbo work.

 

Very unlucky with a terrible reliability record which had a negative effect on his results.

 

Very humble and intelligent man.

 

As a Viry Fan, it hurts a lot.

Salut, Jean-Pierre! 

I hope they do something at Retromobile this week, to remember him. We were few, but I still have goosebumps at seeing it was his helmet in the 905 the first time it went by us, on that cold Friday morning in Montreal, in 1990. That lap, I saw a man put a ghost behind himself, considering Montreal was where hed' paid such a dear price 10 years earlier...

Edited by FLB, 02 February 2023 - 19:18.

Sad news

Salut, Jean-Pierre! 

 

 

I hope they do something at Retromobile this week, to remember him. We were few, but I still have goosebumps at seeing it was his helmet in the 905 the first time it went by us, on that cold Friday monring in Montreal, in 1990. That lap, I saw a man put a ghost behind himself, considering Montreal was where hed' paid such a dear price 10 years earlier...

I wonder what Daniel Champion (Renault Elf n°1 mechanic) is going through at the moment after the loss of Tambay and now Jabouille.

:-(  

The ultimate driver/engineer. Rest in Peace.

Jabouille’s role in patiently helping to make the turbo concept work, rather than being chucked in the bin in its early days, should never be under-estimated. The project - and thus the turbo revolution per se, which brought the manufacturers into the sport en masse - might never have succeeded without him, making him a more significant character in the sport’s history than his modest driving successes imply.

Edited by wj_gibson, 03 February 2023 - 09:40.

Driver of great note, engineer......I remember watching Dijon 79 on TV of course.....and being upset when he was injured in 1980. Thrilled when he turned up at Le Mans with the Peugeot in the 90s and was competitive. In another universe he probably challenged for the WDC, and would certainly have won more grands prix had the Renaults been more reliable or if he'd stayed there into the 80s. 

RIP. Jabouille and Tambay in quick succession. Damn.

If there is one team within F1 that I instantly associate with turbos, it is Renault.

If there is one driver within F1 that I instantly associate with turbos, it is Jean Pierre Jabouille

It is a maddening thought to remember that he has three records with F1 history of which two of them are results of point scoring positions. An these two point scoring positions make up 2/3th of his point scoring finishes!

And one of his moments of history is almost overlooked because of the duel behind him that made the headlines.....

A driver I have much more respect for that for a number of drivers who got into reliable cars that almost certainly would bring them to the finish.

A key player in some of the most important changes within F1 technology history.

Rest In Peace Jean Pierre Jabouille, and thanks for the memories and the efforts you'll be remembered for.

Henri

He was known as "Le grand blond" for something. A great carrier, which will always be linked to the rise of Renault to world class contenders at the top of motorsports.

I have counted only 11 F1 finishes out of 49 starts, which explains his relatively low number of wins (two)

Rest in peace.

RIP. Jabouille and Tambay in quick succession. Damn.

R I P

Very sad

Very sad news. Apart from his career in single seaters, let’s not forget his 4 podiums at Le Mans, two with Peugeot in his autumn years, when he was 50 years old. RIP, salut Jean-Pierre.

The best way to remember him...

I wonder what Daniel Champion (Renault Elf n°1 mechanic) is going through at the moment after the loss of Tambay and now Jabouille.

It must be hard for Gérard Larrousse as well, especially as it wasn't too long ago that Vic Elford died.

Sad. But he's synonymous with the Renault turbo effort, which was the most significant manufacturer intervention into Grand Prix racing since the 1930s, if not of all time. A great legacy. Two Grand Prix victories is not a bad haul either (what was the other one, aside from the 1979 French GP?)

Also, wasn't he a team manager somewhere important after he hung up the helmet?

His other GP win was in Austria 80

He replaced Jean Todt (who was leaving for Ferrari) at Peugeot Sport.

Jabouille's Renault at Watkins Glen in 1979. We were in Montreal when he was injured. Sad to hear of his passing, condolences to those close to him.

B² photo

Always felt a bit bad for him that his first GP win was overshadowed by the battle behind him.

RIP

Indeed, he was 15 seconds up the road!

Yes this technician and fast driver tested and helped the development of countless innovations and daring technical solutions, not only on the engines, during those early Turbo years, and many of them have remained to this day, or have become fashionable again decades later. He paved the way to the early and later success at Alpine-Renault
R.I.P Jean Pierre Jabouille.

Edited by Alburaq, 03 February 2023 - 11:05.

Always felt a bit bad for him that his first GP win was overshadowed by the battle behind him.

RIP

I'd expect he neither knew nor cared how Rene Arnoux was getting on further back! Winning Renault's first Grand Prix since 1906 -- and once again at the French Grand Prix -- must've been an experience that few other racing careers could match.

I'd expect he neither knew nor cared how Rene Arnoux was getting on further back! Winning Renault's first Grand Prix since 1906 -- and once again at the French Grand Prix -- must've been an experience that few other racing careers could match.

The picture at the top of the article is one of my all-time favourite pictures. You can see Jabouille isn't celebrating: He's in shock at the magnitude of what had just happened. Gilles Villeneuve is trying to hand him the bottle of Moët & Chandon and Le grand blond à la voiture jaune just isn't interested...

Premier vainqueur Renault en F1, Jean-Pierre Jabouille est décédé (autohebdo.fr)

It was also the first properly French victory (car and engine) in a major Grand Prix race since the 1930s (obvs Jackie Stewart had already won the world championship with a Matra-Ford). During WW2 much of the French automobile industry (the most advanced and extensive in Europe, I think?) had been taken off to Germany by the Nazis so I expect the full significance wasn't lost on the many Frenchmen present.

Thanks, shame on me but I had no idea Gordini won a major Grand Prix, even a non-championship one. Perhaps you'd include the Talbot-Lago victories of Louises Rosier and Chiron in the 1949 French and Belgian Grands Prix too.

Edited by Collombin, 03 February 2023 - 18:10.

Said in the other thread, I find Jabouille fascinating, because….just look at his career record on Wikipedia. It’s crazy. He was really, really quick - six pole positions, loads of races led, two victories and could easily have had more. Synonymous with Renault in that era. Borderline iconic, him in that yellow and black Renault. And yeah, aside from those two wins he has virtually nothing to show in terms of results. Twice as many career pole positions as career points finishes. Probably one of the most interesting careers I’ve ever seen. In the 1976 F2 Championship he was consistent and put together a great title season, but in F1 car reliability was everything.

We should say for the sake of balance that his replacement at the Renault Grand Prix team was alright.

Very sad news to hear. We seem to be losing a lot of the old guard recently

Three ex-Renault Sport F1 drivers in the space of two months (Tambay, Jabouille and Streiff, who had his first Grand-Prix in a third Renault).

Jacques Laffite is ill as well (Parkinson's).

Edited by FLB, 03 February 2023 - 19:25.

Always felt a bit bad for him that his first GP win was overshadowed by the battle behind him.

RIP

He was known as "Le grand blond" for something. A great carrier, which will always be linked to the rise of Renault to world class contenders at the top of motorsports.

I have counted only 11 F1 finishes out of 49 starts, which explains his relatively low number of wins (two)

Rest in peace.

Edited by Nemo1965, 04 February 2023 - 16:41.

I have the strong impression this nickname was given to JP because of the (in France) wildly popular French movie Le grand blond avec une chaussure noire (1972), in which a violin player played by Pierre Richard unwillingly gets mixed up in a wild spionage adventure. I think hence every tall, reddish-blonde guy in France, would be quickly called: 'Ah, the Le Grand Blond.' It is hard to overestimate how popular this movie was in France at that time. And if your name is Jean-Pierre, well, then...

 

Here's a snippet:

https://youtu.be/ujn1N6GWJoU

Yup! The movie was even remade en English with the badly-cast (IMHO) Tom Hanks in the lead role (The Man with One Red Shoe). But lets just say that Mireille Darc (and her dress) also largely contributed to the movie's popularity 

This music is known to generations of Francophones:

When I went back and watched the old BBC coverage of F1 races from 1979 onwards, he was the driver I "supported", even though I bascially knew all the results in advance. I'd got into F1 in the earlyish 80s as a Prost/Renault fan as yellow was (and still is) my favourite colour. So supporting Jabouille seemed the natural extension of that. I think he was a bit unlucky with some of his result and could have won a few more. I also wonder what he might have done in the 1981 Ligier without breaking his legs at the end of 1980, given that Lafitte wasn't far off the title.