Jean-Pierre Alain Jabouille (1 October 1942 – 2 February 2023) was a French racing driver and engineer, who competed in Formula One from to . Jabouille won two Formula One Grands Prix across seven seasons.

Jabouille raced in 55 Formula One Grands Prix, collecting two wins during the first years of Renault's turbocharged programme in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Jabouille also raced the 24 Hours of Le Mans from the late 1960s to the early 1990s, driving for Alpine, Matra, Sauber, and Peugeot and collecting four third-place overall finishes in 1973, 1974, 1992, and 1993.

Early and personal life Jean-Pierre Alain Jabouille was born on 1 October 1942 in Paris, then occupied by Nazi Germany. He was of Creusois descent through his father, Robert Jabouille (1899–1967), an architect for the City of Paris who co-designed the current (third) Pont de Grenelle and the Allée des Cygnes. Jabouille briefly studied fine arts at the Sorbonne before turning to motorsport, and went on to qualify as an engineer.

He met his future racing partner and brother-in-law Jacques Laffite as a child, at a roller-skating rink in Paris, when Jabouille was twelve and Laffite eleven. In 1974, Jabouille married Geneviève Cottin; the couple divorced in 1997. Three years later, Laffite married Geneviève's sister, Bernadette Cottin. Jabouille's son, Victor, also became a racing driver, competing in single-seater and historic motorsport.

Career

Jabouille first made his mark in French Formula Three in 1967, and continued in 1968, maintaining the car himself on his way to the runner up spot behind François Cevert. For 1969, he was contracted as a development driver by Alpine, having several disjointed runs in Formula Two and sports cars. In 1973, he co-drove a Matra to third at the Le Mans 24 Hours, and repeated this feat in 1974, when he also won the Formula neo race at Hockenheim, and finished as runner-up in the European 2-litre series for Alpine. He also made his first appearances in Formula One, failing to qualify an Iso–Marlboro at the French Grand Prix, and a Surtees at the Austrian Grand Prix.

1975 saw Jabouille sever his ties with Alpine, and gain Elf backing to make his own Formula Two chassis. He finished runner-up to Jacques Laffite, but finally made his full Grand Prix debut, finishing 12th in a works Tyrrell at the French Grand Prix. For 1976, he concentrated on Formula Two, finally winning the title.

Formula One Jabouille was signed up by Formula One team Renault to develop their new 1.5l turbocharged engine for 1977. The RS01 car debuted at the 1977 British Grand Prix, but initially the turbo engine (a first for Formula One) was fragile and suffered from severe turbo lag, making it difficult to drive on tight circuits. However, Jabouille, who was an engineer by trade persevered and developed the RS01 throughout, recording several notable qualifying positions in 1978, and landed the marque's first points with fourth place at the United States Grand Prix East at Watkins Glen, a circuit particularly tough on fuel consumption- one of the Renault turbo's biggest weaknesses.

1979 saw Renault expand to run a second car for René Arnoux. Jabouille secured Renault's first Formula One pole at the South African Grand Prix, and then won their first victory, fittingly at the French Grand Prix, also from pole. This was the first victory for a turbocharged car in Formula One. He took two more poles, at the German and Italian Grands Prix, but poor reliability meant the win was his only score.

In 1980, Jabouille took two more poles and another win at the Austrian Grand Prix. A suspension failure in the Canadian Grand Prix caused a sizeable accident, which left him with a broken leg, just after he had signed with Ligier for 1981. His injuries saw him sit out the first two races of the 1981 season, but it soon became clear he was not fully fit, failing to qualify for two of his four attempts, at which point he decided to retire from Formula One. Subsequently, he stayed with Ligier and became team manager in 1982. In 1984, he transferred to Ligier's joint entry with Curb Racing in the 1984 CART series, as team manager.

Sportscars Jabouille returned to racing in the mid-1980s, driving in the French Supertouring Championship before joining Peugeot to help develop their sports car programme at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This culminated in third places for the marque in both the 1992 and 1993 races. In 1994, he succeeded Jean Todt as director of Peugeot Sport, but unsuccessful seasons for Peugeot as engine suppliers in Formula One with McLaren and Jordan saw him sacked in 1995. Following that, he ran his own sports car team in the ISRS.

Death Jabouille died on 2 February 2023 at the age of 80.

Racing record

Career summary SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsPolesF/LapsPodiumsPointsPosition1968European Formula TwoMatra Sports100000NC24 Hours of Le MansSociété des Automobiles Alpine100000NC196924 Hours of Le MansSociété des Automobiles Alpine200000NC1970European Formula TwoConstructions Mécaniques Pygmée20000216th24 Hours of Le MansEquipe Matra-Simca10000N/ADNF1971European Formula TwoEquipe Tecno Elf100000NC1972European Formula TwoElf John Coombs80001714th24 Hours of Le MansÉquipe Matra-Simca Shell10000N/ADNF1973European Formula TwoElf John Coombs50000324th24 Hours of Le MansÉquipe Matra-Simca Shell10001N/A 3rd1974European Formula TwoEcurie Elf71133204thWorld Sportscar ChampionshipÉquipe Gitanes200010NCFormula OneFrank Williams Racing Cars000000NCTeam Surtees000001975European Formula TwoEcurie Elf131133245thWorld Sportscar ChampionshipElf Alpine-Renault412120NCFormula OneElf Team Tyrrell100000NC1976European Formula TwoEcurie Elf123416531stWorld Sportscar ChampionshipElf Alpine-Renault400010NC24 Hours of Le MansRenault Sport10000N/ADNF1977Formula OneEquipe Renault Elf400000NC24 Hours of Le MansÉquipe Renault Elf10000N/ADNF1978Formula OneEquipe Renault Elf140000317th24 Hours of Le MansEquipe Renault Elf Sport Calberson10000N/A4thEquipe Renault Elf SportN/ADNF1979Formula OneEquipe Renault Elf141401913th1980Formula OneEquipe Renault Elf13120198th1981Formula OneEquipe Talbot Gitanes300000NC1987World Touring Car ChampionshipBastos Racing Team100000NC198924 Hours of Le MansTeam Sauber Mercedes10000N/A5th1990World Sportscar ChampionshipPeugeot Talbot Sport200000NC199124 Hours of Le MansPeugeot Talbot Sport10100N/ADNF199224 Hours of Le MansPeugeot Talbot Sport10101N/A 3rd199324 Hours of Le MansPeugeot Talbot Sport10101N/A 3rd

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 Cosworth FVA HOC THR JAR PAL TUL ZAN PER HOC VAL NC 0 Constructions Mécaniques Pygmée Pygmée MDB15 Cosworth FVA THR HOC BAR ROU PER TUL IMO HOC 16th 2 Equipe Tecno Elf Tecno TF71 Ford BDA HOC THR NÜR JAR PAL ROU MAN TUL ALB VLL VLL NC 0 Elf John Coombs March 722 Ford BDA MAL THR HOC IMO MAN PER 14th 7 Alpine A367 PAU PAL HOC ROU ÖST SAL ALB HOC Elf John Coombs Alpine A367 Ford BDA MAL HOC THR NÜR PAU KIN NIV HOC ROU MNZ MAN KAR PER SAL NOR ALB VLL 24th 3 Ecurie Elf Alpine A367 BMW BAR HOC PAU SAL HOC MUG KAR PER HOC VLL 4th 20 Ecurie Elf Elf 2J BMW EST THR HOC NÜR PAU HOC SAL ROU MUG PER SIL ZOL NOG VLL 5th 24 Ecurie Elf Elf 2J Renault HOC THR VLL SAL PAU HOC ROU MUG PER EST NOG HOC 1st 53

24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 1968 Société des Automobiles Alpine Jean Guichet Alpine A220-Renault-Gordini P3.0 185 DNF DNF 1969 Société des Automobiles Alpine Patrick Depailler Alpine A220/69-Renault-Gordini P3.0 209 DNF DNF 1970 Equipe Matra-Simca Patrick Depailler Matra-Simca MS650 P3.0 70 DNF DNF 1972 Équipe Matra-Simca Shell David Hobbs Matra-Simca MS660C S3.0 278 DNF DNF 1973 Équipe Matra-Simca Shell Jean-Pierre Jaussaud Matra-Simca MS670B S3.0 331 3rd 3rd 1974 Équipe Gitanes François Migault Matra-Simca MS670C S3.0 324 3rd 3rd 1976 Renault Sport Patrick Tambay José Dolhem Renault Alpine A442 S3.0 135 DNF DNF 1977 Équipe Renault Elf Derek Bell Renault Alpine A442 S+2.0 257 DNF DNF 1978 Equipe Renault Elf Sport Calberson Guy Fréquelin Jean Ragnotti José Dolhem Renault Alpine A442A S+2.0 358 4th 4th Equipe Renault Elf Sport Patrick Depailler Renault Alpine A443 S+2.0 279 DNF DNF 1989 Team Sauber Mercedes Jean-Louis Schlesser Alain Cudini Sauber C9-Mercedes C1 378 5th 5th 1991 Peugeot Talbot Sport Mauro Baldi Philippe Alliot Peugeot 905 C1 22 DNF DNF 1992 Peugeot Talbot Sport Mauro Baldi Philippe Alliot Peugeot 905 Evo 1B C1 345 3rd 3rd 1993 Peugeot Talbot Sport Mauro Baldi Philippe Alliot Peugeot 905 Evo 1B C1 367 3rd 3rd

Complete Formula One results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 WDC Pts. 1974 Frank Williams Racing Cars Iso–Marlboro FW Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG BRA RSA ESP BEL MON SWE NED FRA GBR GER NC 0 Team Surtees Surtees TS16 AUT ITA CAN USA 1975 Elf Team Tyrrell Tyrrell 007 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG BRA RSA ESP MON BEL SWE NED FRA GBR GER AUT ITA USA NC 0 1977 Equipe Renault Elf Renault RS01 Renault-Gordini EF1 1.5 V6 t ARG BRA RSA USW ESP MON BEL SWE FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA USA CAN JPN NC 0 1978 Equipe Renault Elf Renault RS01 Renault-Gordini EF1 1.5 V6 t ARG BRA RSA USW MON BEL ESP SWE FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA USA CAN 17th 3 1979 Equipe Renault Elf Renault RS01 Renault-Gordini EF1 1.5 V6 t ARG BRA RSA USW 13th 9 Renault RS10 ESP BEL MON FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA CAN USA 1980 Equipe Renault Elf Renault RE20 Renault-Gordini EF1 1.5 V6 t ARG BRA RSA USW BEL MON FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA CAN USA 8th 9 1981 Equipe Talbot Gitanes Ligier JS17 Matra MS81 3.0 V12 USW BRA ARG SMR BEL MON ESP FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA CAN CPL NC 0

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