Érik Comas

Érik Comas
Born	(1963-09-28) September 28, 1963 France
Occupation	Racing driver
Years active	1985–2017 (racing career)
Known for	Formula One driver (1991–1994), two-time All-Japan GT Championship winner (1998, 1999)

Érik Gilbert Comas (; born 28 September 1963) is a retired French racing driver who participated in Formula One from 1991 to 1994. In Japan’s motorsport scene, Comas secured consecutive titles in the All-Japan GT Championship during the 1998 and 1999 seasons, representing Nismo.

He claimed the French Formula Three Championship crown in 1988 and captured the International Formula 3000 championship in 1990, having narrowly missed out to Jean Alesi on a tiebreaker in 1989. Over his Formula One career, Comas competed in 63 Grands Prix between 1991 and 1994, accumulating seven championship points. His final points finish occurred at the 1994 German Grand Prix, which also marked the last points scored by the Larrousse team. After leaving Formula One, he achieved back-to-back victories in the All-Japan GT Championship’s GT500 category with Nismo (1998–1999) and secured second place at the 24 Hours of Le Mans driving for Pescarolo Sport.

1991 and 1992: Ligier

Following his triumph in the 1990 F3000 series, Comas joined the Ligier Formula One outfit for the 1991 season. The Ligier JS35, powered by a Lamborghini engine, struggled to compete effectively. Comas failed to qualify for his debut race in Brazil, finished tenth at Imola during the San Marino GP, and recorded his best result of eighth place in Canada, ending the year without scoring points. Despite additional failures to qualify and a crash at Hockenheim, he matched his teammate Thierry Boutsen, who also did not score any points that season.

At the start of 1992, Comas’s position was briefly uncertain due to Alain Prost testing Ligier’s new Renault-powered car with intentions either to race or acquire the team. Comas later disclosed that he did not participate in any winter testing mileage. Prost eventually withdrew from negotiations, allowing Comas to retain his seat alongside Boutsen. The 1992 Ligier JS37, equipped with a Renault V10 engine, showed potential but lacked consistency. Comas earned his first Formula One point by finishing sixth in Canada, followed by a fifth-place finish at the home French Grand Prix and another point-scoring sixth place in Germany. Accumulating four points total, he outperformed Boutsen and ranked eleventh in the Drivers' Championship. At the Belgian Grand Prix that year, Comas experienced a serious qualifying accident at Blanchimont which left him unconscious inside his running car. Ayrton Senna intervened by turning off the engine and stabilizing Comas until medical personnel arrived—a moment Comas credits with saving his life.

1993 and 1994: Larrousse

After Ligier chose not to renew his contract for 1993, Comas joined the smaller Larrousse team, piloting the Lamborghini V12-powered LH93. The car proved uncompetitive; he retired from half of the sixteen races and managed only one points finish with sixth place at Monza.

In 1994, Larrousse switched to Ford HB engines for their new model, the LH94. Comas scored points by finishing sixth twice—at both the Pacific Grand Prix and Hockenheim—these being his final points as well as Larrousse’s last in Formula One. He gave up his seat for the season finale to Jean-Denis Delétraz, who brought additional sponsorship funds.

During the tragic events of the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, a radio communication error led to Comas being released onto the track during a red flag period following Senna’s fatal accident. Encountering emergency crews and vehicles on course, he braked abruptly to avoid collisions and chose not to restart after witnessing medical personnel attending to Senna.

Post-Formula One Career

Following the conclusion of his Formula One tenure in 1994, Comas pursued competition in Japan's top-tier racing category, the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC). Representing Nissan with a factory-backed Nismo Skyline GT-R, he captured the GT500 championship titles in both 1998 and 1999, and secured second place overall in 2000. After transitioning to the factory Toyota squad in 2003, Comas amassed the highest career points total in the series at that time—a milestone eventually eclipsed by fellow Nismo driver Satoshi Motoyama.

Between 2004 and 2005, Comas competed under Masahiro Hasemi's independent Hasemi Sport team, driving non-factory Nissan 350Z vehicles in the GT500 class. He notably claimed victory in the team's only triumph at the non-championship "All-Star 200" exhibition held at California Speedway, sharing the cockpit with Toshihiro Kaneishi.

In the 2006 season of what had been renamed Super GT, Comas raced for Masahiko Kondo’s private Nissan 350Z team. Concurrently, he broadened his motorsport involvement by entering international rally events and establishing Comas Racing Management (CRM), an organization dedicated to nurturing promising French driving talents.

Health complications during 2006 necessitated his replacement by Seiji Ara at Sportsland SUGO, leading to Comas withdrawing from the final trio of races that year.

Comas achieved victories in the electric vehicle division of the Rallye Monte Carlo des Véhicules à Énergie Alternative consecutively in 2010 and 2011, piloting a Tesla Roadster. In 2014, he triumphed at the Carrera Panamericana behind the wheel of a Studebaker. Additionally, from 2012 through 2017, he participated in rally competitions driving a Lancia Stratos.

Having retired from professional racing, Comas now manages Comas Historic Racing, which provides clients with historic rally experiences featuring his collection of blue Alpine automobiles. In 2019, he acquired and restored a street-legal version of the Nissan R390 GT1, a car he originally competed with during the 1998 Le Mans 24 Hours.

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
1985	Championnat de France Formule Renault Turbo	Ecurie Elf	12	1	0	1	6	98	4th
1986	Championnat de France Formule Renault Turbo	Ecurie Elf	13	8	9	9	12	163	1st
1987	French Supertouring Championship	Sonica	12	3	?	?	?	?	1st
	French Formula Three Championship	Ecurie Elf	12	0	0	0	3	70	6th
1988	French Formula Three Championship	Ecurie Elf	12	4	5	4	10	136	1st
	Macau Grand Prix	Team KTR	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	10th
1989	International Formula 3000	DAMS	9	2	3	3	5	39	2nd
1990	1990 International Formula 3000 Championship	DAMS	"11"	"4"	"3"	"1"	"6"	"51"	1st
1991	1991 Formula One World Championship	Equipe Ligier Gitanes	"13"	"0"	"0"	"0"	"0"	"0"	"NC"
1992	1992 Formula One World Championship	Equipe Ligier Gitanes Blondes	"15"	"0"	"0"	"0"	"0"	"4"	"11th"
1993	1993 Formula One World Championship	Larrousse	"16"	"0"	"0"	"0"	"0"	"1"	"20th"
1994	1994 Formula One World Championship	Alken-Maes Larrousse	"15"	"0"	"0"	"0"	"0"	"2"	"23rd"
1995	1995 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship	Cerumo	"6"	"0"	"1"	"1"	"0"	"8"	"17th"
	1995 24 Hours of Le Mans	Larbre Compétition	"1"	"0"	"0"	"0"	"0"	"N/A"	"DNF"
1996	1996 Japanese Touring Car Championship	Cerumo	'14'	'1'	'0'	'0'	'2'	'52'	'8th'
	1996 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship	TOM'S	'6'	'1'	'0'	'0'	'2'	'55'	3rd
1997	1997 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship	Nismo	'5'	'1'	'0'	'0'	'3'	'50'	'6th'
	1997 24 Hours of Le Mans	'1'	'0'	'0'	'0'	'0'	'N/A'	'12th'
1998	1998 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship	Nismo	'6'	'2'	'0'	'0'	'2'	'67'	1st
	1998 24 Hours of Le Mans	'1'	'0'	'0'	'0'	'0'	'N/A'	'6th'
1999	1999 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship	Nismo	'7'	'1'	'0'	'0'	'4'	'77'	1st
	1999 American Le Mans Series	Team Rafanelli SRL	'3'	'0' ...' Full Macau Grand Prix Results Year Team Chassis/Engine Qualifying Position First Race Second Race Final Standing 1988 Template:Country data FRATemplate:Namespace detect showall KTR Racing Ralt・VW 27th 16th 8th 10th Full International Formula 3000 Results (key) (Races shown in bold denote pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Championship Position Points Scored 1989 DAMS SIL 5th VAL 4th PAU DNQ JER 2nd PER Retired BRH 3rd BIR Retired SPA 2nd BUG 1st DIJ 1st 2nd 39 1990 DAMS DON 1st SIL 2nd PAU Retired JER 1st MNZ 1st PER Retired HOC < br > 4th BRH < br > Retired BIR < br > Retired BUG < br > 1st NOG < br > 2nd 1st 51 Complete Formula One Results (Template:F1 driver results legend 2#key)   |"1992"Template:F1  |"Ligier" Gitanes Blondes  |"Ligier JS37"  |"Renault V10"  |"RSA"7th  |"MEX"9th  |"BRA" Retired  |"ESP" Retired  |"SMR"9th  |"MON"10th  |"CAN"6th  |"FRA"5th  |"GBR"8th  |"GER"6th  |"HUN" Retired  |"BEL" DNQ  |"ITA" Retired  |"POR" Retired  |"JPN" Retired  |"AUS" Retired   !"11th"4 points |- Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 World Championship Position (WDC) Points Scored Template:F1 Ligier Gitanes Ligier JS35 Lamborghini V12 USA < br > DNQ BRA < br > Retired SMR < br > 10th MON < br > 10th CAN < br > 8th MEX < br > DNQ FRA < br > 11th GBR < br > DNQ GER < br > Retired HUN < br > 10th BEL < br > Retired ITA < br > 11th POR < br > 11th " ESP"< br >" Retired"   |" JPN"< br >" Retired"   |" AUS"< br >"18th" NC 0 1993 Larrousse F1 Larrousse LH93 Lamborghini V12 Retired 10th 9th Retired 9th Retired 8th 16th Retired Retired Retired Retired Retired 6th 11th Retired 12th 20th - 1994 Tourtel Larrousse F1 Larrousse LH94 Ford V8 9th 6th Retired 10th Retired Retired Retired Retired 6th 8th Retired 8th Retired Retired 9th 23rd - (Sources) Comprehensive JGTC/Super GT Results (legend) (Entries in bold signify pole position) (Entries in italics denote fastest lap) ... [Table continues with similar formatting, minor adjustments applied to empty or repeated colspan cells for clarity] ... Year Team Vehicle Category 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Final Standing Points 1995 Team Cerumo Toyota Supra GT1 SUZ 5 FUJ 14 SEN 15 FUJ Ret SUG 11 MIN DSQ 19th 8 1996 TOM'S Toyota Supra GT500 SUZ 16 FUJ 4 SEN 1 FUJ Ret SUG 4 MIN 2 3rd 55 1997 NISMO Nissan Skyline GT-R GT500 SUZ 1 SEN 2 FUJ 10 MIN 9 SUG 3 6th 50 Template:Center{{{1}}}Sources available upon requestTemplate:/smallTemplate:/center 24 Hours of Le Mans Performance Year Team Co-Drivers Car Model Category Completed Laps Pos. Class Pos. Template:24hLM Template:Country data FRATemplate:Namespace detect showall Société Larbre Compétition Template:Country data FRATemplate:Namespace detect showall Jean-Pierre Jarier Template:Country data ESPTemplate:Namespace detect showall Jesús Pareja Porsche 911 GT2 Evo GT1 64 DNF DNF Template:24hLM Template:Country data JPNTemplate:Namespace detect showall Nismo Template:Country data JPNTemplate:Namespace detect showall Kazuyoshi Hoshino Template:Country data JPNTemplate:Namespace detect showall Masahiko Kageyama Nissan R390 GT1 GT1 294 12th 5th Template:24hLM Template:Country data JPNTemplate:Namespace detect showall Nismo Template:Country data NLDTemplate:Namespace detect showall Jan Lammers Template:Country data ITATemplate:Namespace detect showall Andrea Montermini Nissan R390 GT1 GT1 342 6th 6th Template:24hLM Template:Country data JPNTemplate:Namespace detect showall Nismo Michael Krumm Template:Flagicon: JPN Satoshi Motoyama Nissan R391 LMP 110 DNF DNF Template:24hLM Template:Flagicon: FRA Oreca (PlayStation Team Oreca) Template:Flagicon: MON Olivier Beretta Template:Flagicon: POR Pedro Lamy Dallara SP1-Judd LMP900 359 5th 4th Template:24hLM:2004 Template:Flagicon: FRA Pescarolo Sport Template:Flagicon: FRA Soheil Ayari Template:Flagicon: FRA Benoît Tréluyer Pescarolo C60-Judd LMP1 361 4th 4th Template:24hLM:2005 Template:Flagicon: FRA Pescarolo Sport Template:Flagicon: FRA Emmanuel Collard Template:Flagicon: FRA Jean-Christophe Boullion Pescarolo C60 Hybrid-Judd LMP1 368 '\'2nd\ '\'2nd\ Template:24hLM:2006 align=“left” nowrap Template:Flagicon: FRA Pescarolo Sport align=“left” nowrap Template:Flagicon: FRA Emmanuel Collard Template:Flagicon: FRA Nicolas Minassian align=“left” nowrap Pescarolo C60 Hybrid-Judd LMP1 352 5th 4th Full JTCC Performance Record ((key)) (bold denotes pole position) (italics signifies fastest lap) Season Team Vehicle Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6 Round 7 Round 8 Round 9 Round 10 Round 11 Round 12 Round 13 Round 14 Final Standing Total Points '1996 Japanese Touring Car Championship' Cerumo Team Cerumo Toyota Corona EXiV '18' (FUJ 1) '6' (FUJ 2) '6' (SUG 1) '10' (SUG 2) 'Ret' (SUZ 1) 'Ret' (SUZ 2) '13' (MIN 1) '8' (MIN 2) '5' (SEN 1) '6' (SEN 2) 'Ret' (TOK 1) '8' (TOK 2) '1' (FUJ 1) '3' (FUJ 2) 8th 52 World Rally Championship Performance Year Driver/Entrant Automobile MON SWE KEN POR ESP ARG GRC NZL FIN CYP FRA ITA AUS GBR Championship Rank Points Accumulated Template:WRC Érik Comas Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI MON SWE KEN POR ESP ARG GRC NZL FIN CYP FRA ITA AUS Ret GBR - 0 References External links Official Website of Eric Comas/CRM Comas Historic Racing