Jean-Pierre Jarier

Jean-Pierre Jarier
Born	(1946-07-10) July 10, 1946 Charenton-le-Pont, France
Occupation	Racing driver
Years active	1971–1983 (Formula One)
Known for	Formula One racing driver

Jean-Pierre Jacques Jarier (; born 10 July 1946) is a retired French racing driver who competed in Formula One between 1971 and 1983.

Jarier took part in 143 Formula One Grands Prix, representing teams such as March, Shadow, ATS, Ligier, Lotus, Tyrrell, and Osella. Throughout his 12-season career, he achieved three podium finishes and secured three pole positions.

Early career

Originating from Charenton-le-Pont, close to Paris, Jarier advanced from competing in Formula France to French Formula Three, where he ended the 1970 season ranked third overall. In 1971, he joined the Shell Arnold European Formula Two squad, earning two third-place results and debuting in Grand Prix racing at Monza behind the wheel of a rented March Engineering 701. Due to financial difficulties, he was released midway through the 1972 season. The following year, Jarier signed with March Engineering’s Formula Two outfit while simultaneously securing a Formula One seat. Although the Formula One 721G car proved uncompetitive, he dominated the Formula Two championship by winning eight races and clinching the title.

Formula One

After delivering an impressive performance in the 1973 F2 European championship, Jarier was close to joining Ferrari but ultimately lost the seat to Niki Lauda because of internal team considerations. In 1974, he contracted with Shadow Racing Cars and became the lead driver following Peter Revson’s fatal accident. That year, Jarier achieved a third-place finish at the 1974 Monaco Grand Prix and concluded the season ranked 14th. Concurrently, he excelled in sports car racing by spearheading Matra’s defense of its world sports car championship, securing victories at Brands Hatch, Watkins Glen, and Paul Ricard.

During the 1975 season, Jarier earned pole positions at both the Argentine and Brazilian Grands Prix driving the Shadow DN5, but mechanical failures prevented him from starting or finishing these events. As Shadow’s competitiveness declined, his only points finish was a fourth place at the shortened 1975 Spanish Grand Prix.

In 1976, Jarier qualified third and recorded the fastest lap at the 1976 Brazilian Grand Prix in the updated Shadow DN5B. However, a crash combined with an uncompetitive car resulted in no points scored that year.

Joining ATS in 1977, Jarier scored points on his debut before making one-off appearances for Shadow and Équipe Ligier. He also found success in sports cars that year, winning two races in an Alfa Romeo T33 alongside Arturo Merzario and finishing second at the Le Mans 24 Hours with Vern Schuppan. His second season with ATS in 1978 was less fruitful; after failing to qualify for Monaco and experiencing disagreements with team principal Günter Schmid, he departed ATS. Later that year, Jarier signed with Team Lotus, where he recorded fastest laps and pole positions at significant events before mechanical problems curtailed his performances.

These achievements earned him a contract with Tyrrell Racing, where over two seasons he consistently scored points, including podium finishes at both the 1979 South African Grand Prix and the 1979 British Grand Prix.

In 1981, Jarier temporarily replaced Jean-Pierre Jabouille at Ligier for two races before moving mid-season to Osella. The following year, he completed a full campaign with Osella, securing the team’s best-ever result—a fourth place at the boycotted 1982 San Marino Grand Prix—and contributed significantly to sustaining team morale following Riccardo Paletti’s fatal crash.

Jarier returned to Equipe Ligier in 1983 but failed to add to his points tally amid frequent on-track incidents. A notable moment occurred during the 1983 Austrian Grand Prix, where his defensive driving disrupted race leader Patrick Tambay’s rhythm, enabling competitors René Arnoux and Nelson Piquet to pass Tambay and visibly frustrate him.

Later years

Following his retirement from competitive motorsport, Jarier made a brief comeback in 1994 by participating in the Porsche Supercup, which subsequently led to multiple engagements in sports car racing. He secured the title of French GT Champion consecutively in 1998 and 1999. Moreover, Jarier contributed significant stunt performances for the motion picture Ronin, directed by John Frankenheimer, who was also at the helm of the 1966 classic Grand Prix.

Career overview

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Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	Fastest laps	Podiums	Points	Standing
1970	French Formula Three	Ecurie Meubles Arnold	?	1	?	?	?	32.2	3rd
1971	European Formula Two	Shell-Arnold Team	7	0	0	0	2	10	8th
	Formula One		1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1972	European Formula Two	Shell-Arnold Team	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	Can-Am	North American Racing Team	2	0	0	0	0	11	13th
	24 Hours of Le Mans		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	9th
1973	European Formula Two	STP March Racing Team	12	7	4	4	9	78	1st

^‡ Drivers with graded status were ineligible to score points in the European Formula Two Championship.

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

(Template:Motorsport driver results legend#key) (Entries in bold denote pole positions; those in italics indicate fastest laps)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17		Points
	Shell Oil-Arnold Team	March Engineering March 712M	Cosworth Ford	Hockenheimring (HOC)	style="background:#EFCFFF;" | Thruxton Circuit (THR)	Eifelrennen (NÜR)	style="background:#EFCFFF;" | Circuito Permanente Del Jarama (JAR)	style="background:#EFCFFF;" | Crystal Palace (circuit) (PAL)	style="background:#FFFFFF;" | Rouen-Les-Essarts (ROU)	style="background:#EFCFFF;" | Mantorp Park (MAN)	Brumowski Air Base (TUL)	style="background:#FFDF9F;" | Circuit d'Albi (ALB) Received 6 points as Emerson Fittipaldi was ineligible	style="background:#FFCFCF;" | ACI Vallelunga Circuit (VLL)	style="background:#FFDF9F;" | ACI Vallelunga Circuit (VLL)	colspan=6 |	8th	10
	Shell Oil-Arnold Team	March Engineering March 722	Cosworth Ford	Mallory Park (MAL)	style="background:#EFCFFF;" | Thruxton Circuit (THR)	style="background:#EFCFFF;" | Hockenheimring (HOC)	Pau Grand Prix (PAU)	Crystal Palace (circuit) (PAL)	Hockenheimring (HOC)	Rouen-Les-Essarts (ROU)	Österreichring (ÖST)	Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari (IMO)	Mantorp Park (MAN)	Autodromo di Pergusa (PER)	Salzburgring (SAL)	Circuit d'Albi (ALB)	Hockenheimring (HOC)	colspan=3 |	NC	0
	STP March Racing Team	March Engineering March 732	BMW in motorsport BMW	style="background:#FFFFBF;" | Mallory Park (MAL) style="background:#FFFFBF;" | Hockenheimring (HOC) style="background:#EFCFFF;" | Thruxton Circuit (THR) style="background:#EFCFFF;" | Eifelrennen (NÜR) style="background:#DFDFDF;" | Pau Grand Prix (PAU) Received points as François Cevert was not eligible Kinnekulle Motorstadion (KIN) style="background:#FFFFBF;" | Nivelles-Baulers Circuit (NIV) Hockenheimring (HOC) style="background:#FFFFBF;" | Rouen-Les-Essarts Circuit (ROU) Autodromo Nazionale Monza (MNZ) style="background:#FFFFBF;" | Mantorp Park Motor Raceway (MAN) style="background:#FFFFBF;" | Karlskoga Motorstadion (KAR) style="background:#FFFFBF;" | Autodromo di Pergusa Circuit (PER) Salzburgring Circuit (SAL) style="background:#EFCFFF;" | Norisring Circuit (NOR) style="background:#DFDFDF;" | Circuit d'Albi Motor Racing Circuit (ALB) ACI Vallelunga Circuito Piero Taruffi (VLL)	style="background:#FFFFBF;" |1st	style="background:#FFFFBF;" |78

Note: Graded drivers were excluded from earning points in the European Formula Two Championship.

Full Formula One World Championship Results

(Legend) (Races shown in bold denote pole position; races in italics signify fastest lap)

Season	Team	Car Model	Power Unit	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17		Points
1971	Shell Arnold Team	March 701	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0-liter V8	RSA	ESP	MON	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA							NC	0
1973	STP March Racing Team	March 721G	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0-liter V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP														NC	0
		March 731						BEL	MON	SWE	FRA	GBR	NED	GER <style="background:#EFCFFF;">AUT</style>	ITA
	March Racing Team																style="background:#CFCFFF;">CAN </style>	style="background:#CFCFFF;">USA </style>
1974	UOP Shadow Racing Team	Shadow DN1	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0-liter V8	style="background:#EFCFFF;">ARG </style>	style="background:#EFCFFF;">BRA </style>	RSA															14th	6
		Shadow DN3					style="background:#EFCFFF;">ESP </style>	style="background:#CFCFFF;">BEL </style>	style="background:#FFDF9F;">MON </style>	style="background:#DFFFDF;">SWE </style>	style="background:#EFCFFF;">NED </style>	style="background:#CFCFFF;">FRA </style>	style="background:#EFCFFF;">GBR </style>	style="background:#CFCFFF;">GER </style> ... Complete Formula One Non-Championship Results (key) (Races highlighted in bold denote pole position, while those in italics represent the fastest lap) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1971 Shell-Arnold Team March 701 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG ROC QUE SPR INT RIN OUL NC VIC 1974 UOP Shadow Racing Team Shadow DN3 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 PRE ROC DNS INT 3 1975 UOP Shadow Racing Team Shadow DN5 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ROC 8 INT SUI Ret 1976 Shadow Racing Team Shadow DN5 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ROC INT 5 24 Hours of Le Mans Results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Completed Overall Position Class Position
1972	North American Racing Team	Template:Country data FRATemplate:Namespace detect showall Claude Buchet	Ferrari 365 GTB/4	GT 5.0	297	9th	5th
1974	Template:Country data FRATemplate:Namespace detect showall Équipe Gitanes	Template:Country data FRATemplate:Namespace detect showall Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra-Simca MS680	S 3.0	104	DNF	DNF
1975	Template:Country data FRATemplate:Namespace detect showall Gitanes Automobiles Ligier	Template:Country data FRATemplate:Namespace detect showall Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Ligier JS2-Maserati	S 3.0	36	DNF	DNF
1977	Grand Touring Cars Inc. Template:Country data FRATemplate:Namespace detect showall Mirage Renault	Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Vern Schuppan	Mirage GR8-Renault	S +2.0	331	2nd	2nd
1978	Template:Country data FRATemplate:Namespace detect showall Équipe Renault Elf Sport	Template:Country data GBRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Derek Bell	Renault Alpine A442A	S +2.0	162	DNF	DNF
1979	Template:Country data FRATemplate:Namespace detect showall Jean-Pierre Jarier	Randy Townsend Template:Country data FRATemplate:Namespace detect showall Raymond Touroul	Porsche 935	IMSA +2.5	65	DNF	DNF
1981	"Template:Flagicon DEU" BASF Cassetten Team GS Sport  |	"Template:Flagicon DEU" Hans-Joachim Stuck "Template:Flagicon DEU" Helmut Henzler |
1984	"Template:Flagicon FRG" Porsche Kremer Racing |	"Template:Flagicon AUS" Vern Schuppan "Template:Flagicon AUS" Alan Jones |
1985	"Template:Flagicon DEU" Kremer Porsche Racing |	"Template:Flagicon NZL" Mike Thackwell "Template:Flagicon AUT" Franz Konrad |
1988	"Template:Flagicon AUS" Takefuji Schuppan Racing Team	"Template:Flagicon UK" Brian Redman "Template:Flagicon SWE" Eje Elgh	"Porsche 962C"	"C1"	"359"	"10th"	"10th"
1995	"Template:Flagicon FRA" Larbre Compétition	"Template:Flagicon ESP" Jesús Pareja "Template:Flagicon FRA" Érik Comas	"Porsche 911 GT2 Evo"	"GT1"	"64"	"DNF"	"DNF"
1996	"Template:Flagicon DEU" Roock Racing Team	"Template:Flagicon ESP" Jesús Pareja "Template:Flagicon GBR" Dominic Chappell	"Porsche 911 GT2 Evo"	"GT1"	"93"	"DNF"	"DNF"
1997	"Template:Flagicon FRA" Société Chéreau	"Template:Flagicon FRA" Jean-Luc Chéreau "Template:Flagicon FRA" Jack Leconte	"Porsche 911 GT2"	"GT2"	"77"	"DNF"	"DNF"
1998	"Template:Flagicon FRA" Larbre Compétition	"Template:Flagicon SWE" Carl Rosenblad "Template:Flagicon GBR" Robin Donovan	"Porsche 911 GT2"	"GT2"	"164"	"DNF"	"DNF"
1999 "|Template:Flagicon FRA" Larbre Compétition "|Template:Flagicon FRA" Sébastien Bourdais Pierre de Thoisy "|Porsche 911 GT2 "|GTS "|134 "|DNF "|DNF