Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives
This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2012) |
Full name | Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives |
---|---|
Base | Gonfaron, France |
Founder(s) | Henri Julien |
Noted staff | Cyril de Rouvre Patrizio Cantù Hughes de Chaunac Gabriele Rafanelli Christian Vanderpleyn Claude Galopin |
Noted drivers | Ivan Capelli Pascal Fabre Roberto Moreno Philippe Streiff Joachim Winkelhock Gabriele Tarquini Yannick Dalmas Stefan Johansson Fabrizio Barbazza Olivier Grouillard |
Formula One World Championship career | |
First entry | 1986 Italian Grand Prix |
Races entered | 80 |
Engines | Motori Moderni, Cosworth |
Constructors' Championships | 0 |
Drivers' Championships | 0 |
Race victories | 0 (best finish: 6th, 1987 Australian Grand Prix and 1989 Mexican Grand Prix) |
Pole positions | 0 (best grid position: 10th, 1988 Canadian Grand Prix) |
Fastest laps | 0 |
Final entry | 1991 Spanish Grand Prix |
Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives (also known as AGS and Gonfaron Sports Cars) was a small
AGS survived as a prosperous Formula One driving school, in Le Luc, near Gonfaron.[1]
Foundation
The team was founded by the French mechanic, Henri Julien, who ran a filling station, the "Garage de l'Avenir", in Gonfaron, a provincial French village.[2] In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Julien regularly attended racing events in minor classes. Although not an outstanding driver, the technical knowledge he gained eventually prompted him to start constructing racing cars.
First car
Julien's first car, the AGS JH1, saw the light of day in 1969. It was a small
Formula 2
AGS took another step ahead in 1978 when the team started competing in the European
Formula 3000
In 1985, AGS switched to Formula 3000 with the JH20, based on the Duqueine VG4 Formula 3 chassis.[3] The JH20 used a Cosworth DFV engine supplied through the Swiss tuning firm Mader.[3] Results were mediocre in 1985 and 1986.
Formula One
Beginnings
By late summer
AGS appeared with a car that was once again penned by Vanderpleyn. The
For the team's first full F1 season in
Takeover
In 1988, AGS started with a new car, the JH23,[3] and Philippe Streiff as the team's only driver. Streiff drove quite powerfully and qualified well, but he saw the chequered flag only four times; in all the other events of that year technical failures or accidents were recorded. Financially, the year started well and ended with a disaster. AGS had a solid sponsor - the French Bouygues group - which promised to support not only the racing activity but also the completion of a new factory outside Gonfaron. After AGS had started work on the new facility, Bouygues withdrew from the team, leaving Julien without any support. To save the team, he eventually had to sell it to Cyril de Rouvre, a French entrepreneur with various ambitions.
Difficulties
Things went soon from bad to worse. The new team management changed frequently (Vanderpleyn for instance went to
Streiff was replaced with Gabriele Tarquini,[4] who surprised with some great performances in the first half of the season. He was very close to the points in both the 1989 Monaco Grand Prix and 1989 United States Grand Prix, but retired in both races. Then things went better in the 1989 Mexican Grand Prix, where he finished sixth and scored his first point. But after these highlights, the team was never able to be as competitive again.
In the second part of the 1989 season, the team had to prequalify - a task that was nearly never achieved by Gabriele Tarquini and
Finally, AGS had to use Cosworth engines again in 1990. That year brought no improvement at all, Dalmas's 9th in the 1990 Spanish Grand Prix was the best result and by the beginning of the 1991 season the team was obviously close to its end. The team lacked money – at the first two Grands Prix of 1991, in Brazil and Phoenix the team's mechanics had to pay for their own hotel rooms.[6] In the race itself, Tarquini finished 8th, which was the last finish ever of an AGS car. De Rouvre sold his team to some Italian entrepreneurs, Patrizio Cantù and Gabriele Rafanelli. Both changed little except for the driver line-up (Stefan Johansson was replaced with newcomer Fabrizio Barbazza) and the colours of the car (which were now blue, red and yellow instead of white). A new car, the JH27, was raced in the early autumn, but by then the team was in rags again, so the Italians closed the doors after the 1991 Spanish Grand Prix.
Complete Formula One results
(key)
Year | Chassis | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Points | WCC |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1986 | JH21C | Motori Moderni 615–90 1.5 V6 t | P | BRA | ESP | SMR | MON | BEL | CAN | DET | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | AUT | ITA | POR | MEX | AUS | 0 | NC | |
Ivan Capelli | Ret | Ret | ||||||||||||||||||||
1987 | JH22 | Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 V8 | G | BRA | SMR | BEL | MON | DET | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | AUT | ITA | POR | ESP | MEX | JPN | AUS | 1 | 12th | |
Pascal Fabre | 12 | 13 | 10 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 9 | Ret | 13 | NC | DNQ | DNQ | Ret | DNQ | ||||||||
Roberto Moreno | Ret | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||
1988 | JH23 | Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 V8 | G | BRA | SMR | MON | MEX | CAN | DET | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | POR | ESP | JPN | AUS | 0 | NC | |
Philippe Streiff | Ret | 10 | Ret | 12 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 10 | Ret | 9 | Ret | 8 | 11 | ||||||
1989 | JH23B JH24 |
Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 | G | BRA | SMR | MON | MEX | USA | CAN | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | POR | ESP | JPN | AUS | 1 | 15th | |
Philippe Streiff | WD | |||||||||||||||||||||
Gabriele Tarquini | 8 | Ret | 6 | 7 | Ret | Ret | DNQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | |||||||
Joachim Winkelhock | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | |||||||||||||||
Yannick Dalmas | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | |||||||||||||
1990 | JH24 JH25 |
Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 | G | USA | BRA | SMR | MON | CAN | MEX | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | POR | ESP | JPN | AUS | 0 | NC | |
Gabriele Tarquini | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNQ | Ret | DNPQ | 13 | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | Ret | DNQ | Ret | ||||||
Yannick Dalmas | DNPQ | Ret | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | 17 | DNPQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | NC | Ret | 9 | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||
1991 | JH25B JH27 |
Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 | G | USA | BRA | SMR | MON | CAN | MEX | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | POR | ESP | JPN | AUS | 0 | NC | |
Gabriele Tarquini | 8 | Ret | DNQ | Ret | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNQ | |||||||||
Olivier Grouillard | DNPQ | |||||||||||||||||||||
Stefan Johansson | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||
Fabrizio Barbazza | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ |
References
- ^ "The history of the Team F1 AGS Formule 1". Agsformule1.com. Archived from the original on 2014-02-24. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
- ^ As of 2011, it remains in existence.
- ^ ISBN 1870979168.
- ^ a b Boddy, William, ed. (May 1989). "Slow Progress for Streiff". Motor Sport. p. 429.
- ^ Waterman, Jim (23 June 2019). "The Saga of AGS – Partie S: Sans Henri, Sans Garage, Sans Avenir…". gprejects.com. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
- ^ Nygaard, Peter (1991-04-18). "Stefans bittra kval" [Stefan's unqualified agonies]. Teknikens Värld (in Swedish). Vol. 43, no. 8. Stockholm, Sweden: Specialtidningsförlaget AB. p. 73.