Gérard Ducarouge

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Gérard Ducarouge
Born(1941-10-03)3 October 1941
Ligier, Alfa Romeo, Lotus, Larrousse
)

Gérard Ducarouge (23 October 1941 – 19 February 2015) was a French

Ligier and Lotus
which won several races in the 1970s and 1980s.

Biography

Like many designers, his background was in aeronautical engineering. He qualified at college with Bacalauréat Technique et Mathématique and won his Degre Superieur after studying at the École Nationale Technique d’Aéronautique.

After leaving college, he joined

1974
seasons. At the end of 1974, Matra pulled out of racing.

Ducarouge resigned shortly after to begin work at the new Formula One team founded by

Ligier’s entrant to the 1976 season, the JS5 which retained links with Matra including their 3-litre V12 engine and SEITA Gitanes brand sponsorship. At the 1977 Swedish Grand Prix
the team celebrated its maiden Grand Prix victory.

Subsequent victories were to occur throughout the

Talbot backing it seemed as though the team would be contenders to win the constructors' championship. But by mid-season Ducarouge was unceremoniously sacked by Guy Ligier. He quickly accepted an offer to join the Alfa Romeo team where he persuaded the team to create his first carbon fibre chassis. Despite this and other innovations instigated by Ducarouge, Alfa Romeo failed to deliver on increasingly high expectations. Following the 1st qualifying session of the 1983 French Grand Prix where Andrea de Cesaris
was disqualified for his car being underweight, Ducarouge was blamed and dismissed.

He was not to remain out of work for long, as Peter Warr from Team Lotus head hunted Ducarouge. Lotus had witnessed a severe decline in fortunes following their dominant 1978 campaign, and had culminated with the death of their founder Colin Chapman in December 1982. Following extensive persuasion Ducarouge joined the team following the 1983 Belgian Grand Prix. He immediately began work on the Type 94T which was designed and built in five weeks, and helped salvage some degree of success for the remainder of the 1983 season. Team Lotus began a major restructuring headed by Ducarouge and culminated with the years 1984–87 representing a major revival of the team’s fortunes.

In 1984, Ducarouge's next Lotus, the 95T, was widely regarded as the finest handling chassis throughout the season with Elio de Angelis finishing third in the Drivers' Championship despite not winning a race, and teammate Nigel Mansell finishing tenth. Though de Angelis had a consistent season and finished in the points in the first 10 races of the season, he was a long way behind the dominant McLaren-TAGs of 1984 World Champion Niki Lauda and his teammate Alain Prost.

The still born

Indy Car
incorporated the innovative use of lightweight aluminium foil honeycomb in the chassis replacing the previous nomex construction. The gain of strength with no weight penalty was to become a hallmark of subsequent Lotus Formula 1 chassis.

For the start of the

Williams, Ferrari
and McLaren.

Senna would depart for McLaren for the start of the

reigning World Champion Nelson Piquet and Japanese driver Satoru Nakajima
) were allegedly laid at incorrect aerodynamic data amassed during testing at Comtec, as well as the chassis being reported to be like "jelly on springs" and not rigid enough to handle the abrupt power delivery of Honda's 650 bhp (485 kW; 659 PS) engine.

Ducarouge departed Lotus to return to France and take up an offer from the

V12 engine. In 1991
he rejoined Liger and remained as Technical Director until mid-1994.

In the twilight of his career, Ducarouge retraced his career path back to Matra where he worked as the International development director on various projects, including the development of the

Renault Espace F1.[2]

Ducarouge died on 19 February 2015 aged 73.[3]

References

  1. ^ "Matra MS80". StatsF1. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  2. ^ Watkins, Gary (May 2015). "Gérard Ducarouge: the man who saved Team Lotus". Motor Sport. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  3. ^ Gilles Gaignault (24 February 2015). "L'Ingenieur Gérard Ducarouge est mort" (in French). Autonews. Retrieved 24 February 2015.

External links

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