Ligier JS11
This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2018) |
Notable drivers | Jacques Laffite (1979–80) Patrick Depailler (1979) Jacky Ickx (1979) Didier Pironi (1980) | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Debut | 1979 Argentine Grand Prix | ||||||||
First win | 1979 Argentine Grand Prix | ||||||||
Last win | 1980 German Grand Prix | ||||||||
Last event | 1980 United States Grand Prix | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Constructors' Championships | 0 | ||||||||
Drivers' Championships | 0 |
The Ligier JS11 was a
World Championships and proved to be very competitive.Driven by
However, the car soon proved to have problems, starting at the fourth race of the season at Long Beach in the United States. The car was in fact so efficient at producing downforce that the aluminium chassis simply could not handle the amount of downforce it was producing. As a result, the chassis began to flex and the skirts would then be lifted off the ground, ruining the ground effect suction. This was an issue that hampered the team throughout the season, and it could not be solved in time for Laffite to properly challenge the Ferraris of Jody Scheckter and Gilles Villeneuve, and later the all-dominant Williams of Alan Jones.
JS11/15
For 1980, the JS11 was updated with improved aerodynamics and better ground effects. The team took on
The team finished second in the constructors' championship in 1980 ahead of Brabham, and the JS11 evolved into the JS17 for 1981. The JS11 was used as a primary test car for Michelin to experiment with their tyres.
In all the JS11 took five wins, seven pole positions and scored 127 points in its career.
Clapet
To solve the issues with the increased downforce, Gérard Ducarouge came up with a solution, dubbed the "clapet" (French for "valve"), where in a series of flaps within the venturi tunnels would open up at after a certain amount of pressure. As the solution constituted a movable aerodynamic device, the team did its best to keep the existence of the system a secret. The existence of the system was eventually discovered by F1 technical illustrator Giorgio Piola during the final race of the 1980 season at Watkins Glen. Piola was able to take photographs of the system after one of the two cars entered by Ligier was being repaired after a shunt.[3]
Media
The JS11 appeared in the toy line and cartoon
References
- ^ Ligier JS11 @ StatsF1
- ^ The Observer page 32 Sunday 4 February 1979
- ^ Mark Hughes (January 2004). "The Invisible Advantage". Motor Sport Magazine. Haymarket Magazines Ltd. p. 62-68. Retrieved November 25, 2019.