Bertrand Gachot
Gachot at the 1991 United States Grand Prix
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| Born |
23 December 1962 Luxembourg, Luxembourg |
|---|---|
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |
 Belgian (1989–1991) French (1992, 1994–1995)
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| Active years | 1989–1992, 1994–1995 |
| Teams | Onyx, Rial, Coloni, Jordan, Lola, Larrousse, Pacific |
| Entries | 84 (47 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Career points | 5 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 1 |
| First entry | 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1995 Australian Grand Prix |
Bertrand Gachot (born 23 December 1962) is a French former racing driver.
Gachot was born in Luxembourg on 23 December 1962, the son of a French European Commission official and a German mother. He began karting at the age of 15. In 1983 he attended Winfield School, a well-known racing-driving school in France. After this, he focused on his racing career, competing first in the Formula Ford 1600 series. By 1986, he had won the British Formula Ford championship.
In 1987, Gachot joined the British Formula 3 series, finishing second in the championship for the West Surrey Racing team. In 1988, he switched to the Formula 3000 series, and met with some success.
Gachot was considered one of the sport's most promising young drivers. He was signed by the newly formed Onyx team, having played a role in attracting the team's Moneytron sponsorship from the erratic Jean-Pierre Van Rossem and partnered with the experienced Stefan Johansson. The team was well-funded but late in getting their car prepared. As a new entrant they were consigned to the hugely competitive Friday morning prequalifying sessions and it wasn't until the French Grand Prix that Gachot made it onto the grid. There he impressed, starting 11th (two places ahead of Johansson) and ran in the points until battery problems dropped him to an eventual 13th and last. Despite qualifying for four of the next five events he was then fired by van Rossem after complaining about his lack of testing time; his private grievances were publicly aired in an Onyx press release and he was replaced with JJ Lehto. Gachot then found employment with the dying Rial team for the final two races of the season, failing to qualify their ageing chassis for either race. The team folded over the winter.
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