Francois Delecour
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |
 French |
| Born |
30 August 1962 Hazebrouck, France |
| World Rally Championship record | |
| Active years | 1984–2002, 2012, 2014-2017 |
| Teams | Ford, Peugeot, Mitsubishi, Fiat |
| Rallies | 104 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Rally wins | 4 |
| Podiums | 19 |
| Stage wins | 214 |
| Total points | 334 |
| First rally | 1984 Monte Carlo Rally |
| First win | 1993 Rallye de Portugal |
| Last win | 1994 Monte Carlo Rally |
| Last rally | 2017 Monte Carlo Rally |
François Delecour (born 30 August 1962) is a French rally driver.
Francois Delecour began rallying in 1981, in the French national championship. He entered his first major event, the Monte Carlo Rally, three years later, driving a Talbot Samba. For 1985 and 1986 he drove in the Peugeot 205 Cup, finishing third in both seasons. This was enough to earn him a degree of support from the Peugeot works team for subsequent years, culminating in a full works drive in a Peugeot 309 in 1989 and 1990, in which year he finished ninth overall and first two-wheel-drive car on the Monte Carlo.
Delecour was then hired by the Ford team to contest the 1991 World Championship. The four-wheel-drive Ford Sierra Cosworth, introduced the previous season, was not regarded as fully competitive, but Delecour demonstrated a remarkable turn of speed on the Monte Carlo Rally. He took the lead from reigning world champion Carlos Sainz on the third day and seemed certain to win until he lost five minutes with suspension failure on the final night and dropped to third place. Delecour retired from the next three events he contested, but then took fourth and third places on the San Remo and Catalunya rallies and sixth on the final round of the series, the RAC Rally in Great Britain, to finish seventh in the driver’s championship. Delecour remained with Ford for the 1992 season, and was joined by twice world champion Massimo Biasion. Results were generally better than in 1991, with second places for Biasion in Portugal and Delecour on the Tour de Corse. Delecour also took third place on the San Remo, leaving him sixth in the World Championship.
For 1993 the Sierra was replaced by the smaller and more agile Ford Escort RS Cosworth. Delecour immediately showed its potential by leading the Monte Carlo until the final night, with Biasion second. However, both lost out to a final-night charge by Didier Auriol, and finished second and third. Delecour at this time was still regarded as a specialist on asphalt rallies, but he finally established his reputation as an effective driver on all surfaces by winning the third round of the series, the Portuguese Rally, again with Biasion second. He won again in Corsica, giving him the championship lead. However, retirement in Greece and San Remo saw the title pass to Juha Kankkunen, although Delecour compensated somewhat by winning the Catalunya Rally and finishing a strong fourth on the RAC, giving him second place in the World Championship, his co-driver, Daniel Grataloup, was awarded the co-driver’s championship for that year.
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