Gérard Ducarouge
| Gérard Ducarouge | |
|---|---|
| Born |
3 October 1941 Paray-le-Monial, Saône-et-Loire, France |
| Died | 19 February 2015 (aged 73) Neuilly-sur-Seine, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | Motorsport engineer and designer |
| Years active | 1964–2015 |
| Known for |
Formula One designer. (Matra, Ligier, Alfa Romeo, Lotus, Larrousse) |
Gérard Ducarouge (23 October 1941 in Paray-le-Monial, Saône-et-Loire – 19 February 2015 in Neuilly-sur-Seine) was a French Formula One car designer.
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 Nord Aviation in 1964 where he worked on various missile projects. However, he became restless and applied for a job as a technician at Matra racing in December 1965. This was shortly after the creation of Matra-Sports and Gérard started work on their Formula 3 programme, and from 1966 he also began improving their Formula 2 cars. Ducarouge steadily rose within the organisation to Head of Operations where he designed the Cosworth-powered Matra MS10 and MS80, the latter winning the 1969 Formula One World Championship with Jackie Stewart; Ducarouge then masterminded Matra’s hat-trick of Le Mans wins from 1972-1974. At the end of 1974 Matra pulled out of racing.
Ducarouge resigned shortly after to begin work at the new Formula 1 team founded by Guy Ligier at Vichy, close to Gerard’s home town of Paray-le-Monial. He began work on 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. By the Swedish Grand Prix of 1977 the team celebrated its maiden Grand Prix victory.
Subsequent victories were to occur throughout the 1979 season. In 1981 a revised Matra V12 was fitted in the latest Liger chassis and with Talbot backing it seemed as though the team would be contenders to win the constructors championship. But by mid season Gérard 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.
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