Henri Jacques William Pescarolo (born 25 September 1942) is a former racing driver from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. He competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans a record 33 times, winning on four occasions, and won a number of other major sports car events including the

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layou ...

. He also participated in 64

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

World Championship Grands Prix, achieving one podium and 12 championship points. Pescarolo also drove in the

Dakar Rally The Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar"; formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally") is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal ...

in the 1990s, before retiring from racing at the age of 57. In 2000 he set up his eponymous racing team,

Pescarolo Sport Pescarolo Sport was a motorsport team based in Le Mans, France and founded in February 2000 by French racing driver Henri Pescarolo and his friend and partner, French publisher François Granet. They raced in the Le Mans Series and the 24 Hours ...

, which competed in Le Mans until 2013. He wore a distinctive green helmet, and wears a full-face beard that partially covers burns suffered in a crash.

Early career and Formula One

Born in Montfermeil near Paris, Pescarolo began his career in 1965 with a

Lotus Seven The Lotus Seven is a small, simple, lightweight, two-seater, open-top, open-wheel, sports car produced by the British manufacturer Lotus Cars (initially called Lotus Engineering) between 1957 and 1972. It was designed by Lotus founder Colin Cha ...

. He was successful enough to be offered a third car in the

Matra Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a French industrial conglomerate. During its years of operation, it was engaged in a wide range of business activities, primarily focused around automobiles, bicycles, aeronautics and w ...

Formula 3 team for 1966, but the car was not ready until mid-season. However, in 1967 he won the European Championship with Matra and was promoted to Formula 2 for 1968. That season he was team-mate to

Jean-Pierre Beltoise Jean-Pierre Maurice Georges Beltoise (26 April 1937 – 5 January 2015) was a French Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver who raced for the Matra and BRM teams. He competed in 88 Grands Prix achieving a single victory, at t ...

and achieved several second places and a win at

Albi Albi (; oc, Albi ) is a commune in southern France. It is the prefecture of the Tarn department, on the river Tarn, 85 km northeast of Toulouse. Its inhabitants are called ''Albigensians'' (french: Albigeois, Albigeoise(s), oc, albig ...

, which led to him being given a drive in

's Formula One team for the last three races of 1968. His career suffered a setback, in 1969, when he crashed on the

Mulsanne Mulsanne () is a commune in the Sarthe department in the region of Pays de la Loire in north-western France. Population Motor racing The Circuit de la Sarthe, which is used in the sports car endurance race 24 Hours of Le Mans, features the l ...

Straight at

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

whilst testing the Matra sports car. Pescarolo was badly burned and did not compete again until mid-season. He returned at the German GP where he drove a Formula 2 Matra into fifth place winning the small capacity class, in his only Grand Prix race that season. For 1970 Pescarolo was signed full-time by Matra for their Formula One team and once again as team-mate to Beltoise, put in a solid season with a third place at the Monaco Grand Prix being the high point. He also won the Paris 1000 km and Buenos Aires 1000 km sports car races partnered with Beltoise. Pescarolo was not retained by Matra, and in 1971, 1972, and 1973 with Motul sponsorship, he drove for the fledgling Formula One team run by the young Frank Williams, but with little success. In 1974, Pescarolo drove for

BRM British Racing Motors (BRM) was a British Formula One motor racing team. Founded in 1945 and based in the market town of Bourne in Lincolnshire, it participated from 1951 to 1977, competing in 197 grands prix and winning seventeen. BRM wo ...

, again with Motul backing, but the team's best days were gone and a ninth place in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

was his best result in a season with many retirements. Pescarolo did not compete in Formula One in 1975 but returned to the championship in 1976 with a

Surtees The Surtees Racing Organisation was a race team that spent nine seasons (1970 to 1978) as a constructor in Formula One, Formula 2, and Formula 5000. History The team was formed by John Surtees, a four-time 500cc motorcycle champion and the ...

privately entered by

BS Fabrications BS Fabrications was an engineering company specialising in fabrications for Formula One teams founded by Bob Sparshott, a former engineer at Lotus who had worked with Jim Clark and Graham Hill, and John 'Ace' Woodington in Luton in 1972. The c ...

. Although neither car nor driver was considered to be competitive, failing to qualify for 2 of 9 Grands Prix entered, Pescarolo did begin to show speed in the final 5 races, even scoring a season's best finish of 9th at the

1976 Austrian Grand Prix The 1976 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Österreichring on 15 August 1976. It was the eleventh race of the 1976 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1976 International Cup for F1 Constructors. The 54-lap race was ...

Career after Formula One – sportscars

After Pescarolo's retirement from Formula One, he went on to start his own team, which competed until 2012 in the Le Mans Endurance Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which he won as a driver four times (1972, 1973, 1974 and 1984). His team,

, was notably sponsored by Sony's

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

and by ''

Gran Turismo 4 ''Gran Turismo 4'' is a 2004 racing video game for the PlayStation 2, the fourth installment in the main ''Gran Turismo'' series and the sixth for the overall series. It was developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entert ...

''. During the five years that Pescarolo has campaigned Courage C60 prototypes, so many modifications have been made to the model that Courage allowed the team to name the car after themselves, such was the differences between their model and the standard C60. In 2005, it was developed further still to meet the "hybrid" regulations, before the change to LMP1/2 format. In 1977, 19781978 Hardie-Ferodo 1000
/ref> and 1979 Pescarolo drove in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

's most famous motor race, the

Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (formally known as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supercars Championship, the most rece ...

for

touring cars Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition with heavily modified road-going cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not mo ...

held at the Mount Panorama Circuit, driving on all three occasions with 1974 race winner John Goss. Unfortunately all races resulted in a DNF for the Goss built

Ford XC Falcon GS500 Hardtop The Ford Falcon (XC) is a full-size car that was produced by Ford Australia from 1976 to 1979. It was the third and last iteration of the third generation of the Falcon and also included the Ford Fairmont (XC)—the luxury-oriented version of th ...

s, completing only 113 laps (of 163) in 1977, 68 in 1978 and 118 in 1979. The 1977 race saw Pescarolo's Le Mans rival

Jacky Ickx Jacques Bernard "Jacky" Ickx (; born 1 January 1945) is a Belgian former racing driver who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans six times (second-highest of all time) and achieved eight wins and 25 podium finishes in Formula One. He greatly contributed ...

win the race in a semi-works Falcon driving with

Allan Moffat Allan George Moffat OBE (born 10 November 1939 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada) is a Canadian-Australian racing driver known for his four championships in the Australian Touring Car Championship, six wins in the Sandown 500 and his four ...

Pescarolo holds the record for Le Mans starts with 33 and has won the race on four occasions as a driver. He has yet to win the race as a team owner, coming very close in 2005 with the Pescarolo C60H. His team did manage to win the LMES championship in the same year. His team was also second at Le Mans in 2006, followed by a third in 2007 behind a pair of diesel-powered prototypes. Pescarolo drove the

in the 1990s, and is also a keen helicopter pilot.

Racing record

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) Graded drivers not eligible for European Formula Two Championship points

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(

) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Non-Championship Formula One results

(

)

Major race results

24 hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layou ...

: 1st, 1991 * 1000 km Buenos Aires : 1st, 1970 *

6 Hours of Nürburgring The 6 Hours of Nürburgring (formerly the Nürburgring 1000 km) was an endurance race for sports cars held on the Nürburgring in Germany and organized by the ADAC since 1953. History On the traditional 22.810 km long ''Nordschleife'' ...

: 1st, 1986 *

Brands Hatch 1000 km The Brands Hatch 1000 km was an Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance sports car racing, sports car event that was part of the World Sportscar Championship for varying years from 1967 until 1989. Originally a six-hour race running under the ...

: 1st, 1971 * 1000 km Zeltweg : 1st, 1972,1974,1975 * Dijon 1000 km : 1st, 1972,1978,1979 *

6 Hours of Imola The 4 Hours of Imola () is an endurance race for sports cars held at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is ...

: 1st, 1974 *

Spa 1000 km The 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (formerly the 1000 Kilometres of Spa-Francorchamps) is an endurance race for sports cars held at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. History The Spa 24 Hours had been introduced in 1924, and other races f ...

: 1st, 1975 *

Suzuka 10 Hours The Suzuka Summer Endurance Race is an annual motorsport event for sports cars that has been held at the Suzuka International Racing Course, Mie Prefecture, Japan since 1966, and the oldest automobile endurance race in Japan. From 1966 to 2017, t ...

: 1st, 1981 * 1000 km Monza : 1st, 1982 *

6 Hours of Vallelunga The 6 Hours of Vallelunga (''6 Ore di Vallelunga'' in Italian), also called 6 Hours of Rome (''6 Ore di Roma'' in Italian), is an endurance sports car racing event held annually at the ACI Vallelunga Circuit in Vallelunga, Italy. First establishe ...

: 1st, 1972,1978 * 6 Hours of Kyalami : 1st, 1974 *

6 Hours of Watkins Glen The Six Hours of Watkins Glen (currently sponsored as the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen) is a sports car endurance race held annually at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York. The race dates from 1948, and has been a part of the ...

: 1st, 1972,1974,1975 * Interserie Siegerland : 1st, 1984 *

1000 km of Paris The 1000 Kilometres of Paris was an endurance race, mainly for sports cars, which was held at the Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry in France from 1956 to 1995. 1956 The event is called ''Grand Prix of the Automobile Club of Île-de-France''. F ...

: 1st, 1969,1994