The Ligier JS19 was a

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, ...

racing car Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

manufactured and raced by Équipe Ligier during the 1982 Formula One season. Powered by a

Talbot Talbot was an automobile marque introduced in 1902 by English-French company Clément-Talbot. The founders, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury and Adolphe Clément-Bayard, reduced their financial interests in their Clément-Talbot ...

-badged Matra V12 engine, the JS19 was driven by Jacques Laffite and

Eddie Cheever Edward McKay "Eddie" Cheever Jr. (born January 10, 1958) is an American former racing driver who raced for almost 30 years in Formula One, sports cars, CART, and the Indy Racing League. Cheever participated in 143 Formula One World Championshi ...

Development

The JS19 was designed by Michel Beaujon under the technical direction of

Jean-Pierre Jabouille Jean-Pierre Alain Jabouille (born 1 October 1942) is a French former racing driver. He raced in 55 Formula One Grands Prix, collecting two wins during the first years of Renault's turbocharged programme in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Jabou ...

, who had retired as a driver from Formula One the previous year. It was provided with a

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 ...

MS81 V-12 badged as a

. The chassis had side pods which enclosed the rear suspension linkage, which minimised disruption to the air flow, and had skirts running their full length for maximum ground-effect. However, when introduced for its first race, the 1982 Monaco Grand Prix, the team was forced by race officials to remove the portion of the skirts behind the rear-wheel centreline (a subjective interpretation of the rules not clarified in written bulletins), which resulted in a loss of downforce that affected the cars' performance. The team used the JS17B, with which it had started the first five races of the season, for the following races in the United States and Canada while the aerodynamics of the JS19 were reworked in wind tunnel testing. A single JS19 was present for the

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and

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races while the other was in the wind tunnel. Two cars were present from the

French Grand Prix The French Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de France), formerly known as the Grand Prix de l'ACF (Automobile Club de France), is an auto race held as part of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One World Championsh ...

onwards.Nye, 1985, p. 194

Racing history

The Ligier team had raced the JS17B, an update of the 1981 car, for the early part of the year before introducing the JS19 at Monaco. The team drivers,

and Jacques Laffite, qualified 16th and 18th on the grid, respectively, but both retired from the race. When the team were down to a single JS19 for races, Cheever attempted to qualify for the Dutch race but failed when he crashed heavily, damaging it beyond repair. Laffite qualified a new JS19 20th at the following race in Britain but retired with gear box issues. Both drivers made the grid in France and went on to finish the race albeit well out of the points. Qualifying was a little better in

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with Cheever 12th on the grid, the team's best placing so far with the JS19. Both drivers retired from the race with handling issues. Laffite took third place in

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for the car's first points of the season. He retired from the remaining races of the season. Cheever retired in Austria and was not classified in the

Swiss Grand Prix The Swiss Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de Suisse, german: Großer Preis der Schweiz, it, Gran Premio di Svizzera), was the premier auto race of Switzerland. In its later years it was a Formula One race. History Bremgarten (1934–1939, 1947 ...

. He scored a point for sixth in

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and followed this up with a third in the

Caesars Palace Grand Prix The Caesars Palace Grand Prix was a car race held in Las Vegas between 1981 and 1984. For the first two years, the race was part of the Formula One World Championship, before becoming a round of the CART series in 1983. Nissan/Datsun was a pre ...

in Las Vegas, having qualified fourth on the grid. Ligier finished the year with 20 points, nine of which were scored with the JS19, for eighth in the Constructor's Championship.

Complete Formula One World 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 ...

) (Results in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) * 11 points scored with the JS17B

Notes

References

* {{F1 cars 1982 Ligier JS19