Marc Fontan (born 20 October 1956) is a French former professional

motorcycle racer Motorcycle racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) is the motorcycle sport of racing motorcycles. Major varieties include motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Oth ...

. He competed in the Grand Prix road racing world championships from 1978 to 1983. Fontan was born in

Canet-en-Roussillon Canet-en-Roussillon (; ca, Canet de Rosselló, ; oc, Canet de Rosselhon, ) is a commune and town in the French department of the Pyrénées-Orientales, administrative region of Occitania. Geography Canet-en-Roussillon is located in the ca ...

in the French department of Pyrénées-Orientales. He began to race motorcycles in 1977 and, competed in his first world championship race riding a Yamaha TZ250 at the 1978 250cc British Grand Prix. He also placed 7th at the 1978

Bol d'Or The Bol d’Or is a 24-hour endurance race for motorcycles, held annually in France. The riding of each bike is now shared by a team of three riders. History The Bol d’Or, first organized by Eugene Mauve, in 1922, was a race for motorcycles ...

24 hour endurance race. Fontan joined the French Japauto

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...

team and won the 1980

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

with teammate Herve Moineau. They went on to win the 1980

FIM Endurance World Championship The Endurance World Championship ( FIM EWC) is the premier worldwide endurance championship in motorcycle road racing. The championship season consists of a series of endurance races (with a duration of six, eight, twelve or twenty-four hours) h ...

. In 1981 he began competing in the premier 500cc Grand Prix world championship as a member of the French Yamaha importer's Sonauto team. He was crowned French champion in October 1981, and the following weekend took part in the final round of the British championship at

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

, however he came off his bike at Druids while in sixth position. His best year was in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

when he finished in sixth place in the 500cc world championship. Today Fontan is known for being the principal architect of th
Moto-Tour
a seven-day competitive rally that crosses huge swaths of France.

Motorcycle Grand Prix results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

1956 births Living people Sportspeople from Perpignan French motorcycle racers 250cc World Championship riders 500cc World Championship riders 20th-century French people {{France-motorcycle-racing-bio-stub