Ligier JS17
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The Ligier JS17 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, ...
car designed by
Gérard Ducarouge Gérard Ducarouge (23 October 1941 – 19 February 2015) was a French Formula One car designer whose career in motorsport started in 1965 when he joined Equipe Matra Sports. His Matra MS80 car, entered by the privateer Matra International te ...
and Michel Beaujon for use by the
Ligier Ligier (() is a French automobile and minibus maker created by former racing driver and rugby player Guy Ligier (1930–2015), specialized in the manufacturing of microcars. Ligier is best known for its involvement in the Formula 1 World Champio ...
team during the 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 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 ...
V12 V12 or V-12 may refer to: Aircraft * Mil V-12, a Soviet heavy lift helicopter * Pilatus OV-12, a planned American military utility aircraft * Rockwell XFV-12, an American experimental aircraft project * Škoda-Kauba V12, a Czechoslovak experim ...
, the JS17 was driven to two Grand Prix wins by
Jacques Laffite Jacques-Henri Laffite (; born 21 November 1943) is a French former racing driver who competed in Formula One from to . He achieved six Grand Prix wins, all while driving for the Ligier team. From 1997 to 2013, Laffite was a presenter for TF1. ...
. It was updated to JS17B specification for the season until it was replaced later that year by the JS19.


Design and development

The JS17 was designed by
Gérard Ducarouge Gérard Ducarouge (23 October 1941 – 19 February 2015) was a French Formula One car designer whose career in motorsport started in 1965 when he joined Equipe Matra Sports. His Matra MS80 car, entered by the privateer Matra International te ...
and Michel Beaujon and initially carried conventional suspension. Later on in the season, the team adopted a hydro-pneumatic system to lower the car on track but this did not work effectively until the Belgium race. After two years of using the
Cosworth DFV The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. The name is an abbreviation of ''Double Four Valve'', the engine being a V8 development of the earlier four-cylinder FVA, which had fo ...
, for the season, team owner
Guy Ligier Guy Camille Ligier (12 July 1930 – 23 August 2015) was a French racing driver and team owner. He maintained many varied and successful careers over the course of his life, including rugby player, butcher, racing driver and Formula One team owner ...
had arranged a supply of Talbot-badged
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 ...
V12 engines V1, V01 or V-1 can refer to version one (for anything) (e.g., see version control) V1, V01 or V-1 may also refer to: In aircraft * V-1 flying bomb, a World War II German weapon * V1 speed, the maximum speed at which an aircraft pilot may abort ...
. The V12 engine, designated the MS81 and newly developed by Georges Martin, initially generated an average of 510 bhp at 12,500 rpm. This was gradually improved by Martin, and by the end of the year the MS81 was revving at 13,000 rpm. A total of six JS17s were built throughout the year, the last of these being introduced at the
Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been he ...
. The JS17 continued service into as an updated JS17B. Matra had hoped to introduce a turbocharged V6 but this never eventuated and the team continued with the MS81. All four of the surviving chassis from the previous year were rebuilt and stiffened. The JS17B was one of the heavier cars on the grid for 1982.


Racing history


1981 season

Regular Ligier driver
Jacques Laffite Jacques-Henri Laffite (; born 21 November 1943) is a French former racing driver who competed in Formula One from to . He achieved six Grand Prix wins, all while driving for the Ligier team. From 1997 to 2013, Laffite was a presenter for TF1. ...
was joined by
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 ...
, a race winner for
Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
, for 1981. However, the latter had not yet recovered from injuries sustained in a crash the previous year and so
Jean-Pierre Jarier Jean-Pierre Jacques Jarier (born 10 July 1946) is a French former Grand Prix racing driver. He drove for Formula One teams including Shadow, Team Lotus, Ligier, Osella and Tyrrell Racing. His best finish was third (three times) and he also to ...
was contracted for the first race of the year in the
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. Both drivers qualified in mid-field, Jarier ahead of Laffite, but failed to finish the race itself. Jabouille tried to drive at the following race in
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but was still unfit and Jarier had to stand in again. He finished seventh behind Laffite, who scored the car's first points finish with sixth place. Jabouille had recovered for the third race of the year in
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but failed to qualify. Laffite in the meantime qualified comfortably for the race but retired with handling problems. He also retired from the following race while Jabouille finally got to race the JS17 in anger, after qualifying in 18th. Although his car was running at the finish, he was several laps down and thus unclassified. By the
Belgian Grand Prix The Belgian Grand Prix (French: ''Grand Prix de Belgique''; Dutch: ''Grote Prijs van België''; German: ''Großer Preis von Belgien'') is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula One World Championship. The first national race of ...
, the team had gotten its hydropneumatic suspension working properly and this saw an improved performance with Jabouille making the grid in 16th while Laffite was ninth. While Jabouille retired from the race, Laffite finished second. He followed this up with third in
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and another second, from pole position, at the
Spanish Grand Prix The Spanish Grand Prix ( es, Gran Premio de España, ca, Gran Premi d'Espanya) is a Formula One motor racing event currently held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The race is one of the oldest in the world still contested, celebrating it ...
. In contrast, Jabouille failed to qualify for the Monaco race and, after making 19th on the grid in Spain, retired with brake problems. Recognising his racing performance was compromised, Jabouille stepped down from driving duties for the team after the Spanish Grand Prix and was now providing technical direction. To take over the vacant seat,
Patrick Tambay Patrick Daniel Tambay (25 June 1949 – 4 December 2022) was a French racing driver, commentator, and politician, who competed in 123 Formula One races between 1977 and 1986, securing five pole positions and winning twice. Between 1977 and 198 ...
was brought in from the Theodore team. Although he performed better in qualifying than Jabouille, regularly qualifying in midfield with a best of seventh at
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, he was unable to provide any contribution to the team's points tally, retiring from all his races. In the meantime, Laffite, finished third in successive races in
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and
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. Thanks to the assistance of Jabouille in tyre selection, Laffite won in
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from fourth on the grid, taking fastest lap along the way. He retired from the next two races but was atop of the podium again in
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, placing him in contention for the Driver's Championship with just one race to go. At the season finale, in Las Vegas, he qualified 12th but had worked his way into second place during the race when he had to make a pitstop for tyres and ultimately finished sixth. Laffite's performance during the year saw him finish in fourth in the Driver's Championship with 44 points. With none of his teammates able to contribute any points finishes for the team, Ligier also placed fourth in the Constructor's Championship.


1982 season

The American
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 ...
joined Laffite in the team for . Racing updated JS17Bs, neither driver finished the first three races of the season. After boycotting the
San Marino Grand Prix The San Marino Grand Prix () was a Formula One championship race which was run at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in the town of Imola, near the Apennine mountains in Italy, between 1981 and 2006. It was named after nearby San ...
, Cheever finished third at
Zolder The Circuit Zolder, also known as Circuit Terlamen, is an undulating motorsport race track in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. History Built in 1963, Zolder hosted the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix on 10 separate occasions in the 1970s and 1980s, ...
with Laffite in ninth place. The team introduced its new car, the JS19, at the following race at
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but it performed poorly. The team reverted to the JS17B for the next few races while the JS19 was developed further. Cheever placed second at
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from ninth on the grid while Laffite qualified 13th and finished sixth. Both drivers retired from the next race in
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, the last occasion at which both drivers used the JS17B. Cheever switched to the JS19 for the Dutch race, leaving Laffite with the old car; he qualified in 21st and retired from the race with handling problems. Laffite took over the JS19 and Cheever reverted to the JS17B for its final race in
Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
. Here he qualified in 24th place but was unsuccessful in the race, retiring with an oil leak. Ligier finished eighth in the 1982 Constructors with 20 points; Cheever's two podium finishes and Laffite's sixth place with the JS17B contributing 11 points to the team's total.


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 JS19


Notes


References

* {{F1 cars 1982 Ligier Formula One cars 1981 Formula One season cars 1982 Formula One season cars