Éric Salignon (born 22 July 1982 in

Carpentras Carpentras (, formerly ; Provençal dialect, Provençal Occitan language, Occitan: ''Carpentràs'' in classical norm or ''Carpentras'' in Mistralian norm; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the ...

) is a French racing driver.

Career

Formula Renault

A former two-time winner of the Monaco Kart Cup, Salignon moved into

Formula Renault Formula Renault are classes of formula racing popular in Europe and elsewhere. Regarded as an entry-level series to auto racing, motor racing, it was founded in 1971, and was a respected series where drivers can learn advanced racecraft before mov ...

in 2000, competing in both the European and French championships. Solid campaigns in both championships enabled Salignon to finished 16th in his national championship, and one place lower in the pan-European series. He continued in both series in 2001, driving for Graff Racing. He finished fifth in the Eurocup, in just seven races. With his focus on the French series, he won that particular championship by 37 points. This performance earned him a spot in the inaugural Renault Driver Development programme in 2002. Salignon's 2002 season was impressive, as he won the Eurocup by four points from

Neel Jani Neel Jani (born 8 December 1983) is a Swiss people, Swiss professional racing driver. He achieved his greatest success winning the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016 after first joining Porsche 919 Hybrid, Porsche's Le Mans Pro ...

, and lost the French title by just two points to Alexandre Prémat. In fourteen races, he won seven and finished on the podium a further three times.

Formula Three

Continuing on the RDD in 2003, Salignon moved to the

British Formula 3 Championship The British Formula Three Championship was an international motor racing series that took place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It was a junior-level feeder formula that used small single sea ...

driving for David Hayle's Hitech Racing team. Teaming up with fellow RDD driver

Danny Watts Danny Watts (born 31 December 1979) is a retired British professional racing driver. Career Watts was born in Aylesbury, and started racing in 1993, when he began karting. After five seasons of karting, he stepped up to single seater racin ...

, Salignon claimed a solitary pole position at Thruxton, and led that race until five laps from the end, colliding with the eventual champion

Alan van der Merwe Alan van der Merwe (born 31 January 1980) is a South African former racing driver. From to , van der Merwe served as the medical car driver in Formula One. Racing career Van der Merwe won the 2001 Formula Ford Festival. In 2003 he was the ...

. He redeemed himself with his best finish of the season at the following round at

Spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa health treatments are known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters and hot springs goes back to pre ...

with second place. He eventually finished twelfth in the championship, but was consequently dropped by Renault for the RDD. For

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, Salignon moved into the

Formula Three Euroseries The Formula 3 Euro Series was a European-based junior single seater formula for Formula Three chassis that was launched (in its current form) in 2003 as a merger of the French Formula Three Championship and German Formula Three Championship. The ...

driving for the ASM team, joining his former Formula Renault rival Prémat and

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

driver Jamie Green, who had competed against Salignon in British F3. Salignon won races at

Estoril Estoril () is a town in the civil parish of Cascais e Estoril of the Portuguese Municipality of Cascais, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a popular tourist destination, with hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numero ...

Adria Adria is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Rovigo in the Veneto region of northern Italy, situated between the mouths of the rivers Adige and Po River, Po. The remains of the Etruria, Etruscan city of Atria or Hatria are to be found below ...

and

Zandvoort Zandvoort () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is one of the major beach resorts of the Netherlands; it has a long sandy beach. It is bordered by coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park and the Amsterdam ...

before leaving the team, whilst lying in third place in the championship. He ended up finishing sixth in the standings, and was also the runner-up to Prémat at the prestigious

Masters of Formula 3 The Masters of Formula 3 was a Formula Three race held annually, usually at the Circuit Park Zandvoort in the Netherlands. Due to noise restrictions in the Zandvoort area, the 2007 and 2008 races were held in the Belgian circuit of Circuit Zolder, ...

, also at Zandvoort.

World Series by Renault

After leaving ASM, Salignon signed up to compete in the World Series by Renault for its debut season in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, with the series having previously been named the World Series by Nissan. He competed for the Cram Competition team, and ended up tenth overall tying on points with Jaap van Lagen. He did miss the

rounds of the championship though, with British driver Ben Hanley replacing him. Hanley ended up taking Salignon's seat at Cram for the

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, with Salignon moving to Interwetten. Salignon started the season off with a double win 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, a ...

, which was only ratified a month after the conclusion of the season. Salignon had lost the first of his two wins, due to the race results being completely annulled, after protests from a rival team. He had since left the team by the time he got his second win back, having been replaced by Franck Perera for the final round, in order for his team to successfully clinch the teams championship. Since being replaced, he has not taken part in any major international championship.

Racing record

Career summary

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results

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

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Salignon, Eric 1982 births Living people French racing drivers Formula 3 Euro Series drivers British Formula Three Championship drivers Formula Renault Eurocup drivers French Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Karting World Championship drivers World Series Formula V8 3.5 drivers Sportspeople from Carpentras ART Grand Prix drivers Cram Competition drivers Graff Racing drivers Hitech Grand Prix drivers 21st-century French sportsmen