Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsFormula 1

Guy Ligier dies at 85

Former French racer and F1 team owner Guy Ligier has passed away at the age 85.

A former French rugby player from Vichy, Ligier was a self-made man who built a large construction empire before starting racing in the early sixties. He eventually competed in F1 with privately entered Cooper-Maserati and Brabham-Repco machinery, running in 12 Grand Prix in 1966 and 1967.

His limited success as a driver, as well as the death in 1968 in the French GP at Rouen of his best friend and partner Jo Schlesser, decided Ligier to retire and pursue his racing aspirations as a manufacturer.

Designer Michel Tetu penned the Ligier JS1 (bearing the initials of Jo Schlesser), a production sportscar, while the company was progressively built up. In 1974 Ligier bought the assets of Matra Sports and embarked on setting up a Formula 1 team.

The outfit made its debut in 1976 with Jacques Laffite driving. The team became highly successful in the early 1980s with Laffite, Patrick Depailler and Didier Pironi driving. In 1981 Ligier's old friend François Mitterrand became President of France and when Ligier ran into trouble in 1983 the President ordered that government-owned companies such as Elf, Gitanes and Loto should supply sponsorship.

In 1992, the team was sold to French businessman Cyril de Rouvre, at which time Guy Ligier invested the proceeds of the sale in the natural fertilizer market in central France, building another fortune along the way.

The Ligier name lived on in Formula 1 under various guises until 1996, with Olivier Panis and Pedro Diniz driving for the team in its final season, the former putting Ligier in the F1's winner's circle one last time at Monaco that year.

Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.