24h Le Mans
Guy Ligier (1930-2015) Guy Ligier - former driver, constructor and outfit owner - passed away on Sunday, August 23, 2015 at 85 years of age. In June, he was in Le Mans for the presentation of the latest version of the car carrying his name, the Ligier JS P3, developed by Onroak Automotive.
Forty years after the second place finish of the JS 2 for Guy Chasseuil and Jean-Louis Lafosse, Guy Ligier would have liked to be a part of victory for the Ligier prototype in the LM P2 class at the 83rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but it was the third step on the podium that the G-Drive Racing team claimed, exactly one year after the JS P2's racing debut.
The arrival of the JS P2 marked the return of the name Ligier to Le Mans under the leadership of Jacques Nicolet, founder of OAK Racing and Onroak Automotive, 40 years after it had left. Indeed, in 1975, three Ligier JS 2s qualified in the top 10 on the starting grid at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the one driven by Guy Chasseuil and Jean-Louis Lafosse finished second, the best result of a car out of Guy Ligier's workshops.
The Vichy native debuted at Le Mans as a driver, placing seventh overall and winning in his class at his very first participation in 1964 with a Porsche 904 GTS. The follow-up was less successful as his three entries with Ford ended in retirements.
After a three-year absence following the death of his friend Jo Schlesser (the JS of the cars built by Ligier), Guy Ligier returned to Le Mans in 1970 with a car of his own design. In four starts, the results were disappointing with three retirements and one unranked finish. Guy Ligier, who started out in rugby, decided to hang up his helmet for good in order to focus on a career as a constructor in endurance then in F1.
Despite the second place finish for the JS 2 in 1975, Guy Ligier left endurance to launch in F1, a discipline he knew well having taken the start, as a driver, of 12 Grand Prix in 1966 and 1967, with an eighth place finish as best result in Germany in 1967.
Victory was not far behind with a first win in Sweden in 1977 thanks to Jacques Laffitte. Eight more followed, but the outfit was on its way out when it went to Alain Prost. The name Ligier disappeared from motorsports for several years before its re-emergence in V de V, then at Le Mans, at the initiative of Jacques Nicolet.
To Guy Ligier's family and loved ones, the ACO offers its sincerest condolences.
Cécile Bonardel / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO
Photo: Copyright - OAK Racing
PHOTO: Jacques Nicolet, orchestrator of the return of the name Ligier at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and Guy Ligier.
