Education
He finished runner-up to Jacques Laffite, but finally made his full Grand Prix debut, finishing 12th in a works Tyrrell at the French Grand Prix.
He finished runner-up to Jacques Laffite, but finally made his full Grand Prix debut, finishing 12th in a works Tyrrell at the French Grand Prix.
He raced in 55 Formula One Grands Prix, collecting two wins during the first years of Renault"s turbocharged programme in the 1970s. Jabouille also raced the 24 Hours of Le Mans from the late 1960s to the early 1990s, driving for Alpine, Matra, Sauber and Peugeot and collecting four 3rd overall finishes in 1973, 1974, 1992 and 1993. Jabouille was one of the last of a breed of Formula One drivers who were also engineers.
Jabouille first made his mark in French Formula Three in 1967, and continued in 1968, maintaining the car himself on his way to the runner"s up spot behind François Cevert.
Foreign 1969 he was contracted as a development driver by Alpine, having several disjointed runs in Formula Two and sports cars. He also made his first appearances in Formula One, failing to qualify a Williams at the French Grand Prix, and a Surtees at the Austrian Grand Prix.
1975 saw Jabouille sever his ties with Alpine, and gain Elf backing to make his own Formula Two chassis. Foreign 1976 he concentrated on Formula Two, finally winning the title.
Jabouille was signed up by Formula One team Renault to develop their new 1.5l turbocharged engine for 1977.
The RS01 car debuted at the 1977 British Grand Prix, but initially the turbo engine (a first for Formula One) was fragile and suffered from severe turbo lag, making it difficult to drive on tight circuits. 1979 saw Renault expand to run a second car for René Arnoux. This was the first victory for a turbocharged car in Formula One.
However, a suspension failure in the Canadian Grand Prix left him with a broken leg, just after he had signed with Ligier for 1981.
His injuries saw him sit out the first two races of the 1981 season, but it soon became clear he wasn"t fully fit, failing to qualify for two of his four attempts, at which point he decided to retire from Formula One, and he then became manager of the Ligier/Talbot team in 1982. Jabouille returned in the mid-1980s to drive in the French Supertouring Championship, before joining Peugeot to help develop their sports car programme at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, culminating in a third place in 1992 and 1993.
In 1994 he succeeded Jean Todt as director of Peugeot Sport, but unsuccessful seasons for the marque in association with McLaren and Jordan saw him sacked in 1995. Since then he has run his own sports car team in the ISRS.
Complete European Formula Two Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position.
Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
† Drivers who finished ahead of Jabouille but were ineligible for points so Jabouille scored more points than the position he finished.
24 Hours of Le Mans results
Complete Formula One results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position).