Philippe Alliot


Philippe René Gabriel Alliot is a French former racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to and from to.
Born and raised in Voves, Alliot initially studied political science before dropping out of university to pursue his racing career. He competed at 116 Formula One Grands Prix across nine seasons for RAM, Ligier, Larrousse and McLaren. Alliot also competed intermittently in the World Sportscar Championship, winning three races from 21 starts and finishing third in the standings in 1991 and 1992 with Peugeot. He also entered 10 editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing third in, and.

Early life and career

Philippe René Gabriel Alliot was born on 27 July 1954 in Voves, Eure-et-Loir, France. Alliot initially enrolled as a political science student, before dropping out to pursue a racing career at the Motul Racing School at the Circuit de Nogaro.
Prior to his career in Formula One, Alliot competed during 1976 and 1977 in Formule Renault, and won the championship in 1978, in the BP Racing team. With said team, he also won the French Formula Renault championship and went on to French Formula Three. He finished third in his first race and moved to the European Formula 3 Championship in 1980. By 1983, he moved to Formula Two but hit the headlines that year when he finished third in the Le Mans 24 Hours with Michael and Mario Andretti in a Kremer Porsche.

Formula One

In 1984 Alliot joined the Skoal Bandit RAM F1 team, but did not enjoy much in the way of success. After Jacques Laffite was injured at the 1986 British Grand Prix, Alliot took his place at Ligier, where he showed an improvement. He moved to Larrousse for 1987, but returned to Ligier in 1990, gaining a reputation for accidents. He has the record of most race starts without any lead lap finish.
File:Philippe Alliot 1990 United States.jpg|thumb|left|Alliot driving the Ligier JS33B at the 1990 United States Grand Prix

Sportscars

Alliot left F1 for sports car racing in the early 1990s and enjoyed considerable success with the Peugeot team, run by Jean Todt. This included third-place finishes at the 1992 and 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Return to Formula One

Alliot made another attempt at F1 with Larrousse in, achieving the best finish of his F1 career, fifth, at the San Marino Grand Prix. For, Alliot was actually out of a drive in Formula One until Peugeot insisted that McLaren, who they were supplying V10 engines for, take him on as a test/reserve driver. This role led to a race at the 1994 Hungarian Grand Prix for the team as a replacement for Mika Häkkinen, while he was suspended. Qualifying 14th, he retired from the race itself. Alliot then replaced Olivier Beretta at Larrousse for the following race, the Belgian Grand Prix. Starting from 19th on the grid, he retired with engine failure and this proved to be his last race in F1. Alliot left Formula One as the driver with the most race starts who had never achieved at least one of a podium finish, a pole position, or a fastest lap.

Later life

After announcing his retirement from Formula One in 1995, Alliot decided to try a career in politics, also did some TV commentary and competed in ice racing and the Paris–Dakar Rally, but ended running his own GT racing team.

Racing record

Career summary

SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsPolesF/LapsPodiumsPointsPosition
1976Formule Renault NationaleÉcurie Armagnac Bigorre1300002111th
1977Formule Renault NationaleÉcurie Armagnac Bigorre81143339th
1978Formule Renault NationaleBP Racing Team1453491441st
1979French Formula Three?????183rd
1979European Formula ThreeKores Racing200000NC
1980European Formula ThreeAutomobiles Martini130136395th
1980German Formula ThreeAutomobiles Martini200100NC†
1980French Formula ThreeEcurie Elf22012427th
1981European Formula ThreeAutomobiles Martini142105413rd
1981World Sportscar ChampionshipEcurie Elf200006309th
1981French Formula ThreeEcurie Elf110010NC
1981German Formula ThreeEcurie Elf100000NC†
1982European Formula ThreeAutomobiles Martini91002256th
1982World Sportscar ChampionshipOtis-Rondeau200000NC
1982German Formula ThreeTotal100000NC†
1983European Formula TwoBMW France100110412th
1983World Sportscar ChampionshipPorsche Kremer Racing200011225th
198324 Hours of Le MansPorsche Kremer Racing10001N/A3rd
1984Formula OneSkoal Bandit Formula 1 Team1300000NC
1985Formula OneSkoal Bandit Formula 1 Team1300000NC
1985European Formula 3000BS Automotive10000119th
1986Formula OneÉquipe Ligier70000118th
1986International Formula 3000Oreca6101199th
198624 Hours of Le MansJohn Fitzpatrick Racing10000N/A10th
1987Formula OneLarrousse Calmels150000317th
1988Formula OneLarrousse Calmels1600000NC
1989Formula OneLarrousse Calmels/Equipe Larrousse150000126th
1990Formula OneLigier Gitanes1400000NC
199024 Hours of Le MansPorsche Kremer Racing10000N/A16th
1991World Sportscar ChampionshipPeugeot Talbot Sport81113693rd
199124 Hours of Le MansPeugeot Talbot Sport10000N/ADNF
1992World Sportscar ChampionshipPeugeot Talbot Sport62224643rd
199224 Hours of Le MansPeugeot Talbot Sport10101N/A3rd
1993Formula OneEquipe Larrousse140000217th
199324 Hours of Le MansPeugeot Talbot Sport10101N/A3rd
1994Formula OneMarlboro McLaren Peugeot100000NC
1994Formula OneTourtel Larrousse F1100000NC
1995French Supertouring ChampionshipPeugeot Esso180201536th
1995BPR Global GT SeriesToyota Team Tom's100000NC
199524 Hours of Le MansGTC Gulf Racing10000N/ADNF
199624 Hours of Le MansCourage Compétition10000N/ADNF
1999FFSA GT ChampionshipMTO Mirabeau Compétition100000NC
2000FIA GT Championship – N-GTJMB Competition300000NC
2001FFSA GT ChampionshipJMB Competition1140072584th
2002FIA GT ChampionshipForce One Racing500000NC
2003FIA GT ChampionshipForce One Racing Festina70101942nd
2003FFSA GT ChampionshipForce One Racing Festina6311312511th
200324 Hours of Le MansCourage Compétition10000N/ADNF
2004FIA GT ChampionshipForce One Racing100005.541st
2005FFSA GT ChampionshipForce One Racing20000139th
2006FFSA GT ChampionshipPSI Expérience811131138th

† As Alliot was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.