French adventure
In 1976, Jacques Laffite and his very distinctive dark-green helmet (picture-above in the cockpit of the Ligier JS5-Matra) moved to the new French Ligier team. Guy Ligier had succeeded to convince French tobacco company SEITA and its Gitanes brand to fund his F1 project and he recruited some of Matra Sport’s best staff so successful in endurance racing and at Le Mans, and the V12 Matra engine.
At Long Beach, the third race of the season, from 12th on the grid, Jacques Laffite drove the JS5 to fourth place, earning Ligier its first championship points. He scored his first podium of the year in Belgium, where he finished third from sixth on the grid. All in all, it was a good and promising first season for Ligier, and Laffite scored 20 points and a pole position at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza (picture-below).
The Ligier JS5 was the first Formula One racing car made by Ligier. Designed by engineer Gérard Ducarouge (technical director), Michel Beaujon (Chief designer) and Robert Choulet (Head of aerodynamics), it was powered by the 3L Matra 60° V12 engine, that was longitudinally mounted. It was the start of a great adventure for both Ligier and Laffite.