Guy Ligier, a racing driver
Guy Ligier (1930-2015) is mostly remembered as a Formula One team owner, but few know that he was a competent racing driver, he even made it to Formula 1 (picture).
He is seen here aboard his Cooper T81 Maserati at the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix, where he finished 10th.
Ligier first tried his luck in Formula Junior in 1960. By 1964, the frenchman was racing Porsche sports cars, starting with a 356 and then a 904 Carrera GTS, in which he finished 7th at the 1964 Le Mans 24 Hours. Then came the times of Formula 2 and more endurance races.
Guy Ligier broke into Formula One as a privateer, entering his own Cooper Maserati T81 in the 1966 Monaco Grand Prix. In five starts with this car he either ran unclassified or out of the points.
That year he and best friend Jo Schlesser joined forces to become the exclusive importer of Ford-Shelby products to France.
In 1967 Ligier fielded another car of his own, a Brabham-Repco BT20. The car made its debut in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. In total Ligier participated in thirteen F1 Grand Prix races, getting one point in the drivers’ standings with an eighth place finish in the German Grand Prix in 1967 due to two finishers in front of him being F2 cars, and so ineligible for F1 points.
