Patrick Gaillard’s journey

French racing driver Patrick Gaillard, born 12 February 1952 in Paris, raced in the European Formula 3 Championship in a works Chevron, finishing the 1978 season in third position, with two victories at Imola and Nürburgring. He then occasionally raced in the European Formula 2 Championship, in a works Chevron B48-Hart in 1979, but he was cruelly lacking funds.

Picture above: Patrick Gaillard next to his F2 Chevron, at Hockenheim in 1979 where he finished a good fourth. One can notice the sponsoring of French magazine ‘Auto-Hebdo’ (thanks to a readers crowd funding) on the flanks of the red Chevron.,

In 1979, he also drove for Ensign in Formula 1. Sadly, the Ensign N179 was not a competitive car and Gaillard failed to qualify three times out of five. In 1980, he returned to Ensign for the Spanish Grand Prix and finished in a points-earning 6th place – the last of 6 cars still running at the finish, 5 laps down. However the result did not count as this race was downgraded to non-championship status due to the FISA-FOCA war.

Thereafter Patrick Gaillard drove in Formula 2, Can-Am and sports cars, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, before retiring from racing. Gaillard did not really have a chance to demonstrate his talent. He later became a racing instructor in the South of France.