Christian Sarron


Christian Sarron is a French former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer.

Motorcycle racing career

He began his career on a Kawasaki when he met French Grand Prix racer Patrick Pons. Pons helped him get his start in the international racing circuit. His first victory came in the rain in the 1977 German Grand Prix. He was injured in a 750cc race which would begin a trend of numerous injuries for the next few years. In 1982, he again won in the rain at the Finnish Grand Prix, cementing his reputation as an exceptional wet weather rider. He finished the 1982 season 8th in the 350 class and 10th in the 250 class.
He would finish second to Carlos Lavado in the 1983 250 class with another Grand Prix victory in the Swedish Grand Prix. In 1984, he won three times on a Yamaha and captured the 250 World Championship.
The following year saw him move up to the premiere 500cc division with the Gauloises-Yamaha team where he won again in the rain at the 1985 German Grand Prix. He finished the season in an impressive third place to Freddie Spencer and Eddie Lawson. In 1989, he again finished third in the 500cc championship behind Lawson and Wayne Rainey.
Sarron's 500cc career occurred at a time when the bikes suited the sliding style of the Americans who had been brought up on dirt oval tracks, yet Sarron still managed to post respectable results. In 1994, he teamed up with his brother Dominique Sarron to win the prestigious Bol d'or endurance race. In 1995 he retired from competition to take on the role of team director for Yamaha's Superbike team.

Grand Prix career statistics

Points system from 1969 to 1987:
Position12345678910
Points1512108654321

Points system from 1988 to 1992:
Position123456789101112131415
Points201715131110987654321


YearClassTeamMachine123456789101112131415PointsRankWins
1976350ccSonauto-YamahaTZ350FRA
AUT
NAT
IOM
NED
FIN
CZE
10
GER
7
ESP
526th0
1977250ccSonauto-YamahaTZ250VEN
GER
1
NAT
ESP
4
FRA
YUG
NED
BEL
SWE
14
FIN
CZE
GBR
2314th1
1977350ccSonauto-YamahaTZ350VEN
GER
8
NAT
ESP
2
FRA
YUG
NED
SWE
10
FIN
2
CZE
3
GBR
387th0
1978350ccSonauto-YamahaTZ350VEN
6
AUT
FRA
NAT
NED
5
SWE
FIN
GBR
7
GER
CZE
YUG
1515th0
1979500ccSonauto-YamahaTZ500VEN
7
AUT
GER
8
NAT
Ret
ESP
YUG
7
NED
9
BEL
Ret
SWE
9
FIN
5
GBR
6
FRA
2611th0
1981500ccSonauto-YamahaTZ500AUT
Ret
GER
NAT
9
FRA
Ret
YUG
NED
BEL
RSM
12
GBR
18
FIN
SWE
223rd0
1982250ccSonauto-YamahaTZ250FRA
ESP
9
NAT
8
NED
BEL
YUG
5
GBR
SWE
FIN
1
CZE
RSM
GER
2610th1
1982350ccSonauto-YamahaTZ350ARG
AUT
FRA
NAT
NED
5
GBR
5
FIN
2
CZE
7
GER
288th0
1983250ccSonauto-YamahaTZ250RSA
Ret
FRA
Ret
NAT
Ret
GER
7
ESP
2
AUT
4
YUG
2
NED
Ret
BEL
2
GBR
3
SWE
1
732nd1
1984250ccSonauto-YamahaTZ250RSA
2
NAT
Ret
ESP
2
AUT
1
GER
1
FRA
5
YUG
2
NED
Ret
BEL
3
GBR
1
SWE
2
RSM
Ret
1091st3
1985500ccSonauto-YamahaYZR500RSA
6
ESP
3
GER
1
NAT
5
AUT
3
YUG
5
NED
Ret
BEL
3
FRA
Ret
GBR
3
SWE
4
RSM
Ret
803rd1
1986500ccSonauto-YamahaYZR500ESP
5
NAT
4
GER
Ret
AUT
4
YUG
6
NED
5
BEL
3
FRA
3
GBR
Ret
SWE
RSM
6
586th0
1987500ccSonauto-YamahaYZR500JPN
Ret
ESP
Ret
GER
Ret
NAT
3
AUT
6
YUG
NED
Ret
FRA
3
GBR
4
SWE
Ret
CZE
7
RSM
8
POR
5
BRA
5
ARG
Ret
527th0
1988500ccSonauto-YamahaYZR500JPN
8
USA
6
ESP
4
EXP
4
NAT
Ret
GER
3
AUT
Ret
NED
3
BEL
Ret
YUG
2
FRA
2
GBR
3
SWE
3
CZE
Ret
BRA
5
1494th0
1989500ccSonauto-YamahaYZR500JPN
7
AUS
3
USA
6
ESP
4
NAT
DNS
GER
5
AUT
4
YUG
5
NED
3
BEL
4
FRA
4
GBR
5
SWE
2
CZE
4
BRA
8
165.53rd0
1990500ccSonauto-YamahaYZR500JPN
Ret
USA
4
ESP
7
NAT
GER
4
AUT
7
YUG
NED
7
BEL
4
FRA
Ret
GBR
8
SWE
CZE
6
HUN
Ret
AUS
Ret
849th0