Jean-Denis Delétraz


Jean-Denis Delétraz is a Swiss racing driver. He participated in three Formula One Grands Prix, debuting in the 1994 Australian Grand Prix. Before reaching Formula One, he scored two third places in the 1988 Formula 3000 season, but principally earned his three Formula One drives as a pay driver. After Formula One, he competed in sports car racing, with two class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Career

Pre-Formula One

Delétraz had some success in his early career, including two wins in Formula Ford cars. He went on to compete in Formula Three between 1985 and 1987 in the French championship, finishing third in the final standings in 1985. Between 1988 and 1991, he competed in Formula 3000 and during 1990 he bought the FIRST racing team, but was never able to match the success of 1988 and scored no points. During 1991 the team was impounded by an Italian court for a time after legal action from the team's other driver, Giovanni Bonanno.
In 1992 and 1993, Deletraz competed in the French Touring Car Championship and the Porsche Supercup with little success. In 1994, Delétraz was signed as a driver for the SEAT works team in the French Touring Car Championship. His best result was fifth place in the race at Nogaro and he finished thirteenth overall in the standings.

Formula One

1994: Larrousse

Towards the end of 1994, Larrousse was, like a number of other teams at the time, running short of money and needed pay drivers to keep the team afloat. Larrousse's number 19 car, which had started the year being driven by Olivier Beretta, was now being driven by drivers who could bring sponsorship money to the team. For the final race of the year in Australia, Larrousse let the aero-car inexperienced, physically unfit Delétraz replace Érik Comas in the team's second car for more sponsorship money in order to aid their financial situation.
During qualifying, Delétraz qualified in 25th position, ahead of Simtek's Domenico Schiattarella. However, Schiattarella overtook him during the first lap of the Grand Prix, and Delétraz gradually dropped back from the rest of the field. He retired on lap 57 with gearbox failure, after he had already been lapped ten times. He was lapping the circuit six seconds slower than the leaders, two seconds slower than his teammate Hideki Noda and 1–2 seconds slower than the next slowest driver Schiattarella. He was described by BBC commentator Jonathan Palmer as "having no business in Formula One."

1995: Pacific

started with shareholder Bertrand Gachot and Andrea Montermini as its drivers, but similar to Larrousse the previous year, the team needed pay drivers to continue the season and Gachot vacated his seat. It was announced that Delétraz would be competing in the final five races of the season.
During qualifying for his first round of the year, in Portugal, Delétraz was hindered by a gearbox problem which saw him qualify last, twelve seconds behind pole-position sitter David Coulthard. In the race, Delétraz was 40 seconds behind Coulthard after 3 laps, and was lapping the circuit 12 seconds slower than the leaders and 6–7 seconds than the next slowest driver Roberto Moreno in a Forti and 7–8 seconds slower than his team-mate Montermini. He was lapped by the leaders after seven laps of the race, and after fourteen he retired from the race with cramp in his left arm. This drew criticism as Estoril is a clockwise circuit, which requires more work from the right arm. In his second race at the Nürburgring, he qualified just over nine seconds behind pole-position, and he finished the race in fifteenth place as the last finisher, seven laps behind the winner. At one point while he was being lapped by the leaders, Delétraz suddenly darted his car across the track from one side to the other and back again, prompting BBC commentator Murray Walker to exclaim "And what is Delétraz doing? Doesn't matter what he's doing."
At the next race, he was replaced by Bertrand Gachot after planned replacements were denied superlicenses. It had been expected that Delétraz would be competing until the end of the season, but he defaulted on payment and Keith Wiggins, principal of the Pacific team stated, "On ability alone, we are not willing to keep him."
The slow qualifying speeds of drivers like Delétraz resulted in the introduction of the 107% rule for the 1996 season - with some F1 fans nicknaming the new regulation the "Delétraz rule" as a result.

Sports Car Racing

After his tenure in Formula One, Delétraz focused on endurance racing, running in the 24 Hours of LeMans and the BPR Global GT Series in 1995. 1996 saw Delétraz move to the FIRST Racing operation he now co-owned with fellow driver Fabien Giroix. Two years in the BPR Global GT Series in a McLaren F1 GTR was followed by a move to the FIA GT Championship in 1997, with FIRST running the works Lotus Elise GT1s. After a couple of years away, FIRST and Delétraz returned to the FIA Championship in 2000 with a Ferrari 550 Maranello. In 2002, he took four wins in the series with team-mate Andrea Piccini in a BMS Scuderia Italia-run 550, and the pair finished fifth in the championship. They then drove a works Lister Storm in 2003. He has also scored two class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in 2001 and 2002 in the LMP675 class. He was also one of the drivers of the Chevrolet Corvette C6.R that won the 2007 Spa 24 Hours.
Jean-Denis's son, Louis, is also a racing driver, currently competing in the Formula 2 series.

Racing record

Complete International Formula 3000 results

YearEntrantChassisEngine1234567891011Pts
1988Sport Auto RacingLola T88/50CosworthJER
9		VAL
DNQ		PAU
Ret		SIL
DNQ		MNZ
Ret		PER
DNQ		BRHBIR
10		13th8
1988GDBA MotorsportLola T88/50CosworthBUG
3		ZOL
3		DIJ
Ret		13th8
1989First RacingLeyton March 89BCosworthSIL
14		VAL
Ret		PAU
Ret		NC0
1989First RacingReynard 89DCosworthJER
15		PER
Ret		BRH
DSQ		BIR
12		SPA
DNQ		BUG
Ret		DIJ
9		NC0
1990First RacingReynard 90DCosworthDON
7		SIL
DNQ		PAU
Ret		JER
DNQ		MNZ
Ret		PERHOCBRHBIRBUGNOGNC0
1991First RacingReynard 91DCosworthVAL
DNS		PAU
DNQ		JER
Ret		MUGPERHOCBRHSPABUGNOGNC0

Complete World Sportscar Championship results

YearEntrantClassChassisEngine1234567891011Pts
1988Swiss Team SalaminC1Porsche 962CPorsche Type 935/79 2.8 F6tJERJARMNZSILLMSBRNBRH
7		NÜRSPAFUJSANNC0

Complete Formula One results

YearEntrantChassisEngine1234567891011121314151617Pts
1994Tourtel LarrousseLarrousse LH94Ford HBF7/8 3.5 V8BRAPACSMRMONESPCANFRAGBRGERHUNBELITAPOREURJPNAUS
Ret		NC0
1995Pacific Team LotusPacific PR02Ford EDC 3.0 V8BRAARGSMRESPMONCANFRAGBRGERHUNBELITAPOR
Ret		EUR
15		PACJPNAUSNC0

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete FIA GT Championship results

YearTeamCarClass1234567891011Pts
1997GT1 Lotus RacingLotus Elise GT1GT1HOC
Ret		SIL
Ret		HEL
12		NÜR
Ret		SPA
8		A1R
Ret		SUZDON
Ret		MUGSEB
Ret		LAG
Ret		NC0
1998Zakspeed RacingPorsche 911 GT1-98GT1OSCSILHOCDIJHUNSUZ
8		DONA1RHOMLAGNC0
2000First RacingFerrari 550 MaranelloGTVAL
Ret		ESTMNZ
Ret		SILHUNZOL
Ret		A1RLAUBRN
Ret		MAG
Ret		NC0
2002BMS Scuderia ItaliaFerrari 550-GTS MaranelloGTMAG
6		SIL
Ret		BRN
Ret		JAR
1		AND
1		OSC
1		SPA
Ret		PER
10		DON
Ret		EST
1		5th41
2003Lister Storm RacingLister StormGTCAT
4		MAG
3		PER
5		BRN
2		DON
9		SPAANDOSCESTMNZ15th23
2004DAMSLamborghini Murciélago R-GTGTMNZVALMAGHOCBRNDONSPAIMO
14		OSC
Ret		DUB
Ret		ZHU
Ret		NC0
2005GPC SportFerrari 575-GTC MaranelloGT1MNZ
Ret		MAG
9		SIL
7		IMO
Ret		BRN
Ret		SPA
Ret		OSC
6		IST
4		ZHU
5		DUB
6		BHR
12		15th19
2006Phoenix RacingAston Martin DBR9GT1SIL
6		BRN
2		OSC
3		SPA
2		PRI
6		DIJ
3		MUG
6		HUN
4		ADR
Ret		DUB
1		3rd62
2007Phoenix Carsport RacingChevrolet Corvette C6.RGT1ZHU
5		SIL
2		BUC
Ret		MNZ
3		OSC
Ret		SPA
1		ADR
5		BRN
9		NOG
1		ZOL
4		4th55
2008Phoenix Carsport RacingChevrolet Corvette C6.RGT1SIL
8		MNZ
Ret		ADR
3		OSC
3		SPA
6		BUC
1		BUC
1		BRN
4		NOG
3		ZOL
5		SAN8th45.5

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

YearEntrantClassCarEngine12345678Pts
2012Gulf Racing Middle EastLMP2Lola B12/80Nissan VK45DE 4.5 V8SEB
EX		SPA
18		LMS
Ret		SIL
15		SÃO
24		BHR
Ret		FUJ
13		SHA
Ret		70th2

Footnotes