Ligier JS37


The Ligier JS37 was a Formula One car used by the Ligier team during the 1992 Formula One season. Its best finish in a race was fifth, which it achieved twice.

Development

For the 1992 season, team owner Guy Ligier secured the use of the Renault RS3 3.5 V10 engine, maintained by Mecachrome. The team initially used the RS3B model, before being upgraded to a supply of RS3Cs later in the year.
The chassis was designed by Frank Dernie, with some input from Gérard Ducarouge and using the aerodynamic research data and windtunnel model from the stillborn Reynard F1 project. Although aesthetically pleasing, the JS37 was poor aerodynamically and needed to be revised during the season, as did the suspension. Prior to the start of the season, Alain Prost test drove the JS37 several times with a view to joining the team after his dismissal from Ferrari the previous year. However, he opted out of racing with the team and Érik Comas, Ligier's junior driver who had raced for the team the previous year, drove instead. Thierry Boutsen continued with the team having also driven for it during the 1991 season.

Race History

The JS37 was generally a midfield runner which retired from nearly half the races it started. It did not handle bumpy circuits well and performance suffered as a result, with particularly poor qualifying efforts in Mexico, Monaco and Canada. Comas failed to qualify for one race, the Belgian Grand Prix, after a heavy crash in practice on the Friday of the race. Knocked unconscious, he did not participate any further in the race weekend.
Comas did secure three finishes in the points during the mid-season, including a best of fifth at the French Grand Prix. He overcame the bumpy circuit to finish sixth in Canada, having qualified a poor 22nd, scoring the team's first point in almost three years. He also finished sixth at Germany, where he achieved his best qualifying position of seventh. Boutsen finished in the points only once, fifth at the season ending Australian Grand Prix.

Complete Formula One results

YearEntrantEngineTyresDrivers12345678910111213141516PointsWCC
Ligier Gitanes BlondesRenault V10RSAMEXBRAESPSMRMONCANFRAGBRGERHUNBELITAPORJPNAUS68th
Ligier Gitanes BlondesRenault V10Thierry BoutsenRet10RetRetRet1210Ret107RetRetRet8Ret568th
Ligier Gitanes BlondesRenault V10Érik Comas79RetRet9106586RetDNQRetRetRetRet68th