Bertrand Gachot

Bertrand Jean Gachot (born 23 December 1962) is a Belgian-French former racing driver.

Gachot enjoyed some success in the junior formulae, winning titles in Formula Ford before progressing through Formula 3 and Formula 3000, reaching Formula One in 1989.

Gachot was born in Luxembourg on 23 December 1962, the son of a French European Commission official and a German mother.

He began karting at the age of 15.

In 1983 he attended the Winfield School, a racing driving school based at the Paul Ricard circuit where Gachot competed with fellow future F1 drivers Damon Hill, Jean Alesi, and Eric Bernard for the Volant Elf; a prize of a season in Formula Renault backed by Elf.

Although Bernard won the lucrative prize, Gachot subsequently dropped out of university to focus on his racing career.

In 1984 he competed in Formula Ford 1600, and finished third at the Formula Ford Festival, and then won the European series in 1985 driving for Pacific Racing.

In 1986 he moved up to Formula Ford 2000 and had a fierce rivalry with Mark Blundell, with Gachot winning the British series and Blundell winning the European series.

Gachot joined the British Formula Three series in 1987, finishing second in the championship for the West Surrey Racing team behind Johnny Herbert.

He switched to the Formula 3000 series in 1988, and met with some success, taking pole position at the Silverstone round, and finishing second to Roberto Moreno who went on to win the championship; Gachot finishing fifth in the final standings.

By this stage Gachot was considered one of the sport's most promising young drivers.

He was signed by the newly formed Onyx team, having played a role in attracting the team's Moneytron sponsorship from businessman Jean-Pierre Van Rossem, and was partnered with the experienced Stefan Johansson.

The team was well funded, but late in getting its car prepared.

As a new entrant it was obliged to pre-qualify, and it was not until the French Grand Prix that Gachot made it onto the grid.

In early October he tested with Arrows at Silverstone, as he was being considered for a drive in 1990 which did not materialize.

Gachot then found employment with the struggling Rial team for the final two races of the season, failing to qualify its ageing chassis for either race.

The team folded over the winter.

1990 was initially more promising, as he switched to the Coloni team.

The small Italian outfit had signed an exclusive deal with Subaru to use its new Carlo Chiti-designed and Motori Moderni-built 1235 flat-12 engine, and Gachot was selected to drive the sole entry.

However, the engine was overweight and underpowered, resulting in a poorly-handling car that rarely ran for more than a few laps; he appeared to have little prospect of getting out of pre-qualifying.

At the season opener in Phoenix, his gear selector rod broke on his first flying lap and he was unable to set a representative time.

Subaru withdrew entirely after the British Grand Prix.

After that the car ran with a Cosworth DFR engine, and performances improved; the withdrawal of Onyx ironically promoted Gachot to the main qualifying sessions, but the car still was not quick enough and he failed to make the grid all season.

Despite this, Gachot was still highly regarded, both as a driver and a marketeer, and was signed to lead the new Jordan Grand Prix team, sponsored by 7-Up and using Ford HB engines.

On 10 December 1990 Gachot was due to meet with Jordan and representatives of 7-Up but, on the way and running late, he became involved in a road rage incident with a taxi driver at Hyde Park Corner in London.

His car collided with the back of the taxi, but caused no damage to either car.

Later, Gachot said the taxi driver pulled him by the tie and raised his fist, at which point Gachot sprayed the taxi driver with CS gas to defend himself.

Gachot hid the CS gas canister in a toilet cistern in a nearby building, and was arrested and charged with actual bodily harm (ABH) and possession of a prohibited weapon.

After winning the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans, Gachot was sentenced to 18 months in prison for an aggravated assault that had occurred the previous December.

He was released after two months on appeal, but his enforced absence enabled Michael Schumacher to make his Grand Prix debut.

The season started off well as he gathered considerable acclaim for his Grand Prix performances, and also won the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans driving a Mazda 787B.

He then set the fastest lap at the Hungarian Grand Prix after a late tyre change but his then fortunes took a dramatic turn.

Gachot's trial at Southwark Crown Court was scheduled the week before the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix, a circuit where he expected the Jordan to "fly".

Gachot had claimed self-defence, and expected a fine or suspended sentence; he was due to test at Monza after the trial.

Instead he was sentenced to 18 months in HMP Brixton and, later, HMP Northeye in Bexhill-on-Sea after an unsuccessful appeal.

The situation prompted a campaign of support organised by Belgian racing driver Pascal Witmeur.

This campaign involved flags, T-shirts worn by members of the public and racing drivers, graffiti in several locations of the Spa-Francorchamps track during the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix, and prominent sponsorship on Witmeur's Formula 3000 car.

He started 11th (two places ahead of Johansson) and ran in the points until battery problems dropped him to an eventual 13th and last.

Despite qualifying for four of the next five events, he was then fired by van Rossem after complaining about his lack of testing time; his private grievances were publicly aired in an Onyx press release, and he was replaced with JJ Lehto.

The Gary Anderson-designed 191 was competitive, and after some initial reliability problems became a regular points-scorer; Gachot finished 5th in Canada and 6th twice.