Jacques Laffite

Jacques-Henri Laffite (lahir 21 November 1943) adalah mantan pembalap Prancis yang berkompetisi di Formula Satu dari tahun 1974 hingga 1986. Ia meraih enam kemenangan Grand Prix, semuanya saat mengemudi untuk tim Ligier. Dari tahun 1997 hingga 2013, Laffite menjadi presenter TF1. Jacques-Henri Laffite lahir di Paris pada 21 November 1943. Ia bersekolah di Cours Hattemer, sebuah sekolah swasta. Laffite memulai debutnya di Formula Satu pada tahun 1974 untuk tim Iso–Marlboro milik Frank Williams. Tahun berikutnya dia membalap untuk tim yang sama, yang sekarang bernama Williams, mencetak tempat kedua di Grand Prix Jerman di Nürburgring. Pada tahun 1976 Laffite pindah ke tim Ligier Prancis, mencetak 20 poin dan posisi terdepan di Grand Prix Italia. Dua musim berikutnya bersifat transisi, meskipun ia berhasil memenangkan Grand Prix pertamanya di Anderstorp pada Grand Prix Swedia 1977. Musim 1979 dibuka dengan Laffite memenangkan dua balapan pertama. Ia memperebutkan gelar Kejuaraan Dunia hingga balapan terakhir, namun akhirnya hanya menempati posisi keempat, dengan 36 poin. Dua musim berikutnya serupa, dengan dua lagi tempat keempat di Championship dan tiga kemenangan berikutnya. Namun pada tahun 1982, Laffite hanya finis di urutan ke-17 dalam klasifikasi akhir, dengan hanya mencetak 5 poin. Selama awal 1980-an, Laffite juga melakukan tiga perjalanan akhir musim ke Australia untuk balapan di Grand Prix Australia non-kejuaraan. Dia gagal menyelesaikan balapan pertamanya pada tahun 1981 (dia beruntung bisa memulainya setelah mobilnya menabrak dinding di luar tikungan terakhir Calder Park Raceway yang pendek (1,609 km (1,000 mil)) di kualifikasi, tetapi kru lokalnya mampu memperbaikinya untuk balapan). Dia menempati posisi kedua setelah rekannya dari Prancis Alain Prost pada tahun 1982, dan ketiga di belakang Roberto Moreno dari Brasil dan John Smith dari Australia pada tahun 1983. Dalam semua perjalanan AGP pra-Formula Satu, Laffite mengendarai Formula Pasifik atau Formula Mondial Ralt RT4 yang ditenagai oleh mesin Ford l4 1,6 liter. Hasil dalam dua musim berikutnya tidak jauh lebih baik, ketika ia kembali ke Inggris, kembali bersaing dengan Williams (masing-masing 11 dan 5 poin). Kini di usia empat puluhan, Laffite kembali ke Ligier pada tahun 1985: di musim itu ia naik podium tiga kali (Inggris Raya, Jerman dan Australia), dengan total 16 poin. Pada tahun 1986 ia mencetak 14 poin termasuk dua kali naik podium di paruh pertama musim, tetapi kedua kakinya patah karena kecelakaan di awal Grand Prix Inggris di Brands Hatch, dan setelah itu pensiun dari Formula Satu. Perlombaan dihentikan dan dimulai kembali tanpa Laffite, yang dengan demikian diklasifikasikan sebagai non-starter dan mengakhiri karirnya terikat dengan Graham Hill untuk start terbanyak di Grand Prix. Dia adalah pembalap tersukses dalam sejarah Ligier, setelah meraih enam dari sembilan kemenangan mereka. Akibat cederanya Laffite, diberlakukan aturan keselamatan baru mulai musim 1988 yang menyatakan bahwa di semua mobil, kaki pengemudi harus berada di belakang garis gandar depan. Laffite pulih dari cederanya dan kemudian membalap dengan mobil touring, finis ke-17 di Kejuaraan Mobil Touring Dunia perdana dengan mengendarai Alfa Romeo 75 untuk Alfa Corse serta balapan tiga musim di seri DTM yang berbasis di Jerman. ... Sumber: Artikel "Jacques Laffite" dari Wikipedia dalam bahasa Inggris, berlisensi CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Jacques-Henri Laffite (born 21 November 1943) is a French former racing driver who competed in Formula One from 1974 to 1986. He achieved six Grand Prix wins, all while driving for the Ligier team. From 1997 to 2013, Laffite was a presenter for TF1. Jacques-Henri Laffite was born in Paris on 21 November 1943. He attended the Cours Hattemer, a private school. Laffite debuted in Formula One in 1974 for Frank Williams' Iso–Marlboro team. The following year he raced for the same team, now named Williams, scoring a second place in the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring. In 1976 Laffite moved to the French Ligier team, scoring 20 points and a pole position at the Italian Grand Prix. The next two seasons were transitional, although he managed to win his first Grand Prix at Anderstorp in the 1977 Swedish Grand Prix. The 1979 season opened with Laffite winning the first two races. He fought for the World Championship title until the last races, but eventually placed only fourth, with 36 points. The following two seasons were similar, with two more fourth places in the Championship and a further three victories. In 1982, however, Laffite finished only 17th in the final classification, with only 5 points scored. During the early 1980s, Laffite also made three end of season trips to Australia to race in the non-championship Australian Grand Prix. He failed to finish his first race in 1981 (he was lucky to start after his car hit the wall on the outside of the last turn of the short (1.609 km (1.000 mi)) Calder Park Raceway in qualifying, but his local crew were able to repair it for the race). He finished second to fellow Frenchman Alain Prost in 1982, and third behind Brazilian Roberto Moreno and Australian John Smith in 1983. In all of his pre-Formula One AGP drives, Laffite drove a Formula Pacific or Formula Mondial Ralt RT4 powered by a 1.6-litre Ford l4 engine. Results in the next two seasons were not much better, when he moved back to England, again to race for Williams (11 and 5 points, respectively). Now in his forties, Laffite returned to Ligier in 1985: in that season he was on the podium three times (Great Britain, Germany and Australia), for a total of 16 points. In 1986 he scored 14 points including two more podium finishes in the first half of the season, but he broke both legs in a crash at the start of the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, and thereafter retired from Formula One. The race was stopped and restarted without Laffite, who was thus classified as a non-starter and ended his career tied with Graham Hill for the most Grand Prix starts. He was the most successful driver in Ligier's history, having taken six of their nine wins. As a result of Laffite's injuries, new safety rules were enforced from the 1988 season that stated that in all cars the driver's feet must be behind the front axle line. Laffite recovered from his injuries and later raced in touring cars, finishing 17th in the inaugural World Touring Car Championship driving an Alfa Romeo 75 for Alfa Corse as well as racing three seasons in the German-based DTM series. ... Source: Article "Jacques Laffite" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.