Jean Pairard

Jean Pairard (* unknown; † October 11, 1964 at the Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry ) was a French racing driver , entrepreneur and motorsport official.

Vernet et Pairard

In 1950, Jean Pairard founded the company Vernet et Pairard together with his racing colleague Just-Émile Vernet . At the location in Paris, automobiles were produced in small series under the brand name VP between the year of foundation and 1958 . The first vehicle based on a Renault 4CV was presented by Vernet and Pairard in 1952 at the Paris Motor Show . The VP 166R , presented in 1953, was used in long-distance races in the 1950s. In 1958 production was stopped and the company closed.

Racing career

Like his business partner Vernet, Pairard was also active as a racing driver. However, he did not come across the large number of race starts that Vernet could show. He started three times in the Le Mans 24-hour race . The best result was the 26th final place with the self-made car in 1953 . He also drove twice in the Tour de France for automobiles and the Reims 12-hour race in 1953 .

Death in Montlhéry

After the end of Vernet et Pairard, Pairard was a motorsport official. In this role he was one of the three stewards who had to ensure a minimum of safety when exiting the pit lane at the 1000 km race in Paris in 1964 at the Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry. They only let cars back on the track when it was free. As Franco Patria was waiting at the exit in his Abarth-Simca 1300 Bialbero , Peter Lindner in the Jaguar E-Type Lightweight came out of the steep curve before the start and finish on the wet track, seemed to be braking and skidded. Lindner lost control of the Jaguar on the smooth track, touched the straw bales, and vehicle parts came loose. The car was thrown up about ten meters, turned on its own axis, so that Lindner fell out. The jaguar hit Patrias Abarth with full force and pushed him against a wall. Franco Patria as well as Pairard in the immediate vicinity and his two colleagues died immediately. Peter Lindner was initially conscious, but died a little later in the hospital.

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1951	Just-Émile Vernet	Renault 4CV	Just-Émile Vernet	Rank 29
1952	Just-Émile Vernet	Renault 4CV	Just-Émile Vernet	failure	Ignition damage
1953	Just-Émile Vernet	VP 166R	Just-Émile Vernet	not classified

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th
1953	Just-Émile Vernet	VP 166R	SEB	MIM	LEM	SPA	ONLY	RTT	CAP
					DNF

Web links

• Jean Pairard at Racing Sports Cars
• Jean Pairard at the 24-hour piste
• Jean Pairard at Motorsport Memorial

Individual evidence

1. ↑ About Vernet et Pairad (English)
2. ↑ 1953 Reims 12-hour race