Matra Sports
Matra Sports was a subsidiary of the French armaments company Matra , which was involved in automobile sports . The company designed and built its own racing cars and engines that were used in various national and international motorsport classes. In most of the classes, Matra had its own factory team; In some cases, other teams were also supplied with chassis or engines. Matra was particularly successful in Formula 1: As the chassis supplier to the British Tyrrell team , Matra won the drivers 'and constructors' championships in 1969 . In endurance racing, Matra won the Le Mans 24-hour race three times in a row .
Company history
Matra goes back to the French defense and aviation company Capra (Compagnie Anonyme de Production et Réalisation Aéronautique) founded in 1937. Capra was renamed Matra (short for: M écanique A vion Tra ction) in 1941 . After the end of the Second World War , the company engaged in the manufacture of weapons and missiles, among other things. Under the leadership of Jean-Luc Lagardère, Matra diversified at the beginning of the 1960s: in 1964, the company took over the sports car manufacturer Bonnet . Building on this, Matra produced various road vehicles over the next few decades, including the 530 sports car , the SUV pioneer Rancho and the van up to the Renault Espace . Since 1970 there has been a close connection between Matra's automotive sector and the French high-volume manufacturer Simca, which at the time was part of the US company Chrysler .
As part of the expansion into the automotive sector, the subsidiary Matra Sports, responsible for automotive sports, was founded in 1964. The company was based in Romorantin-Lanthenay in the Loire Valley . Participation in Formula 1 was the declared goal of Matra Sports right from the start of its motorsport commitment. In order to gain experience, however, the company initially competed in smaller classes.
Monoposti
Formula 3
In 1965, the works team debuted in Formula 3 with the Matra MS5 . The car was powered by a four-cylinder Ford engine. Factory drivers were Jean-Pierre Beltoise and Jean-Pierre Jaussaud . Beltoise was French Formula 3 champion in its first year with 271 points ahead of his team mate, who scored 157 points. The following year the French championship went to Matra driver Johnny Servoz-Gavin , and in 1967 to Henri Pescarolo. Then the works team withdrew from the Formula 3 championship. The Matra cars were sold to private teams who used them until 1969 with decreasing success.
Formula 2
In 1966 Matra entered the Formula 2 European Championship , which dominated the company from 1967 to 1969.
On the one hand, Matra competed in 1966 with the works team Matra Sports , for which Jo Schlesser and Jean-Pierre Beltoise drove. In addition, the British motorsport manager Ken Tyrrell received a number of customer vehicles, which he used in partially different technical configurations for his team, the Tyrrell Racing Organization . Tyrrell's drivers were Jackie Stewart and Mike Spence . The cars, which were initially equipped with engines from BRM and were converted to Cosworth engines in the course of the season, were considered powerful, but did not reach the level of the competition vehicles from Brabham - Honda . In the final championship standings in 1966, Beltoise finished fourth as the best Matra driver ahead of Stewart, who drove for Tyrrell.
In the 1967 Formula 2 season, Matra again drove on two tracks. For the works team Matra Sports , primarily Jean-Pierre Beltoise and Johnny Servoz-Gavin were entered, for Ken Tyrrell's team, which was now called Matra International , Jackie Ickx started. Ickx won the 1967 championship in Tyrrell's car.
1968 Tyrrell no longer competed in Formula 2. Matra Sports was the only team to field Matra cars that year. The drivers were Beltoise and Henri Pescarolo . Beltoise won the championship by a clear margin over his teammate.
In 1969 the championship finally went to Johnny Servoz-Gavin, who drove for Matra International. Then Matra ended the Formula 2 commitment. The cars were withdrawn at the end of the season; there were no successors, and the existing vehicles were not sold on to private customers.
formula 1
In 1968 Matra made its debut as a chassis manufacturer in Formula 1. The works team reported a Matra MS11 with its own twelve-cylinder engine, while the British customer team Tyrrell, which was sometimes also referred to as Matra International , used a similar chassis with an eight-cylinder engine from Cosworth under the name Matra MS10 . Ken Tyrrell's team was more successful than the Matra factory team in the first year. In the 1969 Formula 1 season , Matra fully concentrated on the Tyrrell team; There was no factory use this year. In 1969 Jackie Stewart won the world championship with a Tyrrell-operated Matra MS80 with a Cosworth DFV engine. At times, Matra - like Lotus and McLaren - experimented with all-wheel drive racing cars ( Matra MS84 ), which, however, achieved little success. Only the Matra works driver Johnny Servoz-Gavin achieved a world championship point with an all-wheel drive F1 car (6th place at the Grand Prix of Canada in 1968 ). In 1970 , Matra and Tyrrell separated. Matra now insisted on the use of its own V12 engine by Tyrrell, as the use of the Ford-financed Cosworth engine was in conflict with the corporate policy of the French plant, which is now affiliated with Chrysler. Ken Tyrrell, who thought the Cosworth engine was superior, then temporarily used chassis from March Engineering before the Tyrrell 001, the first self-designed racing car, was ready for use at the end of 1970 . Matra Sports continued its Formula 1 involvement on its own until 1972 , but did not achieve any victories. The best results from 1970 to 1972 were five third places by Beltoise, Henri Pescarolo and Chris Amon .
At the end of the 1972 season, Matra stopped being involved in Formula 1. However, the company returned as an engine supplier. In 1975 it temporarily fitted a DN7 from the Shadow team with the well-known twelve-cylinder engine. However, the car driven by Jean-Pierre Jarier in Austria and Italy was canceled in both races. From 1976 to 1978, as well as 1981 and 1982 , Matra was engine supplier to the French Formula 1 team Équipe Ligier ; however, for the past two years they have been referred to as Talbot for marketing reasons. With Ligier, Matra was quite successful; the drivers Jacques Laffite and Eddie Cheever achieved a total of three wins and 15 podium places during this time. The most successful year was the 1981 season, in which Laffite still had a chance of winning the championship until the last race , but ultimately finished fourth in the drivers' standings six points behind.
Sports car racing
Matra Sports has also been successful in endurance and sports car races. In 1966 the MS620 appeared , the following year the MS630, which was a consistent further development of its predecessor. The car was flatter and longer and received large air intakes in front of the rear wheels to the V8 engine from BRM to cool better. The MS630 was considered one of the most advanced prototypes of its time.
Matra was very successful with sports cars for long-distance races that were equipped with their own V12 engine. The Matra MS670 won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1972 , 1973 and 1974 and the 1973 Manufacturers' World Championship, defeating the defending champions Ferrari 312PB .
Results
Results of the works team in Formula 1
| season | chassis | driver | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Points | rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 |
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45 | 3. | |||
| MS7 |
J.-P. Beltoise
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6th | |||||||||||||||
| MS11 | DNF | 8th | 2 | 9 | DNF | DNF | 5 | DNF | DNF | DNF | |||||||
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H. Pescarolo
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DNF | DNS | 9 | ||||||||||||||
| 1970 |
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23 | 7th | ||
| MS120 |
J.-P. Beltoise
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4th | DNF | DNF | 3 | 5 | 13 | DNF | DNF | 6th | 3 | 8th | DNF | 5 | |||
|
H. Pescarolo
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7th | DNF | 3 | 6th | 8th | 5 | DNF | 6th | 14th | DNF | 7th | 8th | 9 | ||||
| 1971 |
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9 | 7th | ||||
| MS120B |
 C. Amon
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5 | 3 | DNF | DNF | 5 | DNF | DNF | 6th | 10 | 12 | ||||||
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J.-P. Beltoise
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6th | DNF | 9 | 7th | 7th | DNF | 8th | ||||||||||
| 1972 |
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12 | 8th. | |||
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MS120C MS120D |
C. Amon
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DNS | 15th | DNF | 6th | 6th | 3 | 4th | 15th | 5 | DNF | 6th | 15th |
Victories in the sports car world championship
| year | run | vehicle | Driver 1 | Driver 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Le Mans 24 hour race | Matra-Simca MS670 |
Henri Pescarolo
|
Graham Hill
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| 1973 | Vallelunga 6 hour race | Matra-Simca MS670B |
Henri Pescarolo
|
Gérard Larrousse
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| Dijon 1000 km race | Matra-Simca MS670B |
Henri Pescarolo
|
Gérard Larrousse
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| Le Mans 24 hour race | Matra-Simca MS670B |
Henri Pescarolo
|
Gérard Larrousse
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| 1000 km race from Zeltweg | Matra-Simca MS670B |
Henri Pescarolo
|
Gérard Larrousse
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| Watkins Glen 6 hour race | Matra-Simca MS670B |
Henri Pescarolo
|
Gérard Larrousse
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| 1974 | 1000 km race from Spa-Francorchamps | Matra-Simca MS670C |
Jacky Ickx
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Jean-Pierre Jarier
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| 1000 km race on the Nürburgring | Matra-Simca MS670C |
Jean-Pierre Beltoise
|
Jean-Pierre Jarier
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| Imola 1000 km race | Matra-Simca MS670C |
Henri Pescarolo
|
Gérard Larrousse
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| Le Mans 24 hour race | Matra-Simca MS670C |
Henri Pescarolo
|
Gérard Larrousse
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| 1000 km race from Zeltweg | Matra-Simca MS670C |
Henri Pescarolo
|
Gérard Larrousse
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| Watkins Glen 6 hour race | Matra-Simca MS670C |
Jean-Pierre Beltoise
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Jean-Pierre Jarier
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| 1000 km race from Le Castellet | Matra-Simca MS670C |
Jean-Pierre Beltoise
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Jean-Pierre Jarier
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| Brands Hatch 1000km race | Matra-Simca MS670C |
Jean-Pierre Beltoise
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Jean-Pierre Jarier
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| Kyalami 6 hour race | Matra-Simca MS670C |
Henri Pescarolo
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Gérard Larrousse
|
literature
- Jacqueline Cevert-Beltoise, Johnny Rives: François Cevert - Pilote de Legende . L'Autodrome Éditions, Saint-Cloud 2013, ISBN 978-2-910434-33-5 .
- Adriano Cimarosti: The century of racing , Motorbuch Verlag Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-613-01848-9
- David Hodges: A – Z of Grand Prix Cars 1906–2001 , 2001 (Crowood Press), ISBN 1-86126-339-2 (English)
- David Hodges: Racing Cars from A – Z after 1945 , Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7
- Pierre Ménard: La Grande Encyclopédie de la Formule 1 , 2nd edition, St. Sulpice, 2000, ISBN 2-940125-45-7 (French)
- Doug Nye: The Big Book of Formula 1 Racing Cars. The three-liter formula from 1966 . Publishing house Rudolf Müller, Cologne 1986, ISBN 3-481-29851-X .
- Eberhard Reuß, Ferdi Kräling: Formula 2. The story from 1964 to 1984 , Delius Klasing, Bielefeld 2014, ISBN 978-3-7688-3865-8 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Successes in the Sports Car World Championship 1972 ( Memento from June 24, 2003 in the web archive archive.today )
- ↑ Successes in the sports car world championship 1973 ( Memento from June 24, 2003 in the web archive archive.today )
- ↑ Successes in the Sports Car World Championship 1977 ( Memento from June 24, 2003 in the web archive archive.today )