Michel Ferté

Michel Ferté and Eric Hélary's Venturi 600LM, driven in the Suzuka 1000 km race in 1994

Michel Ferté (born December 8, 1958 in Falaise ) is a former French racing driver .

Career

He started racing in the early 1980s and drove in Formula 3 , Formula 2 and Formula 3000 . He was a Formula 1 test driver for three years , but never got a regular place as a racing driver. He also drove touring car races , ice races and sports car races .

Michel is the younger brother of Alain Ferté , who was also a racing driver. He started in the early 1980s in the French Formula 3 championship , which he won in 1983. He also won the prestigious Formula 3 race in Monaco this year in a Martini - Alfa-Romeo for the ORECA team. He also took part in the Le Mans 24-hour race for the first time in 1983 . Together with his brother and Jean Rondeau , he drove a Rondeau M482- Cosworth , which, however, did not reach the destination. In November of that year he tested a Ligier JS21 at Le Castellet and later said in interviews that he was Ligier's second driver for the 1984 season. However, François Hesnault received the cockpit and Ferté had to be satisfied with a test contract and a season in Formula 2.

With a Martini- BMW , he finished third in the first Formula 2 race of the season at Silverstone in early April . He also finished third in the second round of the Formula 2 European Championship in Hockenheim . In the third race at Thruxton he did not finish. The next two races took place in Italy, with fourth in Vallelunga and second in Mugello . An accident on the twelfth lap of the race in Pau stopped his good run. In the following race in Hockenheim he was third again, in Misanosah he failed to finish again, in Pergusa he reached fifth place and again an accident at Silverstone. At the season finale at Brands Hatch , he finished the year in second place. He also started again at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This time in a Porsche 962 , which again failed to reach the destination.

For 1985, Formula 2 was replaced by Formula 3000. Ferté was the fastest of the drivers who drove with a March 85B chassis. In the first race at Silverstone he started from pole position and was disappointed after the race that he could only take third place in the race. He was also third in the next two races in Thruxton and Estoril . The visit to the podium in Estoril should be the last this year. The next race, which was to take place on the Nürburgring , had to be canceled due to snow. During the race in Spa-Francorchamps , the track, which was partially broken, was devastated by bad weather. Michel and Alain Ferté started the race from positions one and two. At that point it was the first time that two brothers had shared the front row of the grid in a major European single-seater race. The lack of grip made the race difficult and only six vehicles crossed the finish line. Mike Thackwell won the race ahead of Alain Ferté and Michel spun out. With fourth place at the last race of the season in Donington , he secured fifth place in the overall standings with 17 points. The failures in Vallelunga, Pau, Spa-Francorchamps, Pergusa, the Österreichring and in Zandvoort ruined his championship chances. Christian Danner won the championship with 51 points, his brother Alain was ninth with 10 points.

It looked again as if he could get a place in Formula 1, this time with Brabham , but this time nothing came of it and he stayed in Formula 3000. In the 1986 season he was more consistent and only missed the goal once . With three second and two third places, he finished fifth overall with 24 points. Ivan Capelli was European champion with 38 points.

In the 1987 season, in which he did not take part in all races, he shared 14th overall with Mark Blundell . He drove for the team BS Automotive of Bob savings Hott and had to wait for his new car. With this he drove only four races, with third place in Pau being his best result. In 1988, together with Andrea Chiesa , he finished 20th in the final with just one point. After a four-year break, he started again in the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1988. Together with Pierre-Henri Raphanel , he drove a Cougar C20B Porsche and again failed to reach the finish because of a fire in the pit.

Then he gave up the dream of being able to drive in Formula 1 and started in other racing series. He drove in super touring cars , in the IMSA racing series, ice races and in sports car prototypes. In 1989, together with his brother and Eliseo Salazar , he finished eighth in a Jaguar XJR-9 LM at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 1990 he achieved his best result in this race with second place. He shared a Jaguar XJR-12 with Davy Jones and Raul Boesel . He last competed in Le Mans in 2003.

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1983	Ford France	Rondeau M482	Jean Rondeau	Alain Ferté	failure	Engine failure
1984	Henn's T-Bird Swap Shop	Porsche 962	Edgar Dören	Preston Henn	failure	ignition
1988	Primagaz Competition	Cougar C20B	Pierre-Henri Raphanel		failure	Fire at the pit stop
1989	Silk Cut Jaguar	Jaguar XJR-9LM	Eliseo Salazar	Alain Ferté	Rank 8
1990	Silk Cut Jaguar	Jaguar XJR-12	Eliseo Salazar	Davy Jones	failure	Engine failure
1991	Silk Cut Jaguar	Jaguar XJR-12	Raul Boesel	Davy Jones	Rank 2
1994	Société Jacadi Racing	Venturi 600LM	Olivier Grouillard	Michel Neugarten	failure	Engine failure
1995	Aldix Racing pilot	Ferrari F40LM	Olivier Thévenin	Carlos Palau	Rank 12
1996	Pilot pen racing	Ferrari F40LM	Olivier Thévenin	Nicolas Leboissetier	failure	Fire
1997	Pilot racing	Ferrari 333SP	Adrian Campos	Charlie Nearburg	failure	Gasoline system
1998	Pilot racing	Ferrari 333SP	Pascal Fabre	François Migault	failure	Gearbox damage
1999	Pescarolo Promotion Racing	Courage C50	Henri Pescarolo	Patrice Gay	Rank 9
2003	XL Racing	Ferrari 550 Maranello	Gaël Lesoudier	Ange Barde	failure	Fire

Web links

Commons : Michel Ferté  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Michel Ferté at Racing Sports Cars