Érik
Comas

Érik Comas was born on 28 September 1963 in Romans-sur-Isère, France. He won the French Formula Three Championship in 1988. In 1989 he finished runner-up in International Formula 3000 behind Jean Alesi, who took the title on count-back, and in 1990 he won the championship himself.

Comas entered Formula One with Ligier in 1991. The JS35, powered by a Lamborghini engine, was uncompetitive. He failed to qualify in Brazil and made 13 starts over the season, with eighth place in Canada his best result and no points scored. For 1992 Ligier switched to Renault V10 power, and Thierry Boutsen remained his team-mate. Comas took sixth in Canada for his first championship point, fifth at the French Grand Prix and another point in Germany. His four points left him eleventh in the championship. At the Belgian Grand Prix he had a heavy crash in qualifying, and Ayrton Senna stopped to help him. Comas later said that Senna had saved his life.

In 1993 he moved to Larrousse. The LH93, with a Lamborghini V12, was not competitive. Sixth place at Monza earned a single point and 20th in the standings. In 1994 the team used Ford engines. Comas finished sixth in the Pacific Grand Prix and scored another point at Hockenheim, ending the year 23rd. These were his last points and the last for Larrousse. At the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix he chose not to take part in the restart after Senna's serious accident. In total he started 59 races and scored seven championship points.

After Formula One, Comas moved to Japan and raced in the JGTC, the forerunner of Super GT, for Nissan and Nismo. He won the GT500 title in 1998 and 1999 and was runner-up in 2000. In 2003 he switched to Toyota. In 2005 he finished second at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Pescarolo. He also took up rallying. In 2010 and 2011 he won the electric category of the Rallye Monte Carlo des Véhicules à Énergie Alternative in a Tesla Roadster, and in 2014 he won the Carrera Panamericana in a Studebaker.

Source: Wikipedia, “Érik Comas”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.