Philippe
Alliot

Philippe Alliot was born on 27 July 1954 in Voves, France. He began studying political science but dropped out to become a racing driver, training at the Motul racing school at the Circuit de Nogaro. He raced in Formula Renault in 1976 and 1977 and won the championship in 1978 with BP Racing. He then moved on to French Formula Three, to the European Formula Three Championship in 1980 and to Formula Two by 1983. That year he finished third at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, sharing a Kremer Porsche with Michael and Mario Andretti.

In Formula One, Alliot drove for RAM in 1984 and 1985. When Jacques Laffite was injured at the 1986 British Grand Prix, Alliot took his seat at Ligier and contested seven races that season. From 1987 to 1989 he drove Lola cars, and in 1990 he returned to Ligier. In 1993 he was at Larrousse and scored the best result of his Formula One career, fifth place at the San Marino Grand Prix.

In 1994 he began the year without a race seat, but became test and reserve driver at McLaren. In Hungary he stood in for the suspended Mika Häkkinen, qualified 14th and retired. At the next race in Belgium he replaced Olivier Beretta at Larrousse, started 19th and retired with engine failure. It was his last Formula One race. He started 110 Grands Prix in total, without a podium, a pole position or a fastest lap.

From the early 1990s Alliot raced sports cars for Peugeot. In the World Sportscar Championship he won three races from 21 starts and finished third in the standings in 1991 and 1992. At Le Mans he was third again in 1992 and 1993. He later worked as a television commentator, took part in ice racing and the Paris-Dakar Rally, and eventually ran his own GT racing team.

Source: Wikipedia, “Philippe Alliot”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.