At the 1979 Argentine Grand Prix, Jan Lammers started his Formula One career with Shadow. In 1980, he qualified a spectacular fourth place for the United States Grand Prix West at Long Beach in an ATS, but failed to score any points after a retirement. In , after 39 Grands Prix, Jan Lammers retired from Formula One for a more successful career in sportscars, winning the 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 1990 Daytona 24 Hours. In 1992, Lammers made a two-race comeback in Formula One for March, in Japan and Australia. These races marked his first Formula One appearance since 1982, which is a still-standing record for the longest gap between successive Grands Prix in Formula One . He was signed for the team in 1993 but the team went bankrupt before the season started.