The DN5 proved to be a fast car, which qualified well several times. In fact, for the first race of the season, the Argentine Grand Prix, Jarier, the team leader qualified the DN5 on pole. However, on race day, the car failed to complete the warmup lap due to a crown wheel and pinion failure in the gearbox. Jarier took pole again for the following Brazilian Grand Prix, but retired on lap 32, having led for most of the race (and achieving fastest lap). Ultimately, the poor reliability of the car (and some driver induced errors) meant that Jarier finished only two races during the season. The best of these was fourth at the Spanish Grand Prix, for which he was awarded half points due to the race being stopped as a result of a bad crash. He also switched to a Matra V12 powered DN7 for two races towards the end of the season.