Oscar Larrauri

Larrauri in his EuroBrun overalls (1989)

**Oscar Rubén Larrauri** (born 19 August 1954), is an Argentinian racing driver, who competed in Formula One between 1988 and 1991.

## Early racing career

A late starter in motor racing terms, Oscar Ruben "Poppy" Larrauri was a protégé of the former five-time World Drivers' Champion, Juan Manuel Fangio. Larrauri was almost 20 by the time he began go karting, but by 1976 he rose to be the regional champion (an accolade he repeated in 1977 and 1979) and the provincial champion. He moved up to Argentine Formula Three in 1979, and by 1980, "Poppy" moved to the European Formula Three series. In his first season in Europe, Larrauri scored 7 points to finish 11th overall, and would better this record the following season, finishing 5th overall with 32 points, highlighted by a victory at the Nürburgring.

In 1982, Larrauri joined the Euroracing team and won 7 races, with three second places and a third place to score 91 points, bettering his teammate Emanuele Pirro by 29 points to win the European Formula Three title. Through Fangio, Poppy was given a test driver contract with Ferrari for 1983, and the talk of a new Argentine motorsport star began to rise. But, 1983 was a year wasted, as his drive with Minardi in European Formula Two was pointless, and the test contract with *la Scuderia* led him nowhere. The highlight of his 1983 campaigns were his sportscar appearances.

Poppy's path zeroed in on sportscars, and in 1984, he joined Walter Brun's operation with some success. Driving alongside Massimo Sigala in a Porsche 956, notable results included 6th at the Nürburgring, 5th at Imola and 4th at Spa, while the pair were joined by Joel Gouhier at Le Mans to finish a creditable 7th outright. However, Larrauri and Sigala retired at Monza, Silverstone and Mosport in the FIA World Endurance Championship. There was time for a sojourn in IMSA, driving a Momo Ford to 16th place in the Miami 3hr event alongside Gianpiero Moretti.

Larrauri remained with Brun in the WEC in 1985, driving a Porsche 956 alongside Sigala, but they were periodically joined by Renzo Zorzi, Gabriele Tarquini, and Frank Jelinski. In a year marred by retirements, including at Le Mans, positives included fifth place in Shah Alam and second place at Hockenheim. Oscar finished 17th overall with 29 points. To demonstrate how eager he was to resurrect his faltering career, he also spent the year in the Europa Cup Renault Alpine V6 Turbo. Brun Motorsports switched to a Porsche 962C in 1986, and the results were impressive. Larrauri finished fourth at Monza with Jesus Pareja, but won at Jerez with the fastest lap of the race. They finished second at Le Mans, again joined by Gouhier, albeit 8 laps behind the winning Rothmans Porsche 962C. Larrauri finished sixth overall in the Championship with 50 points. In addition, the pair finished seventh in Fuji, which served as a round of both the Japanese Sports Prototype Championship and the Fuji Long Distance Series.

By 1986, the old *Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft* had been renamed the *ADAC Supercup*, and Larrauri made one start in a Porsche 962C in this series, finishing eighth. Brun also brought Larrauri and their Jägermeister-emblazoned car to five IMSA races, where Oscar raced with Thierry Boutsen, Sigala, and Moretti. Although Poppy set the quickest lap in Miami, finishing second at Watkins Glen was his crowning performance, as he finished 26th overall with 28 points.

If all of this wasn't exciting enough, 1987 would go down as Larrauri's most action-packed sports car year. He drove in the World Sportscar Championship alongside a number of drivers, including Brun himself, Pareja, Sigala, Uwe Schäfer, and Jochen Mass, in the Brun 962C. Despite retiring with Pareja and Schäfer at Le Mans, the Argentine finished seventh with 69 points with to six top-5 finishes (but no wins). The WSC round at Fuji had once again counted towards both the JSPC and the Fuji Series, but Larrauri continued in Japan to compete in one more round of the JSPC/Fuji Series, this time in a Leyton House Racing Team Porsche 962C with Kris Nissen, finishing 15th. He also made four IMSA starts in the Brun 962C, finishing second at the Daytona 24 Hours with Sigala and Gianfranco Brancatelli, and second by himself at Del Mar and Road America. To cap it all off, Brun entered Oscar in four Supercup rounds in a Porsche 962C. He finished fourth at the Norisring and Hockenheim, fifth at Diepholz, and sixth at the Nürburgring. In total, he scored 28 points, good for a tie for third place in the championship with Volker Weidler and Jochen Dauer. Larrauri completed 19 sports car races across three continents in a single year.

Larrauri would combine full-time F1 duties with sports car races in the WSC and IMSA in 1988, making it just as hectic as 1987. In the WSC, he was once again driving a Brun Porsche 962C, this time with Sigala, Pareja, Schäfer, and Manuel Reuter. That year's results were poor, with only third at Monza and fourth at Spa to show. He did not compete in Le Mans. Oscar drove in the Leyton House Porsche alongside Bruno Giacomelli in Fuji, another JSPC and Fuji Series round, finishing 16th. He finished 21st overall with 50 points. In IMSA, however, he finished equal 50th overall in his Brun Porsche with only 4 points. Those four points came from a third-place finish in Miami with Sigala, but he also withdrew after 277 laps at Daytona with Sigala and Brancatelli due to engine failure, and he and Sigala were disqualified in West Palm Beach due to a turbo infringement. Poppy also competed in the non-championship Tampa Challenge event while in America, finishing second with Sigala.

## Formula One Statistical Overview

### Complete Formula One results

(key)

Notes

* † - Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

## Notes

1. ↑ Oscar Larrauri - Biography. Formula One Rejects (2001-12-17).