Olivier Grouillard

Grouillard in his 1989 Ligier overalls

**Olivier Grouillard** (born 2 September 1958), is a French racing driver, who competed in Formula One between 1989 and 1992.

## Early racing career

The Frenchman began karting at the age of 14 and competed in the *Volant Elf* (the Elf Racing School championship) in 1981 before moving on to Formula Renault in 1982, where he won the title. The following year, he was signed by the prestigious ORECA team to race a Martini Mk 39 Alfa Romeo in French Formula 3, where he finished fourth with 73 points. Grouillard upgraded to a Martini Mk 42 in 1984 and faced a close battle with Frederic Delavallade for the title, eventually defeating his compatriot 108 points to 106.

It was enough to prompt a move into the first season of Formula 3000 in 1985. ORECA entered Grouillard in a March 85B Cosworth, and Olivier spent the year qualifying in midfield but driving some spectacular races, finishing sixth at Estoril and fourth at Vallelunga and Pau. Only one retirement in eight races demonstrated his dependability behind the wheel, and with 6 points, he finished equal 12th on the points table. The following year, he left ORECA to join Formula Team Ltd, driving a Lola T86/50 Cosworth. The combination only had enough funds for four rounds, but in his first appearance at Mugello, Grouillard started ninth, surged into the lead, and appeared to be on his way to victory before slipping back to fourth by the end of the race. He earned another point with a sixth-place finish at the Österreichring, and at the end of the season, despite his limited participation, he was tied for 13th with 4 points.

A return to ORECA in 1987 should have propelled him up the F3000 grid, but in his March 87B Cosworth, he undid all of his previous consistent form with a woefully unpredictable season. Where he qualified well, he raced poorly; where he qualified poorly, he drove like a bat out of hell on race day. He started second at Le Mans Bugatti and fourth at Birmingham, but failed to qualify at Spa. He was disqualified at Vallelunga and went off the track at Enna and Imola. He set the second fastest lap at Donington, but slipped from ninth on the grid to 12th by the end of the race. Despite this, he finished fourth at Pau and sixth at Birmingham, earning four points once more, albeit only good enough for 17th place in the final standings. Worse, he had been completely overshadowed all season by his ORECA teammate, Yannick Dalmas, who had begun racing in F3000 after Grouillard but had already driven an F1 car before 1987.

In 1988, he moved on to the GBDA Motorsport team, where he raced a Lola T88/50 Cosworth. He began the year fifth at Jerez and third at Vallelunga, and finished with three poles, two wins, and fastest laps at Le Mans Bugatti and Zolder, a second at Enna, and a third at Dijon. However, four accidents blotted his season copybook. Without those, he would have scored more than 34 points and possibly challenged for the title rather than finishing second. To add variety to his racing career, he raced in works BMW touring cars in the European Touring Car Championship in 1987 and 1988, with moderate success. This included a trip down under to race in the James Hardie 1000 in 1987, where he shared an M3 with Winni Vogt and Altfrid Heger, starting 16th and finishing 12th, 8 laps behind winner Peter Brock. Throughout 1988, he raced an M3, this time alongside ex-F1 driver Jacques Laffite.

## Formula One

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### Osella/Fondmetal (1990–1992)

With no opportunity to pursue his F1 career further, in February 1992, Grouillard announced plans to set up his own Indy Car team. Plans were made to run a '92 Lola chassis run by Sal Incandela of Indy Regency Racing.

## 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.