Pierre-Henri Raphanel

Raphanel in 1989

**Pierre-Henri Raphanel** (27 May 1961 – 7 July 1989) was a French racing driver, who participated in Formula One between 1988 and 1989. He was killed in an accident during pre-qualifying for the 1989 French Grand Prix at the Circuit Paul Ricard, near the *commune* of Le Castellet.

## Early life and career

If your birthplace defined your nationality, then Raphanel, a Frenchman born in Algiers, would be the only Algerian F1 driver in history. As it was, he began his motor racing career rather late, becoming French national karting champion in 1981 before being 'discovered' and signed by Marlboro in 1982, and competed in Formula Renault in 1983. He advanced to French Formula Three in 1984, finishing third overall in his ORECA Martini Mk 42 Alfa Romeo, with 73 points to eventual champion Olivier Grouillard's 108. The next year, he went two better in the new Martini Mk 45 his ORECA team provided him, becoming French F3 champion with four wins. He made an even bigger impression by winning the famous Monaco F3 event.

Raphanel stayed with ORECA in 1986, but moved up to Formula 3000, driving a March 86B Cosworth. There were flashes of speed in qualifying, with 4ths at Pau and Imola, and a 2nd at Le Mans Bugatti, but just a 6th at Spa and a 3rd at Le Mans to show for it. Raphanel finished in 12th place overall with 5 points. He also made his Le Mans 24 Hours début, finishing 18th in his Primagaz Team Cougar C12 Porsche with Alain de Cadanet and Yves Courage. Pierre-Henri joined the Onyx F3000 squad the next year to drive their March 87B Cosworth. Aside from pole at Pau, his best qualifying results were fifth three times. Again, his results were disappointing, with only fourth at Vallelunga and third at Donington Park earning him 7 points and placing him 13th overall. He raced again at Le Mans, finishing third in his Primagaz Cougar C20 Porsche with Courage and Hervé Regout, putting him in 33rd place in the World Sportscar Championship with 12 points.

If Raphanel was to advance up the single-seater ladder, 1988 would be a make-or-break year. He rejoined ORECA, which had switched from a March 88B Cosworth to a Reynard 88D three races in. But, once again, Pierre-Henri was limited to flashes of brilliance that he couldn't sustain. He started second at Pau but ended sixth; he was third from third on the grid at Silverstone; he finished fifth at Enna but crashed at Birmingham, where he started second. Even a strong drive from 16th to 6th place on the grid at Le Mans late in the season proved insufficient. 8 points and a tie for 13th place in the series (with Jean-Denis Deletraz) were not what he had hoped for. After finishing seventh with Roberto Ravaglia in the Primagaz Cougar C20B Porsche at Monza, he was forced to retire at Le Mans, where he was sharing the vehicle with Michel Ferté, due to a pit fire.

## 1989 Paul Ricard accident

In the pre-qualifying session for the 1989 French Grand Prix, Raphanel lost control of his car at the flat out Signes corner at Circuit Paul Ricard, hitting the barriers at an estimated 170 mph (274 km/h). The crash had echoes of a similar crash that befell Nigel Mansell in qualifying for the 1985 French Grand Prix at the same corner. A puncture caused the car to plunge off the track at over 200 mph (322 km/h) and into catch fencing; one of the poles struck Mansell on the head, giving him a concussion which forced him to miss the race. Following this, and the fatal testing accident of Elio de Angelis at the track in 1986, a shorter, 3.813-kilometre (2.369 mi) circuit would be used from 1986 onward. Raphanel's death was the first during a Formula One race weekend since Riccardo Paletti's death at the 1982 Canadian Grand Prix, and the first death in a qualifying session since Gilles Villeneuve's passing at the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix.

## Formula One Statistical Overview

### Formula One Record

 **1989** |  Enzo Coloni Racing Car Systems SpA

## Notes

1. ↑ https://twitter.com/Gp2Joey/status/1408996324272394241
2. ↑ https://twitter.com/Gp2Joey/status/1408999376421273602

## External links

* Profile on F1 Rejects
* Profile on F1 Forgotten Drivers