Former Grand Prix driver Jean-Pierre Jabuil, the man who scored Renault’s first Formula 1 victory, has died aged 80.
The Frenchman was a key part of Renault’s entry into F1 in 1977 and they were the first manufacturer to use a turbocharged engine.
Jabuil took Renault’s first victory at the 1979 French Grand Prix.
His last victory came in Austria in 1980, but his career was ended later that year when he broke his leg in a crash in Canada.
In any case, he had to leave the Renault team, as Alain Prost took his place in 1981.
Jabuil tried to return with the Talbot Ligier team but was clearly unfit and retired from driving after failing to qualify in two out of four attempts.
The Renault-owned Alpine team said in a statement that it was “incredibly saddened” by Zhabul’s death.
“A modest racer, a brilliant engineer and a pioneer of our sport. Jean-Pierre was a real racer.
“He led Renault’s journey to Formula 1 in 1977 with his resilience and courage. He was the first Renault Grand Prix winner in 1979, a landmark moment in Renault’s F1 journey.
“His determination and commitment to success inspired many and these values remain central to the current team in its now Alpine blue colours.
“We are where we are today because of Jean-Pierre and his legacy lives on.”
Jabuil, an engineer by trade, joined the Renault F1 project from the start to help develop the new turbo engine.
At the time, naturally aspirated three-liter V8s dominated Formula 1, but Renault was the first to see the potential of an equivalence formula that allowed the use of a 1.5-liter turbo engine.
At first, the car was a laughing stock, its British competitors nicknamed it the “yellow kettle” due to low reliability.
But the engine was immediately more powerful than the V8 used by other teams. Hard work improved engine reliability and by 1979 the team also had a competitive chassis.
Their first victory could not have been achieved in more ideal circumstances for the team representing France’s national car company: it took place on home turf in Dijon-Prenoit, with a French driver in a French car with a French engine and French Michelin tires.
The sad thing for both Jabouil and Renault is that the race was destined to become more famous for the exciting race between his team-mate René Arnaud and Ferrari’s Gilles Villeneuve for second place.
One of the greatest duels in Formula 1 history was eventually decided in Villeneuve’s favor after a final few laps marked by incredible overtaking, regular position changes, off-track moments and wheel strikes.
Earlier in the season, Jhabui took the team’s first pole position, helped by the high altitude at the South African Grand Prix in Kyalam, and he took two more poles that year in Germany and Italy, although poor reliability hampered further victories.
In 1980, Jabuil won two more poles with victory in Austria, while Arnoux won twice in South Africa and Brazil.
After retiring from Formula 1, Zhabui briefly managed the Ligier team before retiring.
In the 1990s, he returned as head of the ill-fated Peugeot engine program.
Fresh from winning Le Mans in 1993, Peugeot joined forces with McLaren in 1994, but the relationship was strained and ended early after just one season of poor performance and reliability. Peugeot moved to Jordan from 1995-97 and then to the Prost team from 1998 before going out of business at the end of 2000.
