Michel Leclère
Michel Leclère ( born March 18, 1946 in Mantes- la -Jolie ) is a French former racing driver.
Career
Michel Leclère finished the Formula Renault Championship in 1971 as the second overall and a year later won the French Formula 3 Championship. In the following two years, was among the top drivers of Formula 2 and won at the races in Rouen, Zolder and Silverstone.
This strong performance enabled him in 1975 a first entry into Formula 1 Ken Tyrrell gave him a works Tyrrell 007 for the U.S. Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. Leclère fell prematurely with engine failure.
There followed a year contract with the British team Walter Wolf Racing, which had emerged from the team, Frank Williams Racing Cars and operation of Frank Williams and Walter Wolf. The Williams FW05 was one of the competitors technically inferior vehicle with which Leclère had mostly struggled to qualify. The eleventh places in the world championship races in Belgium and Monaco were the best finishes of the year. Middle of the season he had to leave the team and returned to Formula 2.
After a catastrophic Formula 2 season with the Willi Kauhsen Racing Team 1977, the career of the French faltered. A return to Formula 1 he was no longer managed and after some sports car racing and other things at Le Mans 24 Hours race, he resigned the early 1980s from racing.