Pierre-Henri Raphanel
Pierre -Henri Raphanel ( born May 27, 1961 in Algiers ) is a French former racing driver.
First years in motor sport
Pierre -Henri Raphanels first big success of his career was his overall win in the French Formula 3 championship in 1985. The year before, finished third, he was able to prevail in 1985 in this highly competitive junior series against his ORECA team-mate Yannick Dalmas scarce. How Dalmas moved Raphanel with ORECA, 1986 in the formula 3,000. Raphanel went through two difficult seasons, which were influenced by technical failures and accidents.
In Formula 1
Unexpectedly came at the end of the 1988 season but the chance to pilot a Formula 1 car in a World Championship race. Raphanel replaced the short-term suffering from Legionnaires' disease Dalmas in the team of Larrousse at the Grand Prix of Australia in Adelaide. Without testing and hampered by a gearbox failure, he could not qualify the Lola LC88 -Cosworth for the race.
1989 saw Raphanel in team Coloni again in Formula 1 in the resistant underfunded team, he was able to bring the Coloni FC188B -Cosworth only once in the starting lineup on Sunday. The Monaco Grand Prix was his only Grand Prix. Going into the race from the 18th starting position, stopping him a gearbox failure at half time. A change to Rial after the Hungarian Grand Prix and did not bring the desired success. In six trials Raphanel never make it past the qualification. Thus ending his Formula 1 ambitions.
In sports car
Far more successful is the career designed for sports cars, in their various racing series, he moved with the start of the 1990 season. In 1986 he was for the first time in the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the start. For a Frenchman who is involved in motorsports as a driver, the start is almost mandatory in this endurance race. Until 2000, he started 14 times at Le Mans. Three times he stood there on the podium. 1987, ahead of its activities in Formula 1, he managed with a Cougar C20 Porsche-powered Rank 3 teammates were team boss and friend Yves Courage and the Belgian Hervé Regout. From 1990 Raphanel was heavily involved as a test and race driver in the commitment of Toyota in Group C. He drove in the Japanese Group C Championships and helped the team to be the fastest of the three pilots on an excellent second overall at Le Mans in 1992. Was beaten the team the next Raphanel Kenny Acheson and Masanori Sekiya belonged only by the works team of Peugeot. 1997 saw Raphanel at Le Mans once again on the podium of the first three. This time with a McLaren F1, with Jean -Marc Gounon and Anders Olofsson as partners, there was again second overall. Raphanel drove in those years regularly in group C and from 2000 in the FIA GT Championship, interrupted only by a year (1999) in the Japanese GT Championship, where he drove a Toyota Supra.
After the active career
After the end of his active career was Raphanel plant and test driver for Bugatti. He is with 431.072 km / h in a Bugatti Veyron a world speed record for road vehicles on.
Statistics
Statistics in Formula 1
Individual results
Le Mans results
Literature and sources
- Heinz Prüller: Grand Prix Story 88 Solo for two. Orac, Vienna, 1988, ISBN 3-7015-0153- X.
- Heinz Prüller: Grand Prix Story 89, The great crash. Orac, Vienna 1989, ISBN 3-7015-0186-6.