Equipe Matra Sports

Equipe Matra Sports

Base	Vélizy-Villacoublay, Paris, France
Team principal(s)	Jean-Luc Lagardère
Founder(s)	Jean-Luc Lagardère Marcel Chassagny
Noted staff	Gérard Ducarouge Ken Tyrrell Bernard Boyer
Noted drivers	Johnny Servoz-Gavin Henri Pescarolo Jackie Stewart Jean-Pierre Beltoise Chris Amon
Formula One World Championship career
First entry	1967 Monaco Grand Prix
Races entered	61
Constructors' Championships	1 (1969)
Drivers' Championships	1 (1969)
Race victories	9
Pole positions	4
Fastest laps	12
Final entry	1972 United States Grand Prix

Matra Company´s sports division under the name of Matra Sports, Equipe Matra Elf and Equipe Matra Sports (after a takeover by Simca in 1969 as Matra-Simca Division Automobile) was formed in 1965 and based at Champagne-sur-Seine (1965–1967), Romorantin-Lanthenay (1967–1969) and Vélizy-Villacoublay (1969–1979). In 1979 the sports division was taken over by Peugeot and renamed as Automobiles Talbot.^[1]

In the mid-1960s, Matra enjoyed considerable success in Formula 3 and F2 racing, particularly with the MS5 monocoque-based car, winning the French and European championships. In 1967, Jacky Ickx surprised the F1 establishment by posting the third-fastest qualifying time of 8:14" at the German Nürburgring in his 1600cc Matra MS7 F2, which was allowed to enter alongside the 3000cc F1 cars. In the race, he failed to finish due to a broken suspension.^[2]

Jackie Stewart in 1969 with a Matra-Ford at the Nürburgring. The car wears the blue racing colour of France.

François Cevert driving the Matra 670 Group 5 Sports Car in the 1973 1000 km Nürburgring race.

V12 engine in a Matra MS11 F1, 1968.

Chris Amon's Matra MS120B used in the 1971 Argentine Grand Prix

Jackie Stewart pictured with the MS84 at the Nürburgring

	1974 Matra-Simca MS670B (V12)
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Matra entered Formula One in 1968 when Jackie Stewart was a serious contender, winning several Grands Prix in the Tyrrell-run Matra MS10 which competed alongside the works team.

The F1 team was established at Vélizy-Villacoublay in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France.^[3] The car's most innovative feature was the use of aviation-inspired structural fuel tanks. These allowed the chassis to be around 15 kg (33 lb) lighter, while still being stronger than its competitors. The FIA considered the technology to be unsafe and decided to ban it for 1970.

Matra CEO Jean-Luc Lagardère made a strategic decision for the 1969 championship: the Matra works team would not compete in Formula One. Matra would instead focus its efforts on Ken Tyrrell´s team (renamed Matra International) and build a new DFV powered car with structural fuel tanks, even though it would only be eligible for a single season. The decision was even more radical given that Matra was seeking a partnership with Simca, which would preclude using Ford-branded engines for the following year. Stewart won the 1969 title easily with the new Cosworth-powered Matra MS80, which was designed by Gérard Ducarouge and Bernard Boyer, and corrected most of the weaknesses of the MS10. It was a spectacular achievement from a constructor that had only entered Formula One the previous year. France became only the third country (after the United Kingdom and Italy) to have produced a winning constructor, and Matra became the only constructor to have won the Constructors' Championship without running its own works team.

Like Cosworth, Lotus and McLaren, Matra experimented with four wheel drive during the 1969 season. Johnny Servoz-Gavin became the one and only driver to score a point with a 4WD car, finishing sixth with the Matra MS84 at the Canadian Grand Prix. The MS84, along with Brabham's BT26A, was one of the last spaceframe cars to compete in Formula One.

For 1970 following the agreement with Simca, Matra asked Tyrrell to use their V12 engine rather than the Cosworth. Stewart got to test the Matra V12, but since a large part of the Tyrrell budget was provided by Ford, and another significant sponsor was French state-owned petroleum company Elf, which had an agreement with Renault that precluded supporting a Simca partner, the partnership between Matra and Tyrrell ended.

Matra V12 engines powered the Shadow DN7 car in two races of 1975 and then the Ligier Formula 1 team from 1976–1978, and again from 1981-1982 (branded as Talbot).

The firm was also successful in endurance racing with cars powered by the V12 engine. The sportscar team was based at first at Vélizy-Villacoublay and then moved to Le Castellet, near Marseille, France.^[4]

The Matra MS670 won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1972, 1973, and 1974. It also delivered the World Championship for Makes to Matra in both 1973 and 1974.

Racing models

• Matra MS1
• Matra MS2
• Matra MS5
• Matra MS6
• Matra MS7
• Matra MS9
• Matra MS10
• Matra MS11
• Matra MS80
• Matra MS84
• Matra MS120
• Matra MS120B
• Matra MS120C
• Matra MS120D
• Matra MS610
• Matra MS620
• Matra MS630
• Matra MS640
• Matra MS650
• Matra MS660
• Matra MS670, Matra MS670B and Matra MS670C
• Matra MS680

Successes

The F1 Matra MS80 victorious in 1969

• 334 races, all categories, spanning 10 years
• 124 victories, 104 lap records
• 1 Formula One World Drivers' Championship (1969, Jackie Stewart, MS80)
• 1 Formula One World Constructors' Championship (1969, Matra-Elf International)
• 5 French Formula Two Championships (1966–1967–1968–1969–1970)
• 3 European Formula Two Championships (1967–1968–1969)
• 3 French Formula Three Championships (1965–1966–1967)
• 2 World Championship for Makes (1973–1974)
• 3 victories at 24 Hours of Le Mans (1972–1973–1974)
• 2 victories at Tour de France Automobile (1970–1971)

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant/s	Chassis/	Engine	Tyres	Driver/s	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Points	WCC
1967						RSA	MON	NED	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	CAN	ITA	USA	MEX			0	-
	Matra Sports	Matra MS7	Ford Straight-4	D G	Johnny Servoz-Gavin		Ret
					Jean-Pierre Beltoise		DNQ								7	7
1968						RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	ITA	CAN	USA	MEX		8	9th^1
	Matra Sports	Matra MS11	Matra V12	D	Henri Pescarolo										Ret	DNS	9
					Jean-Pierre Beltoise			Ret	8	2	9	Ret	Ret	5	Ret	Ret	Ret
		Matra MS7	Ford Straight-4			6													45	3rd^1
	Matra International	Matra MS9 Matra MS10	Ford Cosworth DFV	D			5
					Jackie Stewart	Ret	Inj	Inj	4	1	3	6	1	Ret	6	1	7
					Johnny Servoz-Gavin			Ret						2	Ret		Ret
1969						RSA	ESP	MON	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	ITA	CAN	USA	MEX			66	1st
	Matra International	Matra MS10 Matra MS80 Matra MS84	Ford Cosworth DFV	D	Jackie Stewart	1	1	Ret	1	1	1	2	1	Ret	Ret	4
					Jean-Pierre Beltoise	6	3	Ret	8	2	9	12	3	4	Ret	5
					Johnny Servoz-Gavin									6	NC	8
1970						RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA	MEX	23	6th
	Equipe Matra Elf	Matra MS120	Matra V12	G	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	4	Ret	Ret	3	5	13	Ret	Ret	6	3	8	Ret	5
					Henri Pescarolo	7	Ret	3	6	8	5	Ret	6	14	Ret	7	8	9
1971						RSA	ESP	MON	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA			9	7th
	Equipe Matra Sports	Matra MS120B	Matra V12	G	Jean-Pierre Beltoise		6	Ret	9	7	7				Ret	8
					Chris Amon	5	3	Ret	Ret	5	Ret	Ret		6	10	12
1972						ARG	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA		12	8th
	Equipe Matra	Matra MS120C Matra MS120D	Matra V12	G	Chris Amon	Ret	15	Ret	6	6	3	4	15	5	Ret	6	15

¹ In the 1968 Constructors' Championship, Matra-Ford finished 3rd (45 points), Matra(-Matra) finished 9th (8 points)

References

1. http://www.allcarindex.com/main-index/car-make-details/France-Matra/
2. Steve Small. The Guinness Complete Grand Prix Who's Who. p. 196. ISBN 0851127029.
3. http://www.f1technical.net/f1db/teams/78
4. http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/con-matra.html

External links

• http://www.matrasport.dk/
• http://www.epaf.fr Restoration & rebuild of Matra competition cars