Jean-Pierre Jaussaud is a French

French people

The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...

 former racing driver, more famous for winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans

24 Hours of Le Mans

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...

 in 1978 and 1980.

Jaussaud started racing in automobiles in 1962, taking courses in the Jim Russell Drivers School and the Winfield Racing School. In 1964, he graduated to Formula Three

Formula Three

Formula Three, also called Formula 3 or F3, is a class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers...

 racing, with backing from Shell

Royal Dutch Shell

Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...

, and joined the works Matra

Matra

Mécanique Aviation Traction or Matra was a French company covering a wide range of activities mainly related to automobile, bicycles, aeronautics and weaponry. In 1994, it became a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group and now operates under that name.Matra was owned by the Floirat family...

 team in 1966, where he stayed for two years, and won the French title in 1970, in a private Tecno

Tecno

Although Tecno is primarily remembered as an Italian kart and racing car constructor they started out as a conventional engineering business manufacturing hydraulic pumps...

.

In 1971 he moved full-time to Formula Two

Formula Two

Formula Two, abbreviated to F2, is a type of open wheel formula racing. It was replaced by Formula 3000 in 1985, but the FIA announced in 2008 that Formula Two would return for 2009 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship...

 in a works March

March Engineering

March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...

, and the following year drove a privateer Brabham and fought for the European Formula 2 title with Mike Hailwood

Mike Hailwood

Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood, MBE, GM was a British Grand Prix motorcycle road racer regarded by many as one of the greatest racers of all time. He was known as "Mike The Bike" because of his natural riding ability...

. In 1975 Jaussaud quit single-seaters and entered endurance racing, where he was invited to drive for Renault Sport

Renault Sport

Renault Sport Technologies is the France motorsport division of Renault. Renault Sport was responsible for Renault's sports car racing entries during the 1970s, including their win at the 1978 24 Hours of Le Mans race with the Renault Alpine A442.Actual Renault's Formula One team, Renault F1 in...

 starting in 1976. After two years, Jaussaud and partner Didier Pironi

Didier Pironi

Didier Joseph Louis Pironi was a racing driver from France. During his career he competed in 72 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, driving for Tyrrell , Ligier and Ferrari...

 won the race overall

1978 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 1978 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 46th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 10 and 11 1978.-Race:In 1978, the Renault V6 turbo, which had lost in 1976 and 1977 to the Porsche 936, finally managed to beat the German cars. Each company had brought no less than four cars, which after...

.

Although he tested the Renault F1 car, Jaussaud instead stayed in touring cars and endurance, winning the 1979 Production title in a Triumph Dolomite

Triumph Dolomite

The Triumph Dolomite was a popular small saloon car produced by the Triumph Motor Company division of the British Leyland Corporation in Canley, Coventry between October 1972 and August 1980.-History:...

. Teaming up with Jean Rondeau

Jean Rondeau

Jean Rondeau was a French race car driver and constructor, who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1980, in a car bearing his own name, an achievement which remains unique in the history of the race.-Early career:Rondeau drove briefly in Formula Renault before moving to saloon cars...

, he won at Le Mans once more

1980 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 1980 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 48th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 14 and 15 1980. It was the seventh round of the 1980 World Championship for Makes.-Pre-race:...

, and also took part in the Paris-Dakar Rally for Rondeau's team. Jaussaud continued racing until 1992, when he retired to become a racing instructor.