Jean-Louis Schlesser

About Jean-Louis Schlesser

Jean-Louis Schlesser (born 12 September 1948) is a French racing driver with experience in circuit racing and cross-country rallying. He is known for his wins of many different competitions. He is the nephew of Jo Schlesser, a former Formula One driver.

Early career:

Schlesser grew up in Morocco before returning to France to study and to complete military service. He began racing in the early 1970s after enrolling at the racing school at Le Mans, starting with numerous rally events. In 1976, he entered Formula Three, alternating between the French and European series for the next six years, and sharing the 1978 French championship with Alain Prost. In 1977 he began racing sports cars, and in 1981 he attempted the Le Mans 24 Hours for the first time, placing second with Philippe Streiff and Jacky Haran. He also began racing touring cars in 1980, competing in the French Supertouring Championship. In 1982, he moved from Formula Three to Formula Two, but it was not a success.Nonetheless, he moved into Formula One in 1983, while continuing to race sports cars and touring cars.

Formula One:

Schlesser was working as a test driver for Williams when he gained his first taste of Formula One (F1) in early 1983 when he bought a drive in the RAM team's March-RAM 01-Cosworth. His first race was the non-championship Race of Champions at Brands Hatch, where he started last of the 13 entrants and finished 6th. One week later, at the French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard, he was the slowest of the 29 cars in qualifying and thus failed to make the grid. He did not take part in another F1 race for five years, though he continued to test for Williams, and was active in sports car racing.

Jean-Louis Schlesser Achievements

Championships:

In 1988, he joined the Sauber-Mercedes squad full-time, winning the German Supercup and finishing the World Sportscar Championship in second place, (behind Martin Brundle).before winning the WSC title in 1989 and 1990, on this occasion sharing the title with co-driver Mauro Baldi.His last season in WSC was 1991 during which he raced alongside Michael Schumacher with Sauber-Mercedes. He also won the "Classic Masters" title at the 1994 Race of Champions.

World Cup:

He went on to several 2WD class and overall wins the following years, before taking the overall victory in the 1999 and 2000 editions of the Dakar (respectively, Granada-Dakar and Paris-Dakar-Cairo). He also won the FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup from 1998 to 2002 and the 2 WD FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup several times. Schlesser won every edition of the Africa Eco Race from its establishment in 2009 to 2014.