31 Facts About Bertrand Gachot

Bertrand Gachot was released after two months on appeal, but his enforced absence enabled Michael Schumacher to make his Grand Prix debut.

Bertrand Gachot was born in Luxembourg on 23 December 1962, the son of a French European Commission official and a German mother.

In 1983 he attended the Winfield School, a racing driving school based at the Paul Ricard circuit where Bertrand Gachot competed with fellow future F1 drivers Damon Hill, Jean Alesi, and Eric Bernard for the Volant Elf; a prize of a season in Formula Renault backed by Elf.

In 1986 he moved up to Formula Ford 2000 and had a fierce rivalry with Mark Blundell, with Bertrand Gachot winning the British series and Blundell winning the European series.

Bertrand Gachot joined the British Formula Three series in 1987, finishing second in the championship for the West Surrey Racing team behind Johnny Herbert.

Bertrand Gachot switched to the Formula 3000 series in 1988, and met with some success, taking pole position at the Silverstone round, and finishing second to Roberto Moreno who went on to win the championship; Gachot finishing fifth in the final standings.

Bertrand Gachot was signed by the newly formed Onyx team, having played a role in attracting the team's Moneytron sponsorship from businessman Jean-Pierre Van Rossem, and was partnered with the experienced Stefan Johansson.

Bertrand Gachot started 11th and ran in the points until battery problems dropped him to an eventual 13th and last.

Bertrand Gachot then found employment with the struggling Rial team for the final two races of the season, failing to qualify its ageing chassis for either race.

The small Italian outfit had signed an exclusive deal with Subaru to use its new Carlo Chiti-designed and Motori Moderni-built 1235 flat-12 engine, and Bertrand Gachot was selected to drive the sole entry.

The Gary Anderson-designed 191 was competitive, and after some initial reliability problems became a regular points-scorer; Bertrand Gachot finished 5th in Canada and 6th twice.

Bertrand Gachot then set the fastest lap at the Hungarian Grand Prix after a late tyre change but his then fortunes took a dramatic turn.

On 10 December 1990 Bertrand Gachot was due to meet with Jordan and representatives of 7-Up but, on the way and running late, he became involved in a road rage incident with a taxi driver at Hyde Park Corner in London.

Bertrand Gachot's car collided with the back of the taxi, but caused no damage to either car.

Later, Bertrand Gachot said the taxi driver pulled him by the tie and raised his fist, at which point Bertrand Gachot sprayed the taxi driver with CS gas to defend himself.

Bertrand Gachot hid the CS gas canister in a toilet cistern in a nearby building, and was arrested and charged with actual bodily harm and possession of a prohibited weapon.

Bertrand Gachot had claimed self-defence, and expected a fine or suspended sentence; he was due to test at Monza after the trial.

Bertrand Gachot subsequently said that prison was "a fantastic human experience" and he had about 10,000 letters of support.

Bertrand Gachot failed to qualify the unfamiliar car, but impressed the team enough to be offered the seat for the following season.

Bertrand Gachot scored the team's only point of the year with 6th place at Monaco.

Bertrand Gachot stayed with Pacific for 1995, with the new PR02 chassis, Cosworth ED engines and an influx of experienced personnel after a merger with the remains of Team Lotus.

The team's finances were tight, and Bertrand Gachot stood down mid-season so that pay drivers Giovanni Lavaggi and Jean-Denis Deletraz could take his seat and bring some money to Pacific.

Bertrand Gachot intended to hand the car over to the team's test driver Oliver Gavin for the season finale in Australia; however, the Englishman was refused a superlicence and the Frenchman was forced back into the car, equalling the team's best result with 8th place after much of the field had retired.

Bertrand Gachot formed his own sports car team with the aim of participating in the 1996 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Bertrand Gachot later drove in occasional sports car and GT races for a variety of manufacturers and privateers.

Bertrand Gachot had been started in 1994 by the founder of Hard Rock Cafe, Brian Cox, and had been sponsoring motorsports including F1.

Bertrand Gachot had aimed to introduce the brand into France but by 2000 had taken a leadership role within Hype Energy; he began restructuring the company, simplifying the product portfolio, keeping only four flavours on the market.

Bertrand Gachot utilised this and other sponsorships to push the brand into new markets, announcing sales in the USA later that year.

Bertrand Gachot still continues to fill the role of CEO at the company.

Bertrand Gachot raced under more than one flag during his career.

Bertrand Gachot initially competed with a Belgian FIA Super Licence, despite carrying a French passport.