Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives (also known as AGS and Gonfaron Sports Cars) was a small French racecar constructor that competed in various racing categories over a period of thirty years, including Formula One from to .
AGS survived as a prosperous Formula One driving school, in Le Luc, near Gonfaron.
Foundation
The team was founded by the French mechanic, Henri Julien, who ran a filling station, the "Garage de l'Avenir", in Gonfaron, a provincial French village. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Julien regularly attended racing events in minor classes. Although not an outstanding driver, the technical knowledge he gained eventually prompted him to start constructing racing cars.
First car
Julien's first car, the AGS JH1, saw the light of day in 1969. It was a small single-seater, intended for the category of "Formule France". The car was designed by Julien's former apprentice, the Belgian mechanic Christian Vanderpleyn, who had been with the garage (and the racing team) since the very late 1950s and who would stay on until 1988. Soon, AGS went progressed and manufactured its own Formula 3 cars, which were ambitious but not good enough to compete seriously with the state-of-art Martinis which dominated the series at the time.
Formula 2
AGS took another step ahead in 1978 when the team started competing in the European Formula 2 Championship. Still, the car - by now the AGS JH15 - was self-penned (by Vanderpleyn), self-built and self-run. Formula 2 was a difficult task for the small team, racing 1978 and 1979 without scoring any championship points. The early 1980s were somewhat better. AGS was one of the few teams who ran its own cars (Maurer, Minardi and Merzario were the others), and eventually the team was able to score points regularly. Soon some victories came, too. AGS made history when works driver Philippe Streiff won the final race of Formula 2 in 1984, using an AGS JH19C.
Formula 3000
In 1985, AGS switched to Formula 3000 with the JH20, based on the Duqueine VG4 Formula 3 chassis. The JH20 used a Cosworth DFV engine supplied through the Swiss tuning firm Mader.
Streiff was replaced with Gabriele Tarquini, It was clear that AGS was not related to these tests; they were completely private attempts by Nègre. The engine never found its way to a Grand Prix but it was announced to be used in a 1990 Le Mans car called Norma M6. The car was presented and attempted to race, but failed to qualify over engine issues.
Finally, AGS had to use Cosworth engines again in . That year brought no improvement at all, Dalmas's 9th in the 1990 Spanish Grand Prix was the best result and by the beginning of the season the team was obviously close to its end. The team lacked money – at the first two Grands Prix of 1991, in Brazil and Phoenix the team's mechanics had to pay for their own hotel rooms. In the race itself, Tarquini finished 8th, which was the last finish ever of an AGS car. De Rouvre sold his team to some Italian entrepreneurs, Patrizio Cantù and Gabriele Rafanelli. Both changed little except for the driver line-up (Stefan Johansson was replaced with newcomer Fabrizio Barbazza) and the colours of the car (which were now blue, red and yellow instead of white). A new car, the JH27, was raced in the early autumn, but by then the team was in rags again, so the Italians closed the doors after the 1991 Spanish Grand Prix.
Complete Formula One results
(key)
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"
|-
! Year
! Chassis
! Engine
! Tyres
! Drivers
! 1
! 2
! 3
! 4
! 5
! 6
! 7
! 8
! 9
! 10
! 11
! 12
! 13
! 14
! 15
! 16
! Points
! WCC
|-
! rowspan="2"|
| rowspan="2"| JH21C
| rowspan="2"|
| rowspan="2"|
||
|| BRA
|| ESP
|| SMR
|| MON
|| BEL
|| CAN
|| DET
|| FRA
|| GBR
|| GER
|| HUN
|| AUT
|| ITA
|| POR
|| MEX
|| AUS
!rowspan="2"| 0
!rowspan="2"| NC
|-
|align="left"| Ivan Capelli
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
| style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret
| style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret
||
||
|-
! rowspan="3"|
| rowspan="3"| JH22
| rowspan="3"| Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 V8
| rowspan="3"|
||
|| BRA
|| SMR
|| BEL
|| MON
|| DET
|| FRA
|| GBR
|| GER
|| HUN
|| AUT
|| ITA
|| POR
|| ESP
|| MEX
|| JPN
|| AUS
!rowspan="3"| 1
!rowspan="3"| 12th
|-
|align="left"| Pascal Fabre
| style="background:#cfcfff;"| 12
| style="background:#cfcfff;"| 13
| style="background:#cfcfff;"| 10
| style="background:#cfcfff;"| 13
| style="background:#cfcfff;"| 12
| style="background:#cfcfff;"| 9
| style="background:#cfcfff;"| 9
| style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret
| style="background:#cfcfff;"| 13
| style="background:#cfcfff;"| NC
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNQ
| style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNQ
||
||
|-
|align="left"| Roberto Moreno
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
| style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret
| style="background:#dfffdf;"| 6
|-
! rowspan="2"|
| rowspan="2"| JH23
| rowspan="2"| Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 V8
| rowspan="2"|
||
|| BRA
|| SMR
|| MON
|| MEX
|| CAN
|| DET
|| FRA
|| GBR
|| GER
|| HUN
|| BEL
|| ITA
|| POR
|| ESP
|| JPN
|| AUS
!rowspan="2"| 0
!rowspan="2"| NC
|-
|align="left"| Philippe Streiff
| style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret
| style="background:#cfcfff;"| 10
| style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret
| style="background:#cfcfff;"| 12
| style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret
| style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret
| style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret
| style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret
| style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret
| style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret
| style="background:#cfcfff;"| 10
| style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret
| style="background:#cfcfff;"| 9
| style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret
| style="background:#cfcfff;"| 8
| style="background:#cfcfff;"| 11
|-
! rowspan="5"|
| rowspan="5"| JH23B<br/>JH24
| rowspan="5"| Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8
| rowspan="5"|
||
|| BRA
|| SMR
|| MON
|| MEX
|| USA
|| CAN
|| FRA
|| GBR
|| GER
|| HUN
|| BEL
|| ITA
|| POR
|| ESP
|| JPN
|| AUS
!rowspan="5"| 1
!rowspan="5"| 15th
|-
|align="left"| Philippe Streiff
| WD
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
|-
|align="left"| Gabriele Tarquini
||
| style="background:#cfcfff;"| 8
| style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret
| style="background:#dfffdf;"| 6
| style="background:#cfcfff;"| 7
| style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret
| style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"|DNQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
|-
|align="left"|
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
|-
|align="left"| Yannick Dalmas
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
|-
! rowspan="3"|
| rowspan="3"| JH24<br/>JH25
| rowspan="3"| Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8
| rowspan="3"|
||
|| USA
|| BRA
|| SMR
|| MON
|| CAN
|| MEX
|| FRA
|| GBR
|| GER
|| HUN
|| BEL
|| ITA
|| POR
|| ESP
|| JPN
|| AUS
!rowspan="3"| 0
!rowspan="3"| NC
|-
|align="left"| Gabriele Tarquini
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNQ
| style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#cfcfff;"| 13
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNQ
| style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNQ
| style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret
|-
|align="left"| Yannick Dalmas
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#cfcfff;"| 17
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNQ
| style="background:#cfcfff;"| NC
| style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret
| style="background:#cfcfff;"| 9
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNQ
|-
! rowspan="5"|
| rowspan="5"| JH25B<br/>JH27
| rowspan="5"| Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8
| rowspan="5"|
||
|| USA
|| BRA
|| SMR
|| MON
|| CAN
|| MEX
|| FRA
|| GBR
|| GER
|| HUN
|| BEL
|| ITA
|| POR
|| ESP
|| JPN
|| AUS
!rowspan="5"| 0
!rowspan="5"| NC
|-
|align="left"| Gabriele Tarquini
| style="background:#cfcfff;"| 8
| style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNQ
| style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNQ
||
||
||
|-
|align="left"| Olivier Grouillard
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
||
||
|-
|align="left"| Stefan Johansson
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNQ
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
|-
|align="left"| Fabrizio Barbazza
||
||
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
| style="background:#ffcfcf;"| DNPQ
||
||
|-
! colspan="23" | Sources:
|}
References
External links
- AGS Formule 1
- Chequered Flag Motorsport's profile of AGS