Érik Gilbert Comas (; born 28 September 1963) is a French former

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

, who competed in

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

from to . In Japanese motorsport, Comas won the All-Japan GT Championship in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

and

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

with

Nismo , abbreviated as Nismo, is a division of Nissan Motorsports & Customizing focused in motorsport and performance-oriented car models for Nissan. Nismo was initially a company, , formed in 1984 as a result of a merger of two motorsport departmen ...

. He won the French Formula Three Championship in 1988, before winning International Formula 3000 in

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, after finishing runner-up to Jean Alesi on count-back in

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

. He participated in 63

Grands Prix between 1991 and 1994, scoring a total of seven championship points. His last point, in the 1994 German Grand Prix, was also the last one for the Larrousse team. After his Formula One career, he won the All-Japan GT Championship for

in the top GT500 class in

and

, and finished runner-up at the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

in with Pescarolo.

Career

Formula One

1991 and 1992: Ligier

After his F3000 championship victory in 1990, Comas was selected to drive for the Ligier F1 team in

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

. The Ligier JS35 with its

Lamborghini Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. ( , ), usually referred to as Lamborghini or colloquially Lambo, is an Italian manufacturer of luxury sports cars and SUVs based in Sant'Agata Bolognese. The company is owned by the Volkswagen Group through its su ...

engine proved uncompetitive throughout the season. Comas failed to qualify for the race on his first attempt in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, achieved his first finish with 10th at

Imola Imola (; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical region Romagna ...

, and achieved his highest finish of the season with 8th in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, scoring no points during the season. Although he failed to qualify on two other occasions and suffered a spectacular crash at

Hockenheim Hockenheim () is a town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 20 km south of Mannheim and 10 km west of Walldorf. It is located in the Upper Rhine Plain, Upper Rhine valley on the tourist theme routes "Baden Asparagus Route" ( ...

, he generally compared well with more experienced teammate Thierry Boutsen who also failed to score any points. Early in 1992, Comas's place in the team was briefly threatened by

Alain Prost Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "the Professor", Prost won four Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles and� ...

who tested the team's new

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

-powered car with a view to driving for, and possibly buying the team, with Comas revealing years later that he had not been given any testing mileage during the winter. Ultimately Prost chose not to proceed, and Comas retained his drive alongside Boutsen for the season. The 1992 car, the Ligier JS37 seemed promising, a brand new design featuring the race-winning Renault V10 engine, but it proved to be only inconsistently competitive. Comas scored his first career F1 point with 6th place in

, scored 5th at Ligier's home race in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and a further point in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

during a mid-season revival of the team's fortunes. With four points, he was generally faster than and outscored Boutsen, and finished 11th in the Driver's Championship. At the 1992 Belgian Grand Prix Comas was involved in a severe accident at the Blanchimont corner during Saturday qualifying. Left unconscious in his car beached in the middle of the track with the engine still running at its rev limiter, Comas was rescued by Ayrton Senna who stopped his own car and ran to help Comas, by shutting off the car's screaming engine (which was still pumping fuel and could have blown at any moment starting a fire), and holding the Frenchman's head in a stable position until medical assistance arrived. Comas credited Senna with saving his life.

1993 and 1994: Larrousse

Comas was not retained by Ligier for

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

; he instead signed with the small Larrousse team, running the LH93 chassis powered by

V12s. The car was uncompetitive, Comas retiring from half the 16 races of the season, and scoring only one point for 6th at

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

. Retained by Larrousse in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, Comas drove the LH94 car, now powered by more reliable Ford HB engines. Comas scored a point for 6th at the Pacific Grand Prix, and benefited from the retirement of many other cars to take another point at

. This was both his and Larrousse's final F1 points finish. For the last race of the season in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, Comas relinquished his seat to make way for Jean-Denis Delétraz who brought more funding to the team. At the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix due to a radio miscommunication Comas was released onto the track during the red flag after Senna had crashed, arriving at the Tamburello corner where he met the workers and vehicles, including an aid helicopter which had landed at the scene. Having had to brake hard to avoid hitting either marshals, their vehicles, or the helicopter Comas declined to participate in the restart of the race, after witnessing medical staff treating the mortally-injured Senna.

After Formula One

After ending his

career at the end of the 1994 season, Comas went to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

to continue his racing career in the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC), Japan's premiere racing series. He won the GT500 title in 1998 and 1999, and was runner-up in the standings in 2000, all three years driving for

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

in a factory

-prepared Skyline GT-R. He left the Nismo team in 2002 to join the factory

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

team the following year. By the end of the 2003 season, he was the most successful driver in the history of the series, with the most career championship points ever scored by a single driver. This was eventually surpassed by another Nismo driver, Satoshi Motoyama. Comas spent the 2004/2005 seasons with Masahiro Hasemi's privateer Hasemi Sport team, running non-factory Nissan 350Zs in GT500, including inheriting the team's only win (co-driving with Toshihiro Kaneishi) thus far, on the evening of 18 December 2004 at the "All-Star 200" exhibition race on California Speedway's combined oval/road course after the unofficial winners were penalized 60 seconds on their finishing time for a pit window infraction. The race was a non-points scoring event and as such does not count towards the drivers' or teams' official win record. In the 2006

Super GT Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a sports car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC), the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is the top level of ...

championship season (formerly JGTC) he raced for former JGTC driver and

team owner Masahiko Kondo's new privateer Nissan 350Z racing team. He also branched out into rallying, competing in various events around the world. Along with this, he created Comas Racing Management (CRM), a firm that focuses on the management and development of young up and coming drivers, primarily from his home country of France. At the fifth race of the 2006 season at

Sportsland SUGO } is a motorsports facility in the town of Murata, Miyagi, Murata, Shibata District, Miyagi, Shibata District, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Course The track was opened in 1975 and is one of the largest motorsports facilities in Japan, with a total ...

, Comas was replaced by Seiji Ara due to ill health. After returning for the Pokka 1000 km, on 5 September 2006, Comas announced that because of his health, he would not compete in the final three races of the season. In 2010 and 2011, he won the

electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV) is a motor vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs encompass a wide range of transportation modes, including road vehicle, road and rail vehicles, electric boats and Submersible, submer ...

category of the ''Rallye Monte Carlo des Véhicules à Énergie Alternative'' (the opening event of the

FIA Alternative Energies Cup The FIA ecoRally Cup is an international motorsport competition for electric vehicles organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. The cup consists of several Regularity rally, regularity rallies, usually located in Europe and ra ...

) with a Tesla Roadster. In 2014 he won the Carrera Panamericana in a

Studebaker Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers Man ...

. Between 2012 and 2017, he rallied a

Lancia Stratos The Lancia Stratos HF (''Tipo 829''), known as Lancia Stratos, is a rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, rear mid-engined sports car designed for rallying, made by Italian car manufacturer Lancia. It was highly successful in competition, win ...

. Comas has now retired from all forms of racing. He spends his time running Comas Historic Racing, which provides for paying customers to enter historic rallies driving cars from his fleet of blue Alpine automobiles. In 2019 Comas obtained one of the Nissan R390 GT1, a car he competed in the 1998 Le Mans 24 Hours with, and had it restored as well as being made street-legal.

Racing record

Career summary

Complete Macau Grand Prix results

Complete International Formula 3000 results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap.)

Complete Formula One results

( key)

Complete JGTC/Super GT results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete JTCC results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

World Rally Championship results

References

External links

Eric Comas/CRM Official SiteComas Historic Racing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Comas, Erik 1963 births Living people Sportspeople from Romans-sur-Isère French racing drivers French Formula Renault 2.0 drivers French Formula One drivers Ligier Formula One drivers Larrousse Formula One drivers International Formula 3000 Champions French Formula Three Championship drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Japanese Touring Car Championship drivers Super GT drivers International Formula 3000 drivers American Le Mans Series drivers European Le Mans Series drivers FIA E-Rally Regularity Cup drivers Carrera Panamericana drivers DAMS drivers TOM'S drivers Nismo drivers Oreca drivers Kondō Racing drivers Pescarolo Sport drivers Larbre Compétition drivers