The

Matra Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a major French industrial Conglomerate (company), conglomerate. Its business activities covered a wide range of industries, notably aerospace manufacturer, aerospace, defence industry, def ...

Company's racing team, under the names of Matra Sports, Equipe Matra Elf and Equipe Matra Sports (after a takeover by

Simca Simca (; Mechanical and Automotive Body Manufacturing Company) was a French automaker, founded in November 1934 by Fiat S.p.A. and directed from July 1935 to May 1963 by Italy, Italian Henri Pigozzi. Simca was affiliated with Fiat and, after Simc ...

in 1969 as Matra-Simca Division Automobile), was formed in 1965 and based at

Champagne-sur-Seine Champagne-sur-Seine () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overs ...

(1965–1967), Romorantin-Lanthenay (1967–1969) and

Vélizy-Villacoublay Vélizy-Villacoublay () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the south-western suburbs of Paris from the Kilometre Zero, center and ea ...

(1969–1979). In 1979 the team was taken over by

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French automobile brand owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was established in 1810, making it the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applie ...

and renamed as Automobiles Talbot.

Motorsports history

In the mid-1960s, Matra enjoyed considerable success in

Formula 3 Formula Three (F3) is a third-tier 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. History Formula Three (adop ...

and F2 racing, particularly with the MS5 monocoque-based car, winning the French and European championships. In ,

Jacky Ickx Jacques Bernard Edmon Martin Henri "Jacky" Ickx (; born 1 January 1945) is a Belgian former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Ickx twice finished runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in and , and won eig ...

surprised the F1 establishment by posting the third-fastest qualifying time of 8:14" at the German

Nürburgring The () is a 150,000-person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long configuration, built in the 1920s ...

in his 1600cc Matra MS7 F2, which was allowed to enter alongside the 3000cc F1 cars. In the race, he failed to finish due to a broken suspension. StewartJackie19690801MatraFord

Matra entered

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 ...

in when

Jackie Stewart Sir John Young "Jackie" Stewart (born 11 June 1939) is a British former racing driver, sports broadcasting, broadcaster and motorsport executive from Scotland, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "the Flying Scottish people, Scot" ...

was a serious contender, winning several Grands Prix in the Tyrrell-run Matra MS10 which competed alongside the

works team A works team, sometimes also referred to as factory team and company team, is a sports team that is financed and run by a manufacturer or other business, institution, or organization in a broad sense. Works teams have very close ties with thei ...

. The F1 team was established at

in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. The car's most innovative feature was the use of aviation-inspired structural fuel tanks. These allowed the chassis to be around lighter, while still being stronger than its competitors. The FIA considered the technology to be unsafe and decided to ban it for . Matra

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Jean-Luc Lagardère Jean-Luc Lagardère (; 10 February 1928 – 14 March 2003) was a major French businessman, CEO of the Lagardère Group, one of the largest French conglomerates. Career Jean-Luc Lagardère was a '' Supélec'' engineer. He began his career in ...

made a strategic decision for the championship: the Matra

would not compete in Formula One. Matra would instead focus its efforts on

Ken Tyrrell Robert Kenneth Tyrrell (3 May 1924 – 25 August 2001) was a British Formula Two racing driver and the founder of the Tyrrell Formula One constructor.Setright, L. J. K. "Tyrrell: A Shrewd Talent-spotter", in Northey, Tom, ed. ''World of Automo ...

's privateer team (renamed Matra International) and build a new Ford

Cosworth Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for auto racing, automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream Automotiv ...

DFV-powered car with structural fuel tanks, even though it would only be eligible for a single season. The decision was even more radical given that Matra was seeking a partnership with

, which would preclude using Ford-branded engines for the following year. Stewart won the 1969 title easily with the new

-powered Matra MS80 car, which was designed by Gérard Ducarouge and Bernard Boyer, and corrected most of the weaknesses of the MS10 car. The 1969 World Drivers' and Constructors' Championship titles were the first titles won by a French constructor, and still remain the only titles won by a car built in France as well as a car entered by a privateer team. It was a spectacular achievement from a constructor that had only entered Formula One the previous year. France became only the third country (after the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

) to have produced a winning constructor, and Matra became the only constructor to have won the Constructors' Championship without running its own works team. Like

, Lotus and

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...

, Matra experimented with four wheel drive during the 1969 season. Johnny Servoz-Gavin became the one and only driver to score a point with a 4WD car, finishing sixth with the Matra MS84 at the Canadian Grand Prix. The MS84, along with

Brabham Motor Racing Developments Ltd., commonly known as Brabham ( ), was a British race car, racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. It was founded in 1960 by the Australian driver Jack Brabham and the British-Australian designer Ron Ta ...

's BT26A, was one of the last spaceframe cars to compete in Formula One. For following the agreement with

, Matra asked Tyrrell to use their Matra Sports V12 engine rather than the Cosworth. Stewart got to test Matra's V12, but since a large part of the Tyrrell budget was provided by Ford, and another significant sponsor was French state-owned petroleum company

Elf An elf (: elves) is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic peoples, Germanic folklore. Elves appear especially in Norse mythology, North Germanic mythology, being mentioned in the Icelandic ''Poetic Edda'' and the ''Prose Edda'' ...

, which had an agreement with

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 ...

that precluded supporting a Simca partner, the partnership between Matra and Tyrrell ended. Matra V12s powered the

Shadow A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross-section of a shadow is a two-dimensio ...

DN7 car in two races of the season and then cars built and entered by the Ligier Formula 1 team from –, and again (under the name ''Talbot Ligier'') from -, winning three races (the

1977 Swedish Grand Prix The 1977 Swedish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Scandinavian Raceway on 19 June 1977. It was the eighth race of the 1977 Formula One season. The 72-lap race was won by Frenchman Jacques Laffite, driving a Ligier-Matra. Thi ...

, 1981 Austrian Grand Prix and 1981 Canadian Grand Prix). Jacques Laffite´s victory at the 1977 Swedish Grand Prix was the first Formula One victory for a French-licensed team and a French engine, as well as the first all-French victory in the Formula One World Championship. The company was also successful in endurance racing with cars powered by their V12 engine. The sportscar racing team was based at first at

and then moved to Le Castellet, near

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, France. The Matra MS670 car won 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 ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

, and

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

. It also delivered the World Championship for Makes (in the category of

sports prototype A sports prototype, sometimes referred to simply as a prototype, is a type of Auto racing, race car that is used in high-level categories of sports car racing. They are purpose-built auto-sports race cars, as opposed to production-car based or s ...

s) to Matra in both

and

seasons.

Racing models

* Matra MS1 * Matra MS2 * Matra MS5 * Matra MS6 * Matra MS7 * Matra MS9 * Matra MS10 * Matra MS11 * Matra MS80 * Matra MS84 * Matra MS120 * Matra MS120B * Matra MS120C * Matra MS120D * Matra MS610 * Matra MS620 * Matra MS630 * Matra-Simca MS630 * Matra-Simca MS630/650 * Matra MS640 * Matra-Simca MS650 * Matra-Simca MS660 * Matra-Simca MS660C * Matra-Simca MS670 * Matra-Simca MS670B * Matra-Simca MS670C * Matra-Simca MS680

Successes

* 334 races, all categories, spanning 10 years * 124 victories, 104 lap records * 1

World Drivers' Championship Formula One, abbreviated to F1, is the highest class of open-wheeled auto racing defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's world governing body. The "formula" in the name refers to a set of rules to which a ...

(1969, Jackie Stewart, MS80) * 1 Formula One World Constructors' Championship (1969, Matra-Elf International) * 5 French

Formula Two Formula Two (F2) is a type of Open-wheel car, open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009 FIA Formula Two Championship season, 2009 to 2012 FIA Formula Two C ...

Championships (1966–1967–1968–1969–1970) * 3 European Formula Two Championships (1967–1968–1969) * 3 French Formula Three Championships (1965–1966–1967) * 2 World Championship for Makes (1973–1974) * 3 victories at

(1972–1973–1974) * 2 victories at

Tour de France Automobile Tour de France Automobile was a sports car race held on roads around France regularly (mostly annually) between 1899 and 1986. History The first edition in 1899 was won by René de Knyff driving a Panhard et Levassor at 30 mph (50&nbs ...

(1970–1971)

Complete Formula One World Championship results

As a constructor

( key)

As an engine supplier

( key)

Notes

References

External links

* http://www.matrasport.dk/ * http://www.epaf.fr Restoration & rebuild of Matra competition cars {{Matra car timeline Formula One constructors Formula Two constructors Formula One entrants Formula Two entrants French Formula 3 teams 24 Hours of Le Mans teams World Sportscar Championship teams French auto racing teams French racecar constructors Auto racing teams established in 1965 Auto racing teams disestablished in 1979

Formula Three constructors 1965 establishments in France 1982 disestablishments in France