Jean Vinatier (born 25 November 1933) is a French former

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Political demonstration, a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a North American school or college sporting event Sport ...

and racing driver. He won the

Tour de Corse The Tour de Corse is a rally first held in 1956 on the island of Corsica. It was the French round of the World Rally Championship from the inaugural 1973 season until 2008, was part of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge from 2011 to 2012, and ...

with a

Renault 8 Gordini The Renault 8 (Renault R8 until 1964) is a rear-engined, rear-wheel drive small family car produced by the French manufacturer Renault in the 1960s and early 1970s. It also formed the basis for the larger Renault 10, introduced in 1965. The 8 ...

in 1964 and the

Alpine Rally The Alpine Rally, also known by its official name Coupe des Alpes, was a rally competition based in Marseille and held from 1932 to 1971. In the 1950s and the 1960s, it was among the most prestigious rallies in the world and featured an interna ...

with an Alpine-Renault A110 in 1968 and 1969. In the last Alpine Rally in 1971, he finished second to

Bernard Darniche Bernard Jean Darniche (born 28 March 1942 in Cenon, a commune in the Gironde department) is a French former rally driver. He won the European Rally Championship in 1976 and 1977 and the French Rally Championship in 1976 and 1978, each time behind ...

and recorded his third consecutive penalty-free run, becoming the third driver after Ian Appleyard and

Stirling Moss Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss (17 September 1929 – 12 April 2020) was a British racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to . Widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers to never win the Formula On ...

to achieve the much-coveted ''Coupe d'Or'' (Gold Cup). Driving the Alpine A110, Vinatier also won the

French Rally Championship The FFSA French Rally Championship or Championnat de France des Rallyes is France's leading domestic motor rally competition. It's a championship that has been won three times by Didier Auriol, Guy Fréquelin, and Philippe Bugalski. Reflecting th ...

in 1969 and finished third that same year at the

Monte Carlo Rally The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo) is a rallying event organized each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. From its inception in 1911 by Albert I, Prince of Monaco, Prince Albert I, the rally ...

, behind the

Porsche 911 The Porsche 911 model series (pronounced ''Nine Eleven'' or in ) is a family of German two-door, high performance Rear-engine design, rear-engine sports cars, introduced in September 1964 by Porsche, Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. Now in it ...

s of

Björn Waldegård Björn Waldegård (12 November 1943 – 29 August 2014) was a Swedish rally driver, and the winner of the World Rally Championship for drivers in 1979. His Swedish nickname was "Walle". Career Waldegård, who came from Rimbo, had a career that ...

and

Gérard Larrousse Gérard Gilles Marie Armand Larrousse (born 23 May 1940) is a former sports car racing, rallying and Formula One driver from France. His greatest success as a driver was winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1973 24 Hours of Le Mans, 1973 and 1974 24 ...

. In 1970, he took part in four events in the

International Championship for Manufacturers The FIA International Championship for Manufacturers (IMC) was a rally series culminating in a champion manufacturer. The championship was run from 1970 to 1972 and it was replaced by the FIA World Rally Championship in 1973. All the nine ralli ...

, the predecessor to the

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the oldest FIA world championship after Formula One. E ...

. He finished second in the

Acropolis Rally The Acropolis Rally of Greece () is a Rallying, rally competition that is part of the World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship (WRC). The rally is held on very dusty, rough, rocky and fast mountain roads in mainland Greece, usually dur ...

in Greece, behind another A110 driven by

Jean-Luc Thérier Jean-Luc Thérier (7October 194531July 2019) was a French rally driver. He was the highest scoring driver in the inaugural World Rally Championship in 1973 and the only one to win three events. However, until 1977 the championship was only formal ...

, and third in the

Rallye Sanremo Rallye Sanremo is a rally competition held in Sanremo, Italy. Except for the 1995 event, the event was part of the FIA World Rally Championship schedule from 1973 to the 2003. It was a round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge and is current ...

in Italy, behind Thérier and

Harry Källström Harry Källström (30 June 1939 – 13 July 2009), nicknamed "Sputnik" , was a Swedish professional rally driver who debuted in 1957 and competed in the World Rally Championship in the 1970s. Prior to the forming of the WRC, Källström won the ...

. Vinatier also competed in endurance racing. In the final

Mille Miglia The Mille Miglia (, ''Thousand Miles'') was an open-road, motorsport Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race established in 1927 by the young Counts :it:Franco Mazzotti, Francesco Mazzotti and Aymo Maggi. It took place in Italy 24 times f ...

in 1957, he was the first driver to go past the scene of the crash that killed eleven people. In 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 ...

, Vinatier competed 14 times from 1958 to 1973. He won his class with Mauro Bianchi, brother of

Lucien Bianchi Luciano "Lucien" Bianchi (, ; 10 November 1934 – 30 March 1969) was an Italian-born Belgian racing driver who raced for the Cooper Car Company, Cooper, Ecurie Nationale Belge, ENB, British Racing Partnership, UDT Laystall and Scuderia Centro Su ...

, in 1967. His best overall result in the event was eighth with

André de Cortanze André de Cortanze (born 30 March 1941) is a French motorsport engineer. Career De Cortanze graduated in 1967 with an engineering degree and joined Alpine, a car manufacturer, where he drove and designed racing cars. He also experienced success i ...

the following year. After his racing career, Vinatier has worked as a technical delegate for the

Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; ) is an international organisation with two primary functions surrounding use of the automobile. Its mobility division advocacy, advocates the interests of motoring organisations, the automot ...

(FIA).

Complete IMC results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vinatier, Jean 1933 births 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers French racing drivers French rally drivers Living people World Rally Championship drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers 12 Hours of Reims drivers