Georges-Francis "Johnny" Servoz-Gavin (18 January 1942 – 29 May 2006) was a French

motor racing An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gene ...

driver in both sportscars and single seaters. He participated in 13

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 ...

World Championship Grands Prix between

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

and

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

, qualifying in all but one. He achieved one podium, and scored a total of nine championship points. He drove for the Tyrrell Formula One team, mainly as

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" ...

's teammate.

Early life

Servoz-Gavin was born in Grenoble, a city in the foothills of the Alps. As a teenager he worked as a ski instructor, during which time he became known as "Johnny".

Career

Lower formulae

Servoz-Gavin's early work included developing sports cars for

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 ...

. After initially competing in rallying, Servoz-Gavin moved to single-seater racing. He had previously attended the racing drivers' school at the Magny-Cours circuit in the centre of France, (from which he was "thrown out") and in 1965 entered the

French Formula Three Championship The French Formula Three Championship was a motor racing series for Formula Three cars held in France between 1964 and 2002. The series was merged with the German Formula Three Championship in 2003 to form the Formula 3 Euro Series The Formula 3 ...

in a private

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 ...

BT18. By the late 1960s, Servoz-Gavin was a rising star, following in the footsteps of

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 ...

and

Jean-Pierre Beltoise Jean-Pierre Maurice Georges Beltoise (; 26 April 1937 – 5 January 2015) was a French racing driver and motorcycle road racer, who competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from to , and Formula One from to . Beltoise won the 1972 Monaco Gran ...

. He became French Formula Three Champion in 1966 driving a works Matra MS5, and in 1969 he won the

European Formula Two Championship The European Formula Two Championship was a Formula Two motor racing series that was held between 1967–84. The races were held across Europe, and were contested both by drivers aiming to compete in Formula One in the future as well as curr ...

Formula One

His Formula Three racing performances won Servoz-Gavin the attention of

, resulting in his moving into Formula One. His best season was

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

, particularly the

1968 Italian Grand Prix The 1968 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Monza Autodrome on 8 September 1968. It was race 9 of 12 in both the 1968 World Championship of Drivers and the 1968 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 68-l ...

in which he finished second and scored six points, driving a

. He also impressed at the

Monaco Grand Prix The Monaco Grand Prix () is a Formula One motor racing event held annually on the Circuit de Monaco, in late May or early June. Run since 1929, it is widely considered to be one of the most important and prestigious automobile races in the wo ...

, entering as Jackie Stewart's stand-in, starting from the front row of the grid, and leading from

Graham Hill Norman Graham Hill (15 February 1929 – 29 November 1975) was a British racing driver, rower and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "Mr. Monaco", Hill won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles ...

at the start, until his race ended early after clipping a barrier and breaking a driveshaft in a similar incident to the one that resulted in the death of

Lorenzo Bandini Lorenzo Bandini (21 December 1935 – 10 May 1967) was an Italian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Bandini won the 1964 Austrian Grand Prix with Ferrari. In endurance racing, Bandini won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in , as w ...

in the Monaco Grand Prix the previous year. Next year, he also scored a sixth place in the 1969 Canadian Grand Prix at

Mosport Park Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (formerly Mosport Park and Mosport International Raceway) is a multi-Race track, track motorsport venue located north of Bowmanville in Clarington, Ontario, Canada, approximately 75 kilometers (47 miles) east of To ...

, which secured him a place in history as the only driver ever to score a world championship point with a four-wheel-driven Formula One car, the Matra MS84. Servoz-Gavin suffered an eye injury in an off-road event in the winter of 1969–70, and had been worrying that his eyesight had been damaged. Driving a March 701, for the Tyrrell team he finished fifth (yet last) in the

1970 Spanish Grand Prix The 1970 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Jarama circuit on 19 April 1970. It was race 2 of 13 in both the 1970 World Championship of Drivers and the 1970 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. Prior to the ...

Jarama Jarama () is a river in central Spain. It flows north to south and passes east of Madrid where the El Atazar Dam is built on a tributary, the Lozoya River. It flows into the river Tagus in Aranjuez. The Manzanares is a tributary of the Jaram ...

. Then after hitting a barrier again, and failing to qualify for the

1970 Monaco Grand Prix The 1970 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit de Monaco on 10 May 1970. It was race 3 of 13 in both the 1970 World Championship of Drivers and the 1970 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. Jochen Rindt s ...

he decided to retire. Servoz-Gavin felt that the risks inherent in Formula One and racing in general were not worthwhile but the problems with his vision may have influenced his decision.

Other motorsport interests

In 1969, Servoz-Gavin participated in Matra endurance events, co-driving with Pedro Rodríguez.

Later life

A man of good looks and high society, he was among a number of Formula One drivers rumoured to be the unknown driver in

Claude Lelouch Claude Barruck Joseph Lelouch (; born 30 October 1937) is a French film director, writer, cinematographer, actor and producer. Lelouch grew up in an Algerian Jewish family. He emerged as a prominent director in the 1960s. Lelouch gained critical ...

's 1977 short footage film ''

C'était un rendez-vous ''C'était un rendez-vous'' (English: ''It Was a Date'') is a 1976 French short film directed by Claude Lelouch, showing a high-speed drive through Paris. Plot The film shows an eight-minute drive through Paris during the early hours (05:30) of ...

'', although Lelouch claimed to have driven the car himself. After his racing career was over, Servoz-Gavin lived on a

houseboat A houseboat is a boat that has been designed or modified to be used primarily for regular dwelling. Most houseboats are not motorized, as they are usually moored or kept stationary, fixed at a Berth (moorings), berth, and often tethered to ...

and suffered serious burns when a gas bottle exploded on his boat in 1982. He died in May 2006 as the result of a

pulmonary embolism Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an pulmonary artery, artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream (embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include dyspnea, shortness of breath, chest pain ...

, following a period of ill health. He was 64 years old.

Racing record

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

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

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Servoz-Gavin, Johnny 1942 births 2006 deaths French racing drivers French Formula One drivers Matra Formula One drivers Cooper Formula One drivers Tyrrell Formula One drivers European Formula Two Championship drivers French Formula Three Championship drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Sportspeople from Grenoble World Sportscar Championship drivers