Pierre Antoine Eugène Dupasquier (born 27 July 1937 in Metz, France) is a former head of

Michelin Michelin ( , ), in full ("General Company of the Michelin Enterprises P.L.S."), is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes '' région'' of France. It is the second largest t ...

's Competition Department.

Early life

Born 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 ...

, he spent his early life as a pilot with the

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...

serving in the Algerian War. After discharge from the military, he studied engineering at the

École catholique des arts et métiers École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

graduating in 1960.

Michelin

Dupasquier was hired by Michelin's research division in 1962. Five years later, he switched to a representative role in selling Michelin tires to road car companies; he moved to the Competitions Department in 1973. Dupasquier was part of the group that brought radial tyres into

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 ...

during the period he led Michelin in the sport from 1977-1984. Michelin's first Formula One world champion was

Jody Scheckter Jody David Scheckter (; born 29 January 1950) is a South African former racing driver and businessman, who competed in Formula One from to . Scheckter won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Ferrari, and remains the only Afric ...

in 1979 driving for

Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari (; ), currently racing under Scuderia Ferrari HP, is the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer Ferrari and the racing team that competes in Formula One racing. The team is also known by the nickname "the Pranc ...

. During this first period of Dupasquier's stewardship of Michelin in F1, they had great success with 4 world championships for Scheckter,

Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Souto Maior (, born 17 August 1952) is a Brazilian former racing driver and businessman, who competed in Formula One from to . Piquet won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in , , and , and won 23 ...

twice 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 ...

and finally

Niki Lauda Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was an Austrian racing driver, motorsport executive and aviation entrepreneur, who competed in Formula One from to and from to . Lauda won three Formula One World Drivers' Champ ...

with

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 ...

in 1984. Dupasquier would once again lead Michelin on their return to Formula One in 2001 until his retirement in 2005 a season won by a Michelin shod Renault for

Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver who competes in Formula One for Aston Martin in Formula One, Aston Martin. Alonso has won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in and with ...

. It was also in this season all cars running Michelin tyres would withdraw from the 2005 US Grand Prix. Across his leadership of Michelin Competition, the manufacturer claimed 1300 victories and 180 world titles. He was awarded the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

in December 2006 for his services to French motorsport.Grandprix.com article retrieved October 11, 2006
/ref>

References

Formula One people Living people 1937 births Michelin people French motorsport people Recipients of the Legion of Honour {{F1-bio-stub