LE MANS, FR. (THECOUNT) — Jean-Paul Driot, DAMS founder and Nissan e.dams Formula E team principal, has passed away after a months-long battle with an undisclosed illness. He was 68.
A statement from his team announced on Sunday that Driot had passed away following an illness, but did not provide a cause of death.
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Driot’s team played a key role in the careers of many Formula 1 drivers and won titles across several junior single-seater series and FE
DAMS has also dedicated its driver Nicholas Latifi’s Formula 2 victory and Sergio Sette Camara’s podium in Hungary to Driot.
Driot, of Le Mans, France, set up his eponymous team – Driot Associes Motor Sport – at the end of 1988 and it made its debut in Formula 3000 the following year.
More than 30 DAMS drivers went on to race in F1 – including five of the current grid: Romain Grosjean, Kevin Magnussen, Pierre Gasly, Carlos Sainz Jr and Alexander Albon – and Driot has remained the figurehead of the team throughout.
Driot’s team has won 13 drivers’ and 12 teams’ championships and claimed 147 victories across various series including Formula 3000, Formula Renault 3.5, plus official feeder categories Formula 2 and Formula 3 (and their predecessors GP2 and GP3).
Under Driot’s stewardship, DAMS also masterminded the title-winning French A1 Grand Prix effort.
Together with F1 legend Alain Prost, Driot established the e.dams FE team, which won three teams’ titles and a drivers’ championship when partnered with Renault in the electric single-seater series, and now runs the Nissan entry.
“It is with great sadness that Driot Associes Motor Sport (DAMS) announces its founder and owner, Jean-Paul Driot, passed away at the age of 68,” read a DAMS team statement.
“Jean-Paul lost an ongoing battle with illness, which he had fought in recent months.
“We wish our sincerest condolences to his wife Genevieve and two sons Olivier and Gregory,” source MotoSport.
Geo quick facts: Le Mans is a city in northwestern France. It’s known for the 24 Hours of Le Mans Museum, which chronicles the history of the city’s famed 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race. The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans race track, offers simulator rides and amateur go-karting. In the old town, the Gothic-style Le Mans Cathedral features stained-glass windows and flying buttresses. East is the 13th-century Royal Abbey of Epau – wikipedia.