at the
1989 Belgian Grand Prix. By this stage, Gachot was considered one of the sport's most promising young drivers. He was signed by the newly formed
Onyx team, having played a role in attracting the team's Moneytron sponsorship from businessman
Jean-Pierre Van Rossem, and was partnered with the experienced
Stefan Johansson. The team was well funded, but late in getting its car prepared. As a new entrant it was obliged to pre-qualify, and it was not until the
French Grand Prix that Gachot made it onto the grid. He started 11th (two places ahead of Johansson) and ran in the points until battery problems dropped him to an eventual 13th and last. Despite qualifying for four of the next five events, he was then fired by van Rossem after complaining about his lack of testing time; his private grievances were publicly aired in an Onyx press release, and he was replaced with
JJ Lehto. In early October he tested with
Arrows at
Silverstone, as he was being considered for a drive in 1990 which did not materialize. Gachot then found employment with the struggling
Rial team for the final two races of the season, failing to qualify its ageing chassis for either race. The team folded over the winter. 1990 was initially more promising, as Gachot switched to the
Coloni team. The small Italian outfit had signed an exclusive deal with
Subaru to use its new
Carlo Chiti-designed and
Motori Moderni-built
1235 flat-12 engine, and Gachot was selected to drive the sole entry. However, the engine was overweight and underpowered, resulting in a poorly-handling car that rarely ran for more than a few laps; he appeared to have little prospect of getting out of pre-qualifying. At the
season opener in Phoenix, his gear selector rod broke on his first flying lap and he was unable to set a representative time. Subaru withdrew entirely after the
British Grand Prix. After that the car ran with a
Cosworth DFR engine, and performances improved; the withdrawal of Onyx ironically promoted Gachot to the main qualifying sessions, but the car still was not quick enough and he failed to make the grid all season. team its F1 début at the
1991 United States Grand Prix Despite this, Gachot was still highly regarded, both as a driver and a marketeer, and was signed to lead the new
Jordan Grand Prix team, sponsored by
7-Up and using
Ford HB engines. The
Gary Anderson-designed
191 was competitive, and after some initial reliability problems became a regular points-scorer; Gachot finished 5th in Canada and 6th twice. The season started off well as he gathered considerable acclaim for his Grand Prix performances, and also won the
1991 24 Hours of Le Mans driving a
Mazda 787B. He then set the fastest lap at the
Hungarian Grand Prix after a late tyre change but his then fortunes took a dramatic turn.
1991 prison sentence On 10 December 1990 Gachot was due to meet with Jordan and representatives of
7-Up but, on the way and running late, he became involved in a
road rage incident with a taxi driver at Hyde Park Corner in London. His car collided with the back of the taxi, but caused no damage to either car. Gachot hid the CS gas canister in a toilet cistern in a nearby building, and was arrested and charged with
actual bodily harm (ABH) and possession of a prohibited weapon. Gachot's trial at Southwark Crown Court was scheduled the week before the
1991 Belgian Grand Prix, a circuit where he expected the Jordan to "fly". Gachot had claimed self-defence, and expected a fine or suspended sentence; he was due to test at Monza after the trial. The situation prompted a campaign of support organised by Belgian racing driver
Pascal Witmeur. This campaign involved flags, T-shirts worn by members of the public and racing drivers, graffiti in several locations of the
Spa-Francorchamps track during the
1991 Belgian Grand Prix, and prominent sponsorship on Witmeur's
Formula 3000 car. Team owner
Eddie Jordan replaced him with
Michael Schumacher, whose performance at Spa led to a drive with
Benetton. Gachot subsequently said that prison was "a fantastic human experience" and he had about 10,000 letters of support.
Return to F1 After two months in prison Gachot's sentence was reduced by the Court of Appeal and he was released. Having missed four Grands Prix, he returned to the F1 paddock at
Suzuka to try and retake his Jordan seat from
Alessandro Zanardi. The team refused, though Gachot found employment with
Larrousse, replacing the injured
Éric Bernard for the
Australian Grand Prix. He failed to qualify the unfamiliar car, but impressed the team enough to be offered the seat for the following season. The team ran a
Robin Herd-designed
Venturi chassis with V12
Lamborghini engines, but suffered reliability and financial problems throughout the season. Gachot and teammate
Ukyo Katayama only managed 6 classified finishes between them from 31 starts, colliding with each other twice. Gachot scored the team's only point of the year with 6th place at
Monaco. He also finished 4th for Mazda at Le Mans. 1993 saw Gachot out of Formula 1. He raced for
Dick Simon Racing in
CART, placing 12th at the Molson Indy Toronto in a one-off drive, and raced in Japanese touring car series for Honda while helping
Keith Wiggins'
Pacific team prepare to enter Formula One the following season. After becoming a shareholder in the team, Gachot was signed to drive as number 1 alongside
pay driver Paul Belmondo for the 1994 season. The PR01 was initially designed as the car for
Reynard's proposed entry into the series, used 1992-spec
Ilmor V10 engines and was not competitive. After Gachot outqualified
Roland Ratzenberger to give the team its debut at the
opening round, the Pacifics never again beat fellow newcomers
Simtek to the grid; although a series of accidents in the sport led to several reduced entries and Gachot starting a further four races, he failed to finish any. While he had the upper hand over Belmondo after the
Canadian Grand Prix, he did not make the grid again that season. at the
1995 British Grand Prix Gachot stayed with Pacific for 1995, with the new PR02 chassis,
Cosworth ED engines and an influx of experienced personnel after a merger with the remains of
Team Lotus. There were only 26 entrants; hence, he was a guaranteed starter, and the reliable package meant the car could at least finish races, though Gachot and teammate
Andrea Montermini were largely left battling at the back of the grid. The team's finances were tight, and Gachot stood down mid-season so that pay drivers
Giovanni Lavaggi and
Jean-Denis Délétraz could take his seat and bring some money to Pacific. After Délétraz's sponsors defaulted on payments, the team planned to rent the drive to
Formula Nippon driver
Katsumi Yamamoto for the two races in Japan, but he was not granted a superlicence, so Gachot retook the seat. Gachot also intended to hand the car over to the team's test driver
Oliver Gavin for the season finale in Australia; however, the Englishman was also refused a superlicence and the Frenchman was forced back into the car, equalling the team's best result with 8th place after much of the field had retired. It was Gachot's final Grand Prix, for Pacific folded at the end of the season. Gachot formed his own sports car team with the aim of participating in the
1996 24 Hours of Le Mans. The team entered a
Welter Racing LM94 with factory support and engine from
SsangYong, in what was a rare motorsport outing for the
South Korean automotive manufacturer. The car participated in the pre-qualifying session but did not qualify for the race. It was again entered in the Coupes d'Automne
Automobile Club de l'Ouest, a four-hour sports car race held at the
Le Mans Bugatti circuit later in the 1996 season, where it qualified 3rd but did not finish. Gachot later drove in occasional sports car and GT races for a variety of manufacturers and privateers. ==Business interests==