Franck Lagorce

Franck Lagorce (1 September 1968 - Present): French racing driver from L'Haÿ-les-Roses who competed in Formula One in 1994 with Ligier. Won the 1992 French Formula 3 Championship after stepping up from Formula Ford. Competed in International Formula 3000 for 1993-1994, winning four races and finishing second in the 1994 championship, narrowly missing the title after a season-long battle. In September 1994, signed as test driver for the Ligier F1 team, quickly earning his opportunity when Johnny Herbert moved to Benetton to replace JJ Lehto (who had been loaned to Sauber) for the final two races.

Made his Formula One debut at the 1994 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka on 6 November 1994. The race was held in utterly appalling wet conditions, and Lagorce qualified a creditable 20th, just half a second behind Olivier Panis in 19th. During the rain-soaked race, drove cautiously behind the safety car before spinning coming out of the chicane without hitting anything, only to be collected by Pierluigi Martini's Minardi, ending his race. At the season-ending Australian Grand Prix on the streets of Adelaide, again qualified 20th and drove steadily, finishing the race in 11th place, two laps down on winner Nigel Mansell.

Participated in 2 Formula One Grands Prix without scoring championship points. Left without an F1 race drive for 1995, was relegated back to a testing role with Ligier. When Pedro Diniz arrived at Ligier in 1996 with substantial backing, Lagorce was dropped completely from the F1 team. Became test driver for the struggling Forti Corse team in 1996, but the team folded mid-season. After Formula One, won the Renault Spider Trophy in 1996 and competed successfully in production car and sports car racing throughout the late 1990s and 2000s.

His F1 career represents the harsh reality of the mid-1990s driver market, where even impressive junior formula results and competent F1 performances could not secure a permanent drive without substantial financial backing.