Silvio Bachot

Silvio Bachot (born 25th December 1952 in Metz, Grand Est, France) is a French former racing driver best known for his appearances in Formula One.

Early Life

He was born to Frenchman Guillon Bachot, a Formula One team owner. Bachot spent his early life in England, due to his father's working commitments, and quickly developed a passion for motorsports, undoubtedly influenced by his father's career. He left school at 15, and then initially started working as a mechanic for his father's team. This experience would aid him in the future.

Lower formulae (1968-1971)

Bachot would be bought a Formula Three chassis for his 17th birthday in 1969. In 1970 he race in British Formula Three, using his mechanical skills to maintain the car himself, managing to win at Crystal Palace, and finishing an impressive 4th in the championship. He would go on to win the title in 1971 in dominant fashion, winning 3 races and 5 pole positions on the way.

Formula Two (1972-74, 1977)

Bachot progressed to European Formula Two in 1972, landing a drive at the March team. He would struggle in his first season, only managing 11 points, with a best finish of 4th at Pau and Imola. In his second season he would improve, with the help of works BMW engines, to second in the championship to Jean-Pierre Jarier. Unreliability and numerous accidents put an end to his title bid. In 1974, he would be partnered with another Frenchman, Patrick Depailler, and would manage to win the world championship. Being widely touted at this point as a star of the future, he tested for the Shadow Formula One team at Silverstone in February 1975, but would suffer a horrendous near-fatal 141g accident at the high-speed Club corner, breaking both his legs, fracturing his pelvis and his ribs, and suffered second degree burns after the car caught fire. He would thus be put out of racing for the whole of both 1975 and 1976. In 1977, he would return to Formula Two with March, but would struggle on his return to injury, only scoring 8 points - those coming from podiums at Silverstone and Thruxton. He was in talks with the collapsing Hesketh Formula One team for a drive after Leonhard von Gottorp quit the team, but the team ultimately signed Hector Rebaque at the last minute.

Formula One (1978-)

Bachot would find a drive in Formula One for 1978, with the Shadow team. The team however was on his last legs, using a 3-year-old chassis that did not work at all, which led to Bachot failing to pre-qualify for his first race at Spain.

After racing

After retiring from racing at the end of 2002, he went to support his son Jean-Maxime's racing career, as well as promoting young French racing talent. However, in 2019, he would make his international debut as a team owner, entering GB Racing into that year's GT Super Series. He would also establish a driver program that year, finding young drivers and managing them as they progress through motorsport across the world.

Other

Bachot took part in the Spa-Francorchamps round of the 1990 World Touring Car Masters on board of a Tauber Motorsport BMW; he finished 18th in the qualifying race.

Personal Life

His father, Guillon (1919-2004) was an avid campaigner for the rights of small Formula One teams in the 1950s, and remained a controversial figure to his dying day. His mother (1928-1994) would live a quiet life, and not much more is known about her.

He had a son, Jean-Maxime, in 1977, who went on and became a racing driver himself.

Bachot registers himself as an atheist, and has been a strong critic of religions like Christianity and Islam, which has caused controversy in the past.

He resides in Holme on the Wolds in England, having bought a house there in 2003 after retiring from competitive racing. He previously resided in Fort Lauerdale, Florida during his CART career, and before that lived in Monaco and Coventry.

Complete Motorsports Career Results

Complete Formula 1 Results

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Points	WDC
1978	Shadow Racing Team	Shadow DN5B	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG	RSA	USW	ESP DNPQ		MON	FRA	TUS	GBR	SUI	NED	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA	0*	—*
	North Star Racing	Lola T980	Renzo DFV-2 3.0 V8					BEL DNPQ

*Season still in progress