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− | '''Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives''' or '''AGS''' was a [[Formula One]] constructor and team that raced from [[1988 Alternate Formula One season|1988]] to the early 1990s. | + | '''Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives''' or '''AGS''' was a [[Formula One]] constructor and team that raced from [[1988 Alternate Formula One season|1988]] to the early 1990s. The team is considered by some as the purest interpretation of a "garagiste" team - having designed and ran the cars from a small service station in Gonfaron, Var in an era of increasing budgets. The small team gained a cult following as a result of this and was considered a popular underdog. |
==History== | ==History== |
Latest revision as of 16:46, 29 June 2019
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Full Name | Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives |
Base | Gonfaron, France |
Founder(s) | ![]() |
Team Principal(s) | ![]() |
Technical Director | ![]() |
Noted Former Drivers | |
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Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives or AGS was a Formula One constructor and team that raced from 1988 to the early 1990s. The team is considered by some as the purest interpretation of a "garagiste" team - having designed and ran the cars from a small service station in Gonfaron, Var in an era of increasing budgets. The small team gained a cult following as a result of this and was considered a popular underdog.
History
1988
AGS made their Formula One debut in 1988, running a pair of cars for Philippe Streiff and Alex Caffi. Streiff scored AGS's first World Championship point at the French Grand Prix on the Paul Ricard circuit - only a short drive from the team's Gonfaron base.
1989
AGS's sophomore season started with immediate setbacks, with Caffi departing for Scuderia Italia and Streiff permanently sidelined after a accident in pre-season testing left him a quadriplegic. The team ducked into Formula 3000 and signed Eddie Jordan Racing's 1988 pairing of Jack Christopherson and Olivier Grouillard - both of which coming off a good season in the second tier series. Christopherson took the team's first point of the season, with a sixth place in the United States Grand Prix - a race beset with attrition - although the car had shown good pace all year.
AGS also made headlines when team owner Henri Julien made an audacious offer for then-defending champion Jérémy-Étienne Voeckler for the 1990 season after the Frenchman was in dispute with Williams over unauthorised World Touring Car Masters appearances - although this did not lead to anything and was seen as little more than a publicity stunt.
1990
Christopherson remained for another season when no better offers were forthcoming, the Brit being joined this time by popular Italian rookie Fabrizio Giovanardi. Unfortunately, the new chassis was not up to scratch with a series of DNFs consigning AGS into pre-qualifying in the early stages for an entirely pointless season.