Ouragan
François Arnaud (born 1916, somewhere in France, died 1st April 1979, Pergusa, Italy) was a French former racing driver who raced under the pseudonym of "Ouragan". He made his racing debut in the 1977 French F3 championship. He would later go on to compete in the Dywa Grand Prix Series in 1978 and 1979, only to be killed in a crash in the first round of the 1979 season.
Early Life
Ouragan spent the majority of his working life as a goat farmer in the foot hills of the Pyrenees. Business was hard to come by, with Ouragan and his family often having to dine on the same oats he fed to the goats to get by.
Racing career
In 1976, Ouragan would win the first prize in the French lottery. After buying a colour television set and a new beret, Ouragan settled down to watch the 1976 French Grand Prix. He tuned in late enough to miss 95% of the broadcast but early enough to watch Jacques Laffite take his maiden win at the 1976 French Grand Prix.
Having caught the racing bug, Ouragan bought a 2CV and entered some local races under his own name. His wife, Marie, suggested that he race under a pseudonym in the future to prevent family from finding out about his lottery winnings. After canvassing opinion from several of the goats, the pseudonym "Ouragan" (Hurricane) was selected.
Formula 3
Ouragan would enter the French Formula 3 championship for the 1977 season, initially attracting attention due to using goat manure as a lubricant.
Dywa GP
1978
Ouragan would enter the 1978 Dywa Grand Prix Series season for Scuderia Verona. He was routinely the slowest driver on the grid, and routinely failed to qualify, though on occasions performed much better than expected in qualifying, which did raise eyebrows. His dearth of pace was often the subject of frustrations from his fellow drivers, in particular Timo Fuchs, who was injured in a collision with him at Imola. Ouragan would himself later be injured at the Castle Cup, when eventual race winner Gabriella Mondadori punted him off while lapping him.
