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.jpg) Jacques Laffite's Ligier JS11/15 in exhibition. | |||||||||
| Category | Formula One | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Constructor | Ligier | ||||||||
| Designer(s) | Gérard Ducarouge (Technical Director) Michel Beaujon (Chief Designer) Robert Choulet (Head of Aerodynamics) | ||||||||
| Predecessor | JS9 | ||||||||
| Successor | JS17 | ||||||||
| Technical specifications[1] | |||||||||
| Chassis | Aluminium monocoque | ||||||||
| Axle track | Front: 1,738 mm (68.4 in) Rear: 1,600 mm (63 in) | ||||||||
| Wheelbase | 2,794 mm (110.0 in) | ||||||||
| Engine | Ford Cosworth DFV, 2,993 cc (182.6 cu in), 60° V8, NA, mid-engine, longitudinally mounted | ||||||||
| Transmission | Hewland FGA 400, 6-speed manual | ||||||||
| Weight | 580 kg (1,280 lb) | ||||||||
| Fuel | Shell | ||||||||
| Tyres | Goodyear | ||||||||
| Competition history | |||||||||
| Notable entrants | Ligier Gitanes | ||||||||
| Notable drivers |  Jacques Laffite (1979–80) Patrick Depailler (1979) Jacky Ickx (1979) Didier Pironi (1980) | ||||||||
| Debut | 1979 Argentine Grand Prix | ||||||||
| First win | 1979 Argentine Grand Prix | ||||||||
| Last win | 1980 German Grand Prix | ||||||||
| Last event | 1980 United States Grand Prix | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Constructors' Championships | 0 | ||||||||
| Drivers' Championships | 0 | ||||||||
The Ligier JS11 was a ground effect Formula One car designed by Gérard Ducarouge. It was powered by the Ford Cosworth DFV married to a Ligier in-house built gearbox. It competed in the 1979 and 1980 World Championships and proved to be very competitive.
Driven by Jacques Laffite, the car won the first two races of the 1979 season and scored consistently.[2] The Ligiers stayed in contention throughout the season, with Patrick Depailler winning a further race in Spain. The team eventually finished third behind Ferrari and Williams in the constructors' championship. Depailler was injured halfway through the season in a hang-gliding accident and was replaced by Jacky Ickx, but he struggled to keep pace with the car and his teammate and left at the end of the season, having scored only a handful of points.
However, the car soon proved to have problems, starting at the fourth race of the season at Long Beach in the United States. The car was in fact so efficient at producing downforce that the aluminium chassis simply could not handle the amount of downforce it was producing. As a result, the chassis began to flex and the skirts would then be lifted off the ground, ruining the ground effect suction. This was an issue that hampered the team throughout the season, and it could not be solved in time for Laffite to properly challenge the Ferraris of Jody Scheckter and Gilles Villeneuve, and later the all-dominant Williams of Alan Jones.
- ^ Ligier JS11 @ StatsF1
- ^ The Observer page 32 Sunday 4 February 1979