Matra

Mécanique Aviation TRAction (abbreviated as Matra) was a French industrial consortium, offering a wide range of products in the field of aerospace, weaponry and automobiles. It was founded in 1964 by Jean-Luc Lagardère by consolidating several other corporations that he owned.

Matra Automobiles came into being when they bought out Automobiles René Bonnet. The company (led by young designer Gérard Ducarouge) had successful Formula 2 and 3 models running by 1966, and in 1967 an F2 Matra MS7 with ballast added (to meet the minimum weight for Formula One) turned competitive times in races. Matra designed a test-bed Formula One car, the Cosworth DFV-engined MS9, to research an entry into that series. The data gleaned led to construction of the Matra MS10, but the car wasn't ready for the start of the 1968 season. Jackie Stewart drove the MS9 in the 1968 South African Grand Prix, qualifying third, but retired with engine failure. Stewart drove the MS10 for the remainder of 1968, but despite missing two races with a broken wrist, and driving with a cast for several more, he managed to win three races and finish second in the championship.

In 1969, Stewart won the season opener in the MS10, then won five more races with the new MS80 to win the championship for both himself and Matra. Matra was on top of the world, but to them it was tarnished by the use of a British engine in the car. Stewart and his team owner, Ken Tyrrell, were given a choice: they could continue to use the Matra chassis, but only with the V12 Matra engine. Or they could find another deal somewhere else. Stewart felt that the Matra engine was inferior to the Cosworth, so he and Tyrrell chose to walk. Matra was never again a dominant (or race-winning) marque, and the F1 team was shut down after the 1972 season. Tyrrell eventually built his own car, inspired by the MS80, and driving that car Stewart dominated F1 for the next three years.

But Matra did not leave racing. They had become one of the dominant sports car teams in the early 70s, and development of the engine continued. In 1975, they struck a deal with the US Shadow team, where they would construct a version of their current DN5 model, to accept the Matra V12. Known as the Shadow DN7, it was driven by Jean-Pierre Jarier for two races late in the season, retiring with ignition and fuel pump problems, respectively. Matra then announced that the engines would be used to power the new all-French Ligier team in 1976, so Shadow dropped their participation in the project.

Formula One Records

Team Names

Years	Name
1967–1968	Matra Sports
1968–1969	Matra International
1970	Equipe Matra Elf
1971	Equipe Matra Sports
1972	Equipe Matra

Constructor results

Year	Cars	Engines	Tires	Drivers	Rounds	WCC Points	WCC Pos.	Report
1966	MS5	Ford Cosworth SCA L4 1.0	D	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	6	0	NC	Report
				Jo Schlesser	6
1967	MS7	Ford Cosworth FVA L4 1.5	D	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	2, 10-11	0	NC	Report
				Johnny Servoz-Gavin	2
1968	MS7 MS9 MS10 MS11	Ford Cosworth FVA L4 1.5 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0	D	Jackie Stewart	1, 4-12	45	3rd	Report
				Johnny Servoz-Gavin	3, 9-10, 12
				Jean-Pierre Beltoise	1-2
		MS9 V12 3.0			3-12	8	9th
				Henri Pescarolo	10-12
1969	MS10 MS80 MS84	Ford Cosworth DFV V8 3.0	D	Jackie Stewart	All	66	1st	Report
				Jean-Pierre Beltoise	All
				Johnny Servoz-Gavin	9-11
	MS7	Ford Cosworth FVA L4 1.5			7
				Henri Pescarolo	7
1970	MS120	MS12 V12 3.0	G	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	All	23	7th	Report
				Henri Pescarolo	All
1971	MS120B	MS71 V12 3.0	G	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	2-6, 10-11	9	7th	Report
				Chris Amon	1-7, 9-11
1972	MS120C MS120D	MS72 V12 3.0	G	Chris Amon	All	12	8th	Report

Private entreats

Year	Entreats	Cars	Engines	Tires	Drivers	Rounds
1966	Ken Tyrrell Racing	MS5	Ford Cosworth SCA L4 1.0	D	Jacky Ickx	6
			BRM P80 L4 1.0		Hubert Hahne	6
1967	Ecurie Ford-France	MS5	Ford Cosworth FVA L4 1.5	D	Jo Schlesser	7
	Tyrrell Racing Organisation	MS7			Jacky Ickx	7

Complete Formula One Results

Complete Formula One results
Driver	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	WCC Pts	WCC Pos
1967
Beltoise	MS7		DNQ								7th	7th			0	NC
Servoz-Gavin			Ret
1968
Stewart	MS7 MS9 MS10 MS11	Ret			4th	1st	3rd	6th	1st	Ret	6th	1st	7th		45 8	3rd 9th
Beltoise		6th	5th	Ret	8th	2nd	9th	Ret	Ret	5th	Ret	Ret	Ret
Servoz-Gavin				Ret						2nd	Ret		Ret
Pescarolo											Ret	DNS	9th
1969
Stewart	MS10 MS80 MS84	1st	1st	Ret	1st	1st	1st	2nd	1st	Ret	Ret	4th			66	1st
Beltoise		6th	3rd	Ret	8th	2nd	9th	12th	3rd	4th	Ret	5th
Servoz-Gavin										6th	NC	8th
1970
Beltoise	MS120	4th	Ret	Ret	3rd	5th	13th	Ret	Ret	6th	3rd	8th	Ret	5th	23	6th
Pescarolo		7th	Ret	3rd	6th	8th	5th	Ret	6th	14th	Ret	7th	8th	9th
1971
Beltoise	MS120B		6th	Ret	9th	7th	7th				Ret	8th			9	7th
Amon		5th	3rd	Ret	Ret	5th	Ret	Ret		6th	10th	12th
1972
Amon	MS120C MS120D	Ret	15th	Ret	6th	6th	3rd	4th	15th	5th	Ret	6th	15th		12	8th