JMB Racing
Encyclopedia
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
that competes in sports car racing
Sports car racing
Sports car racing is a form of circuit auto racing with automobiles that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built or related to road-going sports cars....
. It was founded in Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, in 1995 as JB Racing by Jean-Michel Bouresche and Jean-Pierre Jabouille
Jean-Pierre Jabouille
Jean-Pierre Alain Jabouille is a former racing driver from France.-Biography:A native of Paris, Jabouille was one of the last of a breed of Formula One drivers who were also engineers....
. It was renamed JMB (Bouresche's initials) in 2000 after Jabouille left the partnership. JMB relocated its headquarters to Monaco in 2004, racing with a Monegasque license since then.
The team first raced in the Andros Trophy
Andros Trophy
The Andros Trophy is the French national Ice Racing championship.-History:The idea of an Ice Racing series first became an idea when professional racer Max Mamers and the owner of the Andros company , Frédéric Gervoson met as rugby fans in 1985...
and the Porsche Pirelli Supercup
Porsche Supercup
The Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup is the international motor racing series supporting the FIA Formula One World Championship organized by Porsche AG....
in the 1995 season, winning the 2 litre class in the first with Jean-Pierre Malcher and Jacques Laffite
Jacques Laffite
Jacques-Henri Laffite is a French former racing driver who competed in Formula One from to . He achieved six grand prix wins, all while driving for the Ligier team. He is now a TV commentator on French television TF1....
, and taking the title in the second with Malcher, repeating the win the following year with Emmanuel Collard
Emmanuel Collard
Emmanuel Collard is a French racing driver. He is a member of the Porsche Junioren factory team, but drives also for other marques....
.
For 1997, Bouresche and Jabouille went international, purchasing a Porsche 911 GT1
Porsche 911 GT1
The Porsche 911 GT1 was a car designed for competition in the GT1 class of sportscar racing, which also required a street legal version for homologation purposes...
to race in the brand new FIA GT Championship
FIA GT Championship
The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout the years has visited other continents including Asia and South...
, with Emmanuel Collard and Jürgen von Gartzen, also taking part in Le Mans
1997 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 65th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 14 and 15 1997.-Pre-race:The Dunlop chicane was modified slightly in order to slow speeds again but also accommodate larger gravel traps as runoff area for the protection of motorcycle riders using the Bugatti...
. The team was backed by primary sponsor Marlboro.
The increased presence of factory teams drove JB Racing away from the FIA GT Championship, so instead the team purchased two Ferrari 333 SP
Ferrari 333 SP
The Ferrari 333 SP was a sports prototype car built by Michelotto to World Sports Car regulations for Ferrari. Unveiled at the end of 1993, at the behest of amateur racer Giampiero Moretti , the 333 SP marked Ferrari's official return to sports car racing after a 20 year absence...
s to race in the International Sports Racing Series from 1998, dropping Marlboro as a sponsor in place of Italian manufacturing firm Giesse. The French team stayed in this sports-prototype championship for three years, winning the drivers titles with Collard and Vincenzo Sospiri
Vincenzo Sospiri
- Early career :Sospiri started racing in the Italian 100CC Karting Championships at the age of 15. He spent a long time working his way through the karting ladder, eventually becoming World Karting Champion in 1987. Sospiri then progressed to Formula Ford, before working through to Formula 3000 in...
in 1998 and 1999 and David Terrien
David Terrien
David Terrien is a French racing driver. He has competed in such series as International Formula 3000 and the French Formula Three Championship.-External links:*...
and Christian Pescatori
Christian Pescatori
Christian Pescatori is a professional racecar driver from Italy. He was born in Brescia, in 1 December 1971.Pescatori started his career in single-seater racing, becoming Italian Formula 3 Champion in 1993, before moving up to Formula 3000....
in 2000, in addition to taking the teams titles for three years in a row. The team ran one Ferrari in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in and .
In 2000 JB, now called JMB, also made a return to GT racing with the new Ferrari 360 Modena as official Ferrari demonstrator, taking second place overall in the 6 Hours of Vallelunga
6 Hours of Vallelunga
The 6 Hours of Vallelunga is an endurance sports car racing event held annually at the ACI Vallelunga Circuit in Vallelunga, Italy....
. In 2001 they switched full time to GTs, winning the N-GT class in the FIA GT Championship, once more with Terrien and Pescatori, who also won the title in 2002. In both occasions, the team title was also retained. JMB also ran two cars in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and Bouresche created the JMB Racing USA operation to run cars in the international American races, such as the Daytona 24 Hours and Sebring 12 Hours.
In 2003, in addition to taking second place in the N-GT category with Andrea Bertolini
Andrea Bertolini
Andrea Bertolini is an Italian race car driver currently driving for Swiss Team in the Superstars Series. He is the official test driver of the Maserati factory....
and Fabrizio De Simone, JMB Racing graduated to the main GT category with a Ferrari 550 Maranello. However, the French team used the car developed by N.Technology
N.Technology
N.Technology is an Italian auto racing team, founded by Mauro Sipsz and Monica Bregoli.- Team history :N.Technology were set up to manage the worldwide sporting activities of the Fiat Group...
, more troublesome than the Prodrive
Prodrive
Prodrive is a British motorsport and automotive engineering group based in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. It designs, constructs and races cars for companies and teams such as Subaru, Aston Martin and Ford...
version, and drivers Pescatori and Boris Derichebourg
Boris Derichebourg
Boris Derichebourg is a retired professional race car driver from France. Derichebourg began his racing career in karts in 1992 before moving to the French Formula Three Championship in 1995 and 1996. He moved up to International Formula 3000 in 1997, earning two podiums in two seasons...
were only competitive after upgrading to the 575 GTC.
In 2004, JMB Racing changed address to Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
and began racing under the Monegasque flag. The team however retained their workships in Nice. The team managed to score third place in the FIA GT Championship with two 575 GTCs, in spite of a lack of consistency due to several drivers changes, but still managed to win the Donington race with Karl Wendlinger
Karl Wendlinger
Karl Wendlinger is an Austrian sportscar racing and former Formula One driver.- Mercedes Juniors :Wendlinger started his career in karting and in Formula Ford before entering the German Formula 3 Championship in 1988...
and Jaime Melo
Jaime Melo
Jaime Melo, also known as Jaime Melo, Jr. , is a Brazilian auto racing driver best known for his success in grand tourers as Ferrari driver. In 2006 he won the FIA GT Championship in the GT2 class driving for AF Corse and the next year he did the same at the American Le Mans Series for Risi...
. JMB also took the Drivers title in the Le Mans Endurance Series with Roman Rusinov
Roman Rusinov
Roman Aleksandrovich Rusinov is a Russian auto racing driver.Rusinov was the first Russian driver to win an international race in Europe, in 2000 he won the International Renault Finals in French Formula Renault. In 2002 he led the Formula Palmer Audi championship till the last event, but collided...
in a 360 Modena and was third in the Italian GT Championship
Italian GT Championship
The Italian GT Championship is an Italian sports car series founded in 2003 and organized by the Automobile Club d'Italia and the Commissione Sportiva Automobilistica Italiana . It replaced a previous supercar-based championship which ran from 1992 until 2002 when it was folded due to a lack of...
, with the old 550 Maranello.
JMB was one of the first teams in the FIA GT to race the brand new Maserati MC12
Maserati MC12
The Maserati MC12 is a two-seater sports car produced by Italian car maker Maserati to allow a racing variant to compete in the FIA GT Championship. The car entered production in 2004 with 30 cars produced...
in 2005. Wendlinger and Bertolini won at Magny-Cours
Magny-Cours
Magny-Cours is a commune in the Nièvre department in central France.It is best known for being the home of the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, a famous motor racing circuit . It formerly hosted the Formula One French Grand Prix.-References:* -External links:*...
but missed the win at the Spa 24 Hours
Spa 24 Hours
The Total 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event held annually in Belgium at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Conceived by Jules de Their and Henri Langlois Van Ophem just one year after the first 24 Hours of Le Mans, the race was run under the auspices of the Royal Automobile Club Belgium...
by two laps, taking third place at the end of the year for the drivers championship, with the team reaching second place. The 575 was also used in the LMES as well as at Le Mans. In 2006, JMB went back to the GT2 class with the new Ferrari 430, but in spite of a win in Silverstone, were outclassed by rivals Scuderia Ecosse as well as the Porsche teams and managed only fourth place in the teams championship at the end. JMB also entered three cars in the new FIA GT3 European Championship
FIA GT3 European Championship
The FIA GT3 European Championship is a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . It is a championship derived from the international FIA GT1 World Championship, but meant to provide competition for more...
.
In 2007, JMB divided their time between the FIA GT, European GT3 and the Le Mans Series
Le Mans Series
The Le Mans Series is a European sports car racing endurance series based around the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and run by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest . The series was originally named the Le Mans Endurance Series, but changed its name prior to the 2006 season...
. The highlight of the year was Ben Aucott's win of the Citation Cup, a series within the FIA GT for gentleman drivers. The team also won one race in the European GT3 series, and took second and third in the final round of the LMS at Interlagos.