Gerrad Ducarouge. Missile and F1 Engineer. -RIP.

Gerard Ducarouge's background as a missile engineer stood him in good stead when he decided he could make racing cars go faster. He joined the French racing team Matra where he rose through the ranks, designing the Formula 1 car which took Jackie Stewart to his 1969 World Championship. He was also responsible for the cars that gave Matra a hat-trick of wins at Le Mans in the early 1970s. When the company pulled out of racing he joined Ligier and then Alfa Romeo before being snapped up by Lotus. Over the following decade he designed cars that were driven by Nigel Mansell and Elio de Angelis (pictured above). In 1985 the young Ayrton Senna gained his first-ever F1 win in Portugal in his Lotus 97T in what became the famous JPS black and gold colours. It was the high point for the designer who later ended up back at Matra where he worked on the Renault Espace F1, a people carrier capable of 194 mph.