Gerard Ducarouge 1941-2015

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I was saddened the other day when i learnt of the passing of noted Formula 1 designer Gerard Ducarouge, one of racings best designers. The Frenchmans cars were winning  in the late 80's starting in the late 60's with Matra, in which 3 times world champion Jackie Stewart finished 2nd in the Formula 1 Championship in 1968, to Graham Hill.
The following year Ducarouge's MS80, with Cosworth engines took the Scotsman to 3 world championships.
Matra then went to Le Mans, with Ducarouge's cars won 3 in a row from 72-74, with Henri Pescarolo, Graham Hill and Gerard Larousse.
When Matra finished with racing as a constructor, 'Duca' went to Ligier where his cars won eight Grand Prix's from 1976-81 with Jacques Laffite, Patrick Depailler and Didier Pironi driving.
He was shown the door after falling out with Guy Ligier.
'Duca' then headed towards Alfa Romeo, and built their first carbon fibre chassis.
With all the politics involved in the Alfa Romeo team, 'Duca' was shown the door in 1983 when one of the Alfa Romeo's was underweight in Qualifying at the French grand prix.
He was then snapped up by Team Lotus to work with team manager Peter Warr, following the death/disapearance/suicide/kidnapping of Colin Chapman, which was looking to rebuild the shattered team.
Then the golden era emerged with Ayrton Senna.
'Duca' ended his career with some time at the Larrouse Team with Lamborghini power before heading back to Matra where he was an International development director, R.I.P., Colin.