LIGIER JS35 Lamborghini

   After yet another season full of disappointments and unfulfilled expectations, Guy Ligier managed to secure a supply of Renault V10 engines for 1992, opening up a very promising future for the French team. Consequently, the 1991 season was approached merely as a transitional year, in anticipation of the arrival of the new car equipped with the French V10. Nevertheless, an important change was made: the team abandoned the Ford V8 engines and signed a one-year contract with Lamborghini to use the V12 3512 engine, which had already been used by Lotus and Larrousse-Lola in 1990.

LIGIER JS35, Thierry Boutsen
Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexican GP 1991

   Ligier’s racing department, still led by technical director Michel Beaujon, developed the new JS35 car, designed by Claude Galopin with external consultation from Richard Divila and aerodynamic work by Loïc Bigois. The new single-seater was entrusted to Belgian driver Thierry Boutsen, who served as lead driver, and to Frenchman Erik Comas, reigning Formula 3000 champion and making his Formula 1 debut. The JS35 differed from its predecessor, the JS33, by having a longer wheelbase and more angular, less harmonious lines, but most notably by the presence of the new Italian V12 engine, which forced Ligier's engineers to completely rethink the car’s weight distribution.

LIGIER JS35, Thierry Boutsen
Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1991 

   In fact, the V12 Lamborghini, besides being heavier and bulkier than the Ford-Cosworth V8, making the car difficult to handle, also suffered from excessive oil consumption, to the point that it required an additional oil tank. After the disappointing first two races of the season, the suspension system was revised for the San Marino Grand Prix, the third round of the championship and the first European race. The situation improved only slightly, and dissatisfaction within the team grew, culminating in the dismissal of Galopin and Divila. They were replaced by Frank Dernie, who, with the consultation of Gérard Ducarouge, who joined after the mid-season, refined and updated the JS35 into the "B" version.

LIGIER JS35B, Thierry Boutsen
Hungaroring, Hungarian GP 1991

   Aesthetic changes were also made, with enlarged sidepods to allow for better airflow to the radiators, in an effort to improve the cooling of the Italian V12 and reduce its infamous oil consumption. Despite all efforts to improve weight distribution, the results remained very disappointing, highlighting above all the poor competitiveness of the Lamborghini engine. The talents of Boutsen, who managed to qualify the JS35 for every race, were not enough to salvage the dismal season for the Ligier Gitanes team.

LIGIER JS35B, Eric Comas
Catalunya-Barcelona, Spanish GP 1991

   The championship ended with Ligier in thirteenth place in the constructors' standings, with no points scored. Boutsen’s best results were two seventh-place finishes, while Comas fared worse, failing to qualify for three races and managing a best result of eighth place in the Canadian Grand Prix.