Érik Gilbert Comas (; born 28 September 1963) is a French former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . In Japanese motorsport, Comas won the All-Japan GT Championship in 1998 and 1999 with Nismo.
He won the French Formula Three Championship in 1988, before winning International Formula 3000 in 1990, after finishing runner-up to Jean Alesi on count-back in 1989. He participated in 63 Formula One Grands Prix between 1991 and 1994, scoring a total of seven championship points. His last point, in the 1994 German Grand Prix, was also the last one for the Larrousse team. After his Formula One career, he won the All-Japan GT Championship for Nismo in the top GT500 class in 1998 and 1999, and finished runner-up at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in with Pescarolo.
Career
Formula One
1991 and 1992: Ligier After his F3000 championship victory in 1990, Comas was selected to drive for the Ligier F1 team in 1991. The Ligier JS35 with its Lamborghini engine proved uncompetitive throughout the season. Comas failed to qualify for the race on his first attempt in Brazil, achieved his first finish with 10th at Imola, and achieved his highest finish of the season with eighth in Canada, scoring no points during the season. Although he failed to qualify on two other occasions and suffered a spectacular crash at Hockenheim, he generally compared well with more experienced teammate Thierry Boutsen who also failed to score any points. Early in 1992, Comas's place in the team was briefly threatened by Alain Prost who tested the team's new Renault-powered car with a view to driving for, and possibly buying the team, with Comas revealing years later that he had not been given any testing mileage during the winter. Ultimately Prost chose not to proceed, and Comas retained his drive alongside Boutsen for the season. The 1992 car, the Ligier JS37 seemed promising, a brand new design featuring the race-winning Renault V10 engine, but it proved to be only inconsistently competitive. Comas scored his first career F1 point with sixth place in Canada, scored fifth at Ligier's home race in France and a further point in Germany during a mid-season revival of the team's fortunes. With four points, he was generally faster than and outscored Boutsen, and finished eleventh in the Driver's Championship. At the 1992 Belgian Grand Prix Comas was involved in a severe accident at the Blanchimont corner during Saturday qualifying. Left unconscious in his car beached in the middle of the track with the engine still running at its rev limiter, Comas was rescued by Ayrton Senna who stopped his own car and ran to help Comas, by shutting off the car's screaming engine (which was still pumping fuel and could have blown at any moment starting a fire), and holding the Frenchman's head in a stable position until medical assistance arrived. Comas credited Senna with saving his life.
1993 and 1994: Larrousse
Comas was not retained by Ligier for 1993; he instead signed with the small Larrousse team, running the LH93 chassis powered by Lamborghini V12s. The car was uncompetitive, Comas retiring from half the sixteen races of the season, and scoring only one point for sixth at Monza.
Retained by Larrousse in 1994, Comas drove the LH94 car, now powered by more reliable Ford HB engines. Comas scored a point for sixth at the Pacific Grand Prix, and benefited from the retirement of many other cars to take another point at Hockenheim. This was both his and Larrousse's final F1 points finish. For the last race of the season in Australia, Comas relinquished his seat to make way for Jean-Denis Delétraz who brought more funding to the team.
At the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, due to a radio miscommunication, Comas was released onto the track during the red flag after Senna had crashed, arriving at the Tamburello corner where he met the workers and vehicles, including an aid helicopter which had landed at the scene. Having had to brake hard to avoid hitting either marshals, their vehicles, or the helicopter, Comas declined to participate in the restart of the race, after witnessing medical staff treating the mortally-injured Senna.
After Formula One
After ending his Formula One career at the end of the 1994 season, Comas went to Japan to continue his racing career in the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC), Japan's premiere racing series. He won the GT500 title in 1998 and 1999, and was runner-up in the standings in 2000, all three years driving for Nissan in a factory Nismo-prepared Skyline GT-R. He left the Nismo team in 2002 to join the factory Toyota team the following year. By the end of the 2003 season, he was the most successful driver in the history of the series, with the most career championship points ever scored by a single driver. This was eventually surpassed by another Nismo driver, Satoshi Motoyama.
Comas spent the 2004/2005 seasons with Masahiro Hasemi's privateer Hasemi Sport team, running non-factory Nissan 350Zs in GT500, including inheriting the team's only win (co-driving with Toshihiro Kaneishi) thus far, on the evening of 18 December 2004 at the "All-Star 200" exhibition race on California Speedway's combined oval/road course after the unofficial winners were penalized sixty seconds on their finishing time for a pit window infraction. The race was a non-points scoring event and as such does not count towards the drivers' or teams' official win record.
In the 2006 Super GT championship season (formerly JGTC), Comas raced for former JGTC driver and 24 Hours of Le Mans team owner Masahiko Kondo's new privateer Nissan 350Z racing team. He also branched out into rallying, competing in various events around the world. Along with this, he created Comas Racing Management (CRM), a firm that focuses on the management and development of young up and coming drivers, primarily from his home country of France.
At the fifth race of the 2006 season at Sportsland SUGO, Comas was replaced by Seiji Ara due to ill health.ErikComas.com After returning for the Pokka 1000 km, on 5 September 2006, Comas announced that because of his health, he would not compete in the final three races of the season.ErikComas.com
In 2010 and 2011, Comas won the electric vehicle category of the Rallye Monte Carlo des Véhicules à Énergie Alternative (the opening event of the FIA Alternative Energies Cup) with a Tesla Roadster.Rallye Monte Carlo des Énergies Nouvelles et Électrique, in ACM.mc. In 2014, he won the Carrera Panamericana in a Studebaker. Between 2012 and 2017, he rallied a Lancia Stratos.
Comas has now retired from all forms of racing. He spends his time running Comas Historic Racing, which provides for paying customers to enter historic rallies driving cars from his fleet of blue Alpine automobiles.comashistoric.com In 2019, Comas obtained one of the Nissan R390 GT1, a car he competed in the 1998 Le Mans 24 Hours with, and had it restored as well as being made street-legal.
Racing record Career summary SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsPolesF/LapsPodiumsPointsPosition1985Championnat de France Formule Renault TurboEcurie Elf121016984th1986Championnat de France Formule Renault TurboEcurie Elf13899121631st1987French Supertouring ChampionshipSonica123????1stFrench Formula Three ChampionshipEcurie Elf120003706th1988French Formula Three ChampionshipEcurie Elf12454101361stMacau Grand PrixTeam KTR10000N/A10th1989International Formula 3000DAMS92335392nd1990International Formula 3000DAMS114316511st1991Formula OneLigier Gitanes1300000NC1992Formula OneLigier Gitanes Blondes150000411th1993Formula OneLarrousse F1160000120th1994Formula OneTourtel Larrousse F1150000223rd1995All Japan Grand Touring Car ChampionshipTeam Cerumo60110817th24 Hours of Le MansSociété Larbre Compétition10000N/ADNF1996Japanese Touring Car ChampionshipTeam Cerumo141002528thAll Japan Grand Touring Car ChampionshipTOM'S61002553rd1997All Japan Grand Touring Car ChampionshipNISMO51003506th24 Hours of Le Mans10000N/A12th1998All Japan Grand Touring Car ChampionshipNISMO62002671st24 Hours of Le Mans10000N/A6th1999All Japan Grand Touring Car ChampionshipNISMO71004771stAmerican Le Mans SeriesTeam Rafanelli SRL300014824th24 Hours of Le MansNISMO10000N/ADNF2000All Japan Grand Touring Car ChampionshipNISMO71023682nd2001All Japan Grand Touring Car ChampionshipNISMO70013534th2002All Japan Grand Touring Car ChampionshipNISMO800881919th24 Hours of Le MansPlayStation Team Oreca10000N/A5th2003All Japan Grand Touring Car ChampionshipTOM'S80112615th2004All Japan Grand Touring Car ChampionshipHasemi Motorsport70112504th24 Hours of Le MansPescarolo Sport10000N/A4th2005Super GTHasemi Motorsport80002428th24 Hours of Le MansPescarolo Sport10001N/A2ndEuropean Le Mans Series10001814th2006Super GTKondo Racing500001818th24 Hours of Le MansPescarolo Sport10000N/A5th2014Carrera Panamericana11N/AN/A1N/A1st
Complete Macau Grand Prix results Year Team Chassis/Engine Qualifying Race1 Race2 Overall ranking Ref 1988 KTR Racing Ralt・VW27th16810th
Complete International Formula 3000 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DC Points 1989 DAMS SIL VAL PAU JER PER BRH BIR SPA BUG DIJ 2nd 39 1990 DAMS DON SIL PAU JER MNZ PER HOC BRH BIR BUG NOG 1st 51
Complete Formula One results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 WDC Points Ligier Gitanes Ligier JS35 Lamborghini V12 USA BRA SMR MON CAN MEX FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR ESP JPN AUS NC 0 Ligier Gitanes Blondes Ligier JS37 Renault V10 RSA MEX BRA ESP SMR MON CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR JPN AUS 11th 4 Larrousse F1 Larrousse LH93 Lamborghini V12 RSA BRA EUR SMR ESP MON CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR JPN AUS 20th 1 Tourtel Larrousse F1 Larrousse LH94 Ford V8 BRA PAC SMR MON ESP CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR EUR JPN AUS 23rd 2
Complete JGTC/Super GT results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DC Points 1995Team CerumoToyota SupraGT1SUZFUJSENFUJSUG19th8 1996TOM'SToyota SupraGT500SUZFUJSENFUJSUGMIN 3rd 55 1997NISMONissan Skyline GT-RGT500SUZFUJSENFUJMINSUG6th50 1998NISMONissan Skyline GT-RGT500SUZFUJSENFUJMOTMINSUG 1st 67 1999NISMONissan Skyline GT-RGT500SUZFUJSUGMINFUJTAIMOT 1st 77 2000NISMONissan Skyline GT-RGT500MOTFUJSUGFUJTAIMINSUZ 2nd 68 2001NISMONissan Skyline GT-RGT500TAIFUJSUGFUJMOTSUZMIN4th53 2002NISMONissan Skyline GT-RGT500TAIFUJSUGSEPFUJMOTMINSUZ19th19 2003TOM'SToyota SupraGT500TAIFUJSUGFUJFUJMOTAUTSUZ5th61 2004Hasemi MotorsportNissan ZGT500TAISUGSEPTOKMOTAUTSUZ4th50 2005Hasemi MotorsportNissan ZGT500OKAFUJSEPSUGMOTFUJAUTSUZ8th42 2006Kondo RacingNissan ZGT500SUZOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZMOTAUTFUJ18th18
24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Société Larbre Compétition Jean-Pierre Jarier Jesús Pareja Porsche 911 GT2 Evo GT1 64 DNF DNF NISMO Kazuyoshi Hoshino Masahiko Kageyama Nissan R390 GT1 GT1 294 12th 5th NISMO Jan Lammers Andrea Montermini Nissan R390 GT1 GT1 342 6th 6th NISMO Michael Krumm Satoshi Motoyama Nissan R391 LMP 110 DNF DNF PlayStation Team Oreca Olivier Beretta Pedro Lamy Dallara SP1-Judd LMP900 359 5th 4th Pescarolo Sport Soheil Ayari Benoît Tréluyer Pescarolo C60-Judd LMP1 361 4th 4th Pescarolo Sport Emmanuel Collard Jean-Christophe Boullion Pescarolo C60 Hybrid-Judd LMP1 368 2nd 2nd Pescarolo Sport Emmanuel Collard Nicolas Minassian Pescarolo C60 Hybrid-Judd LMP1 352 5th 4th
Complete JTCC results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 DC Points 1996Team CerumoToyota Corona EXiVFUJ1FUJ2SUG1SUG2SUZ1SUZ2MIN1MIN2SEN1SEN2TOK1TOK2FUJ1FUJ28th52
Complete World Rally Championship results Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 WDC Points Érik Comas Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI MON SWE KEN POR ESP ARG GRE NZL FIN CYP FRA ITA AUS GBR NC 0
Complete Le Mans Endurance Series results