Ever since its inception in 1950, the Formula One World Championship has been the ultimate goal for any aspiring racing team. Reaching the so-called pinnacle of motorsport was no mean feat, but every now and then a rule change would open the door for lesser funded teams to break in.

Such a situation occurred with the advent of the dramatically simplified 3.5L naturally aspirated engine formula in 1989. Previously, the sport had relied on complicated, horribly expensive and terrifyingly powerful turbo engines, a technology only big corporations like Honda, BMW, Renault, Ferrari and Porsche were able to master.

The turbo madness was hard on private teams and F1 hopefuls. The turbo madness was hard on private teams and F1 hopefuls.

The turbos were eventually crushed under their own weight at the end of 1986, as Elio de Angelis' fatal testing accident in a Brabham at Paul Ricard finally gave the FIA enough reason to phase the 1200+ horsepower monsters out.

With the 3.5L formula, the FIA significantly reduced costs, and essentially took the sport back to the mid-1970s. Back then, a Cosworth DFV, Hewland gearbox and several other readily available off-the-shelf parts were good enough to give virtually any team a fighting chance.

F1 was substantially simplified for 1989. F1 was substantially simplified for 1989.

Unsurprisingly, the amount of amateur teams in the Formula One surged to the point an extra qualifying session was needed to weed out the weak. Though the financial burden presented by the emergence of semi-automatic transmissions, active suspension and various other electronic driving aids quickly made life difficult once again, a total ban on the latter two restored order in 1994.

During the course of that season, Driot Arnoux Motor Sport began construction of their very own F1 challenger. DAMS had been founded by Jean Paul Driot and then Ligier Formula One driver Rene Arnoux, who was in the twilight of his career. A base of operations was set up in Ruaudin in the department of Sarthe, a few kilometers off the legendary Le Mans circuit.

Jean Paul Driot and Rene Arnoux. Jean Paul Driot and Rene Arnoux.

Not wasting any team with junior single-seaters, team entered the International Formula 3000 the following year, and immediately found success. Erik Comas rounded out the season in second place on equal points with champion Jean Alesi, who took the title on count back due to having more victories. However, with teammate Eric Bernard close behind in third, DAMS easily took the team's championship in their debut year.

DAMS repeated this feat for 1990, as Erik Comas took the title and teammate Allan McNish finished 4th. Further triumph followed with Olivier Panis in 1993, and Jean Christophe Boullion in 1994.

The impressive string of successes motivated Jean Paul Driot to move beyond F3000 and into the big leagues, like many of his competitors had done before him. Jordan, Coloni, Onyx and Pacific had all worked their way up to F1.

Rob Arnott and Claude Galopin of Reynard. Rob Arnott and Claude Galopin of Reynard.

Despite the success enjoyed in particular by Jordan, DAMS wasn't comfortable venturing out into Formula One on his own. As an F3000 competitor, the team had always relied on third party chassis. Initially Lola Cars supplied chassis to the outfit, but from 1993 the French squad switched to Reynard Motorsport, the dominant force in virtually every class of single seater racing.

As the British firm was fresh off a failed F1 venture of their own, having sold off a project started in 1991 to Benetton, including their Enstone factory. Further intellectual property was sold to Ligier, and further leftover parts would propel DAMS' F3000 rivals Pacific Racing into the sport for 1994.

Jean Paul Driot and the GD-01 monocoque. Jean Paul Driot and the GD-01 monocoque.

Given their F1 experience and close link with DAMS, Jean Paul Driot saw them as the ideal partner. A deal was struck, and DAMS established a small office near Reynard's headquarters in Bicester to ease their cooperation. The project was overseen by Reynard designer Rob Arnott, formerly of March and Arrows, and former AGS and Ligier designer Claude Galopin.

Unfortunately, the newlyweds would soon run into a major setback before even the slightest design work was done. Just three races into the 1994 season, the world of Formula One was shocked to its core by the loss of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna at the San Marino Grand Prix.

The tragic events of that fateful weekend called the sport's safety standards into question, and with it, the technical regulations. This left DAMS and Reynard in limbo. As there was no telling what the FIA would decide for 1995, advancing the car's design was essentially impossible. As a result of this uncertainty, progress on the GD-01 was rather slow.

Larrousse and Ligier had the French sponsorship market on lockdown. Larrousse and Ligier had the French sponsorship market on lockdown.

Adding insult to injury, Driot and Arnoux found it very difficult to attract sponsors to their fledgling team. As it happened, France wasn't a very welcoming place for a new F1 team. Most investors flocked to the well-established Ligier team, and those that didn't had the cash-strapped Larrousse to consider.

Between a famous name and a desperate backmarker begging for funds, there was very little room for DAMS. Being based in the Le Mans area certainly didn't do the team any favors either, as it only worked to confuse potential backers expecting an endurance racing outfit.

While the search for funds continued, construction on the GD-01 finally got going. Curiously, the carbon fiber and aluminium honeycomb monocoque chassis wasn't being built at Reynard, as this task was instead given to Société Nationale des Poudres et Explosifs. Though the name suggested a company specialized in chemicals and explosives, SNPE was actually a massive state-owned conglomerate which included a composites division.

Slowly but surely, the firm produced what appeared to be a very bulky, ungainly looking chassis. Plagued by several announced and withdrawn rule changes, Reynard had been forced to draw the GD-01 tub to be something in between. This was especially obvious looking at the oversized, almost perfectly square sidepods, which Reynard was adamant would prevent any and all cooling problems.

Erik Comas in the GD-01, Le Mans 1995. Erik Comas in the GD-01, Le Mans 1995.

Contrary to the trends of the time, the GD-01 used a low, blunt nose instead of a raised one, something the design team claimed would yield more downforce. In spite of a proposed ban on airboxes to stifle power, the DAMS still sported one. Competitors Lola had removed the airbox from their T95/30 in anticipation of the rule, but the FIA never went through with it.

Instead, the FIA mandated a decrease in displacement from 3.5 to 3.0 liters. DAMS had hoped to go into the new era with a competitive Mugen-Honda engine, but talks broke down as the Japanese favored a deal with Ligier. Luckily for DAMS, engineering firm Cosworth was quick to offer a range of costumer engines for the new formula.

Higher paying teams like Sauber were provided with the 600 horsepower ECA. This was a downsized version of the 740 horsepower EC which had helped Michael Schumacher's Benetton clinch the title in 1994. However, low level teams like Minardi, Simtek, Pacific, Forti were left with the ED, which was conspicuously devoid of Ford-branding.

In fact, the unit actually traced its roots to the HB, the EC's predecessor. The HB debuted back in 1989 and was developed all the way through to 1993, culminating in 710 horsepower. With half a liter taken out though, only 580 horsepower remained.

The ED's power was handled by a state of the art six-speed sequential transmission developed specially for the GD-01 by British firm Xtrac. Suspension on the other hand was largely conventional, with dual wishbones and pushrod-actuated dampers on all four corners. As per the regulations, total weight rested at 595 kg (1311 lbs).

As the car reached completion, Jean Paul Driot continued his search for a financial partner to fund his F1 adventure. Ironically, this lead him straight to his biggest rival, Gerard Larrousse. Following the ratification of Evin's Law, a total ban on alcohol and tobacco advertising in France, the former Renault F1 team boss had been cut off from his main source of income.

Gerard Larrousse (left) was forced to turn to Jean Paul Driot for help. Gerard Larrousse (left) was forced to turn to Jean Paul Driot for help.

Though he had a Robin Herd-designed chassis in the pipeline for 1995, there was no money left to actually start building it. Time was running out, and he needed to find a partner with a viable chassis for the new season. The only two candidates were Lola and DAMS. Given Larrousse's rocky history with Lola, failing to pay them for the F1 chassis he'd used in 1990 and 1991, DAMS was the only real option.

A clash of egos promptly ensued. Gerard Larrousse hoped to absorb DAMS into his own organization, relaying on them to run the cars while keeping the Larrousse name. Jean Paul Driot objected to this, and instead suggested he take a large stake in Larrousse's team.

Larrousse in turn rejected, forgoing the merger entirely by offering to buy the GD-01 design and tooling on their own. Again Driot refused, secretly hoping Larrousse would collapse and the sponsors they had left would come on board with DAMS. Jean Paul was also especially interested in buying Larrousse for their license, allowing them a guaranteed spot on the grid and $1.5 million in FIA travel compensation.

However, the two men failed to come to an agreement, and Larrousse folded ahead of the 1995 season. The hoped sponsor transfer never occurred, causing Driot to delay the project even further. it would take until the summer of 1995 before the car would finally be presented to the world.

Clad in a blue/white/yellow livery still devoid of any logos apart from technical partners Elf, Cosworth, Lucas, Goodyear and SNPE, the DAMS GD-01 was presented to the world on the grid of Circuit de la Sarthe. Present at the launch were DAMS' prospected drivers, Erik Comas, who had moved from the defunct Larrousse, and 39-year old veteran racer Jan Lammers, who had last raced in the sport for March in 1992.

Both men tested the car at Paul Ricard that October, but felt it was horribly underdeveloped and miles off the pace. With the introduction of the 107% rule, Comas and Lammers would be powerless to qualify the car.

In any case, the car would need a significant overhaul to conform to the 1995 regulation changes. This included remolding the top half of the monocoque to include higher cockpit sides, increasing driver protection.

Though Jean Paul Driot was positive the car could be adapted in time for 1996, he still needed the money to do it. And money was still in short supply. Though Larrousse had collapsed and Ligier had come into controversy for falling into foreign hands after a sale to Flavio Briatore and Tom Walkinshaw, and for hiring Brazilian hopeful Pedro Diniz.

Although several voices in the French media were calling for French firms to pull out of the now foreign-owned and staffed team, DAMS was unable to take advantage of the situation. Given the turbulent climate around Formula One at the time following the dark 1994 season, and the precedent for failure among small French teams with the fall of AGS and Larrousse, potential backers were content with sitting along the sidelines, keeping their wallets shut tight.

"it's all over. I've tried hard to raise the finance, but what can I do against someone as well-connected as Jackie Stewart with his Ford engine-deal? So for now, I'm looking at other options" Jean Paul Driot

With no realistic prospect of major sponsorship, Jean Paul Driot elected to abandon his bid for a 1996 entry. DAMS' position on the market simply wasn't strong enough. He wisely refocused his efforts towards Formula 3000, now partnered with Lola.

In F3000 and its successor GP2, DAMS helped kickstart the careers of F1-drivers Tarso Marques, Franck Montagny, Sebastien Bourdais, Kazuki Nakajima, Jerome D'Ambrosio, Romain Grosjean, Kamui Kobayashi, Kevin Magnussen, Felipe Nasr, Pastor Maldonado, Marcus Ericsson, Carlos Sainz Jr., Jolyon Palmer, Pierre Gasly and Alexander Albon.

Along the way, two more titles were scored in GP2 with Davide Valsecchi (2012), and Jolyon Palmer (2014), and two in Formula Renault 3.5 with Kevin Magnussen (2013) and Carlos Sainz Jr. (2014). DAMS also ran the Panoz GT1 and Cadillac LMP programs at Le Mans, and was one of the pioneering teams in A1 Grand Prix, winning the inaugural season as A1 Team France with Alexandre Premat and Nicolas Lapierre.

Jean Paul Driot celebrating a win in Marrakesh with Sebastien Buemi and Alain Prost. Jean Paul Driot celebrating a win in Marrakesh with Sebastien Buemi and Alain Prost.

In recent times, formed a partnership with Alain Prost, the man who would eventually buy his old rivals Ligier to create Prost Grand Prix. Together, they created Renault e.dams, one of the founding Formula E teams. With Sebastian Buemi, e.DAMS would go on to win the first three seasons of the electric racing series.

e.dams switched to Renault stablemate Nissan for the 2018-2019 season, with Jean Paul Driot still overseeing the operation. Sadly, he lost a battle with illness on August 4, 2019. He was 68 years old. Even though he never got to realize his dream of his own Formula One team, Jean Paul Driot has been a key part of the sport.

Through his organization, he has helped dozens of future F1 racers to a competitive seat in lower formulae. With five of the twenty current drivers owing their careers to him in some way, he could be proud of his contributions to the pinnacle of motorsport. Without a doubt, he will be sorely missed.