Christian Sarron

Christian Sarron (born 27 March 1955 in Clermont-Ferrand, France) is a French former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer.

Motorcycle racing career He began his career on a Kawasaki when he met French Grand Prix racer Patrick Pons. Pons helped him get his start in the international racing circuit. His first victory came in the rain in the 1977 German Grand Prix. He was injured in a 750cc race which would begin a trend of numerous injuries for the next few years. In 1982, he again won in the rain at the Finnish Grand Prix, cementing his reputation as an exceptional wet weather rider. He finished the 1982 season 8th in the 350 class and 10th in the 250 class.

Sarron would finish second to Carlos Lavado in the 1983 250 class with another Grand Prix victory in the Swedish Grand Prix. In 1984, he won three times on a Yamaha and captured the 250 World Championship.

The following year saw Sarron move up to the premiere 500cc division with the Gauloises-Yamaha team where he won again in the rain at the 1985 German Grand Prix. He finished the season in an impressive third place to Freddie Spencer and Eddie Lawson. In 1989, he again finished third in the 500cc championship behind Lawson and Wayne Rainey.

Sarron's 500cc career occurred at a time when the bikes suited the sliding style of the Americans who had been brought up on dirt oval tracks, yet Sarron still managed to post respectable results. In 1994, he teamed up with his brother Dominique Sarron to win the prestigious Bol d'or endurance race. In 1995, he retired from competition to take on the role of team director for Yamaha's Superbike team.

Grand Prix career statistics

Points system from 1969 to 1987: Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points 15 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1 Points system from 1988 to 1992: Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Points 20 17 15 13 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Class Team Machine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Points Rank Wins 1976 350cc Sonauto-Yamaha TZ350 FRA AUT NAT IOM NED FIN CZE10 GER7 ESP 5 26th 01977 250cc Sonauto-Yamaha TZ250 VEN GER1 NAT ESP4 FRA YUG NED BEL SWE14 FIN CZE GBR 23 14th 1 350cc Sonauto-Yamaha TZ350 VEN GER8 NAT ESP2 FRA YUG NED SWE10 FIN2 CZE3 GBR 38 7th 0 1978 350cc Sonauto-Yamaha TZ350 VEN6 AUT FRA NAT NED5 SWE FIN GBR7 GER CZE YUG 15 15th 0 1979 500cc Sonauto-Yamaha TZ500 VEN7 AUT GER8 NATRet ESP YUG7 NED9 BELRet SWE9 FIN5 GBR6 FRA 26 11th 0 1981 500cc Sonauto-Yamaha TZ500 AUTRet GER NAT9 FRARet YUG NED BEL RSM12 GBR18 FIN SWE 2 23rd 01982 250cc Sonauto-Yamaha TZ250 FRA ESP9 NAT8 NED BEL YUG5 GBR SWE FIN1 CZE RSM GER 26 10th 1 350cc Sonauto-Yamaha TZ350 ARG AUT FRA NAT NED5 GBR5 FIN2 CZE7 GER 28 8th 0 1983 250cc Sonauto-Yamaha TZ250 RSARet FRARet NATRet GER7 ESP2 AUT4 YUG2 NEDRet BEL2 GBR3 SWE1 73 2nd 1 1984 250cc Sonauto-Yamaha TZ250 RSA2 NATRet ESP2 AUT1 GER1 FRA5 YUG2 NEDRet BEL3 GBR1 SWE2 RSMRet 109 1st 3 1985 500cc Sonauto-Yamaha YZR500 RSA6 ESP3 GER1 NAT5 AUT3 YUG5 NEDRet BEL3 FRARet GBR3 SWE4 RSMRet 80 3rd 1 1986 500cc Sonauto-Yamaha YZR500 ESP5 NAT4 GERRet AUT4 YUG6 NED5 BEL3 FRA3 GBRRet SWE RSM6 58 6th 0 1987 500cc Sonauto-Yamaha YZR500 JPNRet ESPRet GERRet NAT3 AUT6 YUG NEDRet FRA3 GBR4 SWERet CZE7 RSM8 POR5 BRA5 ARGRet 52 7th 0 1988 500cc Sonauto-Yamaha YZR500 JPN8 USA6 ESP4 EXP4 NATRet GER3 AUTRet NED3 BELRet YUG2 FRA2 GBR3 SWE3 CZERet BRA5 149 4th 0 1989 500cc Sonauto-Yamaha YZR500 JPN7 AUS3 USA6 ESP4 NATDNS GER5 AUT4 YUG5 NED3 BEL4 FRA4 GBR5 SWE2 CZE4 BRA8 165.5 3rd 0 1990 500cc Sonauto-Yamaha YZR500 JPNRet USA4 ESP7 NAT GER4 AUT7 YUG NED7 BEL4 FRARet GBR8 SWE CZE6 HUNRet AUSRet 84 9th 0