Comas

Born in Romans-sur-Isère, France, on 28 September 1963, Érik Comas carved his path to the top of motorsport through the junior categories. He won the French Formula 3 championship in 1988, a title that propelled him into the international Formula 3000 series. His 1989 season in F3000 was remarkably competitive; he tied on points with Jean Alesi, a future Formula 1 star, but lost the championship on a countback of positions. Comas would not be denied a second time, returning in 1990 to claim the Formula 3000 crown outright, securing his ticket to Formula 1.

By the time Érik Comas reached Formula One in 1991, he had already built a resume that marked him as one of France’s most promising prospects. Born in Romans-sur-Isère in 1963, Comas won the French Formula Three championship in 1988, a title that propelled him directly into the high-stakes world of Formula 3000. His 1989 season in the feeder series was notable for its intensity: he finished level on points with Jean Alesi, only to lose the championship on a countback of positions. The following year, he made no such mistake, dominating the 1990 season to claim the Formula 3000 crown outright. That championship victory, combined with his reputation for precision and consistency, opened the door to F1. He signed with the Ligier team for the 1991 season, joining a grid that included Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, and his old rival Alesi, who had already made the jump a year earlier.

Comas’s Formula 1 career spanned four seasons, from 1991 to 1994, across two French teams: Ligier and Larrousse. He started 60 Grands Prix, scoring a total of seven championship points. His best result came on home soil at the 1992 French Grand Prix, where he finished fifth. That season, driving for Ligier, he also placed sixth in Spain and Germany, collecting the bulk of his career points. The following year he moved to Larrousse, a smaller privateer outfit, and managed a sixth-place finish in Italy. Comas never stood on a podium, led a lap, or recorded a fastest lap; his F1 tenure was that of a capable midfielder in an era when the gap between the top teams and the rest was vast. His final season, 1994, yielded no points, and he left the category at the end of the year with a reputation as a solid, clean driver who never quite had the machinery to rise higher. After Formula 1, he rebuilt his career in Japan, winning two GT titles.

In 2018, Érik Comas married Raffaella Serra. To celebrate the union, the couple produced a playful video in which they drive a Lancia Stratos towing a trailer. Comas, who has now retired from all forms of racing, spends his time running Comas Historic Racing, a business that allows paying customers to enter historic rallies driving cars from his fleet of blue Alpine automobiles. In 2019, he obtained one of the Nissan R390 GT1s he competed with at the 1998 Le Mans 24 Hours, restoring it and making it street-legal.

After leaving Formula One at the end of 1994, Comas rebuilt his career in Japan, becoming one of the most successful drivers in the history of the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC). Driving a factory Nismo-prepared Nissan Skyline GT-R, he won the GT500 title in 1998 and 1999, and finished runner-up in 2000. By the end of the 2003 season, he held the record for the most championship points ever scored by a single driver in the series. He later drove for privateer teams in Super GT and branched into rallying, winning the electric vehicle category of the Rallye Monte Carlo des Véhicules à Énergie Alternative in 2010 and 2011 with a Tesla Roadster, and the 2014 Carrera Panamericana in a Studebaker. Now retired from all forms of racing, Comas runs Comas Historic Racing, a business that allows paying customers to enter historic rallies in cars from his fleet of blue Alpine automobiles. In 2019, he acquired and restored the Nissan R390 GT1 he drove at Le Mans in 1998, making it street-legal.

Today, Érik Comas divides his time between the French Alps and historic rally stages across Europe. He owns and operates Comas Historic Racing, a company that offers paying customers the chance to drive historic rallies in cars from his personal fleet of blue Alpine automobiles. He also remains a competitor himself, entering the European Historic Rally Championship at the wheel of his Lancia Stratos HF. In 2019, he purchased and restored the very Nissan R390 GT1 he drove at the 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans, even making it street-legal. Beyond driving, he founded Comas Racing Management (CRM), a firm focused on developing young French drivers.

Comas’s legacy is not defined by his 60 Formula 1 starts or seven championship points, but by what he built after leaving the cockpit. In Japan, he became the most successful driver in the history of the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC), winning the GT500 title in 1998 and 1999 with Nismo and holding the series record for career championship points until it was surpassed by Satoshi Motoyama. That dominance—back-to-back titles in a factory Nissan Skyline GT-R—cemented his reputation as a specialist in a demanding, technology-driven series far from the European spotlight. Yet his influence extends beyond trophies. He founded Comas Racing Management (CRM) to develop young French drivers, and later Comas Historic Racing, a business that allows paying customers to experience historic rallies in his fleet of blue Alpine automobiles. In 2019, he purchased and restored the very Nissan R390 GT1 he drove at Le Mans in 1998, making it street-legal—a tangible link between his past as a competitor and his present as a custodian of racing history.