After winning the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans, Gachot was sentenced to 18 months in prison for an aggravated assault that had occurred the previous December.

Gachot joined the British Formula Three series in 1987, finishing second in the championship for the West Surrey Racing team behind Johnny Herbert.

Despite qualifying for four of the next five events, he was then fired by van Rossem after complaining about his lack of testing time; his private grievances were publicly aired in an Onyx press release, and he was replaced with JJ Lehto.

The small Italian outfit had signed an exclusive deal with Subaru to use its new Carlo Chiti-designed and Motori Moderni-built 1235 flat-12 engine, and Gachot was selected to drive the sole entry.

Despite this, Gachot was still highly regarded, both as a driver and a marketeer,[3] and was signed to lead the new Jordan Grand Prix team, sponsored by 7-Up and using Ford HB engines.

The season started off well as he gathered considerable acclaim for his Grand Prix performances, and also won the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans driving a Mazda 787B.

On 10 December 1990[4] Gachot was due to meet with Jordan and representatives of 7-Up but, on the way and running late, he became involved in a road rage incident with a taxi driver at Hyde Park Corner in London.

[5] Gachot hid the CS gas canister in a toilet cistern in a nearby building,[6] and was arrested and charged with actual bodily harm (ABH) and possession of a prohibited weapon.

Gachot's trial at Southwark Crown Court was scheduled the week before the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix, a circuit where he expected the Jordan to "fly".

This campaign involved flags, T-shirts worn by members of the public and racing drivers, graffiti in several locations of the Spa-Francorchamps track during the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix, and prominent sponsorship on Witmeur's Formula 3000 car.

Gachot stayed with Pacific for 1995, with the new PR02 chassis, Cosworth ED engines and an influx of experienced personnel after a merger with the remains of Team Lotus.

There were only 26 entrants; hence, he was a guaranteed starter, and the reliable package meant the car could at least finish races, though Gachot and teammate Andrea Montermini were largely left battling at the back of the grid.

The team's finances were tight, and Gachot stood down mid-season so that pay drivers Giovanni Lavaggi and Jean-Denis Délétraz could take his seat and bring some money to Pacific.

After Délétraz's sponsors defaulted on payments, the team planned to rent the drive to Formula Nippon driver Katsumi Yamamoto for the two races in Japan, but he was not granted a superlicence, so Gachot retook the seat.

The team entered a Welter Racing LM94 with factory support and engine from SsangYong, in what was a rare motorsport outing for the South Korean automotive manufacturer.

It was again entered in the Coupes d'Automne Automobile Club de l'Ouest, a four-hour sports car race held at the Le Mans Bugatti circuit later in the 1996 season, where it qualified 3rd but did not finish.

Gachot had aimed to introduce the brand into France but by 2000 had taken a leadership role within Hype Energy; he began restructuring the company, simplifying the product portfolio, keeping only four flavours on the market.