Delecour was born on 30 August 1962. He began his rallying career in 1981, competing within the French national championship. His entry into major international competition occurred three years later at the 1984 Monte Carlo Rally, where he drove a Talbot Samba. During this period, he was co-driven by Anne Chantal Pauwels. In 1985 and 1986, Delecour competed in the Peugeot 205 Cup, finishing third in the standings in both seasons. These results earned him support from the Peugeot works team, leading to a full works drive in a Peugeot 309 for the 1989 and 1990 seasons. In 1990, he finished ninth overall at the Monte Carlo Rally and was the highest-placed finisher in a two-wheel-drive car.
In 1991, Delecour joined the Ford factory team to drive the four-wheel-drive Ford Sierra Cosworth. Although the car was not considered fully competitive at the time, Delecour led the Monte Carlo Rally after overtaking Carlos Sainz on the third day. A suspension failure on the final night cost him five minutes, dropping him to third place. He concluded the 1991 season seventh in the driver's championship after securing podiums in San Remo and Catalunya. For 1992, he remained with Ford alongside teammate Massimo Biasion, finishing sixth in the championship with a notable second-place finish at the Tour de Corse.
The 1993 season marked Delecour's most successful year in the World Rally Championship following the introduction of the Ford Escort RS Cosworth. After finishing second in Monte Carlo, he secured his first WRC victory at the Portuguese Rally, a result that established his reputation as an effective driver on surfaces other than asphalt. He followed this with a win in Corsica to take the championship lead. Despite retirements in Greece and San Remo, a victory at the Catalunya Rally and a fourth-place finish at the RAC Rally secured him second place in the World Championship. His co-driver, Daniel Grataloup, won the co-driver's title that year.
Delecour entered 1994 as a title favorite and won the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally. However, his campaign was interrupted by a road accident involving a Ferrari F40 he was driving, which was struck by an amateur rally driver. Delecour suffered severe leg injuries and missed four rounds, eventually finishing the year with a best return result of fourth in Finland.
Following the closure of the official Ford team at the end of 1994, Delecour drove for the RAS Sport-run Ford effort in 1995. The Escort proved less competitive, and though he took second-place finishes in Monte Carlo and Corsica, he failed to win an event. After a final outing for Ford in Sweden in 1996, he moved to Peugeot to lead their French Rally Championship campaign in a 306 kit-car, finishing third in the national standings in 1996 and 1997.
He returned to the WRC full-time in 1999 as part of the Peugeot 206 WRC project. While he did not win, he achieved consistent top-ten finishes and second places in Corsica and San Remo. His 2001 return to Ford, then managed by M-Sport, saw him drive a third Focus RS WRC. He moved to Mitsubishi in 2002, but the car lacked competitiveness, and his season was marred by a significant accident in Australia.
Delecour’s career was punctuated by several high-impact accidents and interpersonal disputes. His 1994 road accident in a Ferrari F40 caused severe leg injuries that sidelined him during his peak competitive years. In 1999, his second-place finish at San Remo was characterized by acrimony with teammate Gilles Panizzi.
During the 2002 Rally Australia, Delecour suffered a massive shunt that effectively ended the top-line career of his long-time co-driver Daniel Grataloup due to injuries sustained. In the following event in Great Britain, Delecour lost his temper with replacement co-driver Dominique Savignoni after their Mitsubishi left the road.
After a sabbatical from the primary series, Delecour participated in rally-raid events with an SMG V8 buggy and sports car racing in a Porsche 996 GT3 RS. He returned to the Monte Carlo Rally in 2011 for its centenary, finishing fifth in a Peugeot 207 Super 2000. This sparked a WRC comeback in 2012, where he finished sixth at Monte Carlo in a Ford Fiesta WRC.
Between 2012 and 2014, Delecour dominated the Romanian Rally Championship, winning the title three times. In 2013, he also competed in the European Rally Championship (ERC), finishing fourth in the standings with podiums in Latvia and Romania. In 2015, he competed in the new FIA R-GT Cup in a Tuthill-run Porsche 911, winning his class in Monte Carlo and the Tour de Corse to secure the championship title. He remained active in the sport into his sixties, entering the 2023 Monte Carlo Rally in a Skoda Rally 2 and finishing 10th in his category.
Delecour’s statistical peak occurred in 1993, when he secured three of his four career WRC victories and finished as world runner-up. While initially categorized as an asphalt specialist, his 1993 Portuguese Rally win demonstrated his capability on gravel. His career is noted for its longevity, evidenced by scoring top-ten finishes in world-level events across four different decades.
Outside of traditional stage rallying, Delecour competed in the 1990 Paris-Tripoli-Dakar rally raid in a support role for Peugeot. He later returned to rally-raid in the post-WRC era using SMG machinery. He also contested the FIA European Rallycross Championship in Division 2 and participated in circuit racing with Porsche GT3 machinery.
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