French sports cars
ALPINE RENAULT ELF CAR RACE FORMULA 1971-1977.
Today, it is almost unknown, the French car manufacturer Renault had three decadesґtradition compete with a single seater race cars before entering Formula 1 Grand Prix held at Silverstone in 1977, they obtained an excellent reputation for their rally and Sportscars These were built by their Alpine basis associate in Dieppe on the Channel coast was actually Alpine department of competition of Renault, but under them as names of cars for a road use were sold from Alpine and Renault developments were made in a strong bond with elf oil company that was also owned by the French state.
Formula One race cars are not so important for French companies at the time this scene was dominated by British automakers race like Cooper, Lotus, Brabham, March, Ensign, Lola drachmas and much more other ones -ci had not much fear of rivalry on the continent, because Tecno Italy, BMW Germany and the french space and aviation group Matra could produce competitive cars for the lower formulas .
This changed when Renault decided to enter the new 1600cc Formula 3 in 1971, a chassis to a very progressive research based spaceframe was designed, powered by a strong engine based on the block of a car Renault road, such as technical regulations had required the Alpine Renault factory F3 cars were taken in international events both by the French Patrick Depailler and Jean Pierre Jabouille took their first steps into great careers of the grand Prix he was so no wonder Depailler won the french Formula 3 championship in 1971 and the F3 lap of the grand Prix of Monaco the following year.
In 1972 Depailler also competed in the European Formula 2 Championship with an Alpine car but this car was not called Alpine and Renault, it was named after itґs sponsor and technical partner Elf 2, because " it was powered by a 2 liter Ford engine 0 elf was 2 looks very similar to the Renault Alpine F3, but why Renault have obtained no suitable engine available for Formula 2, it was officially neither Alpine and Renault because they were already one of the largest automobile companies in the world, so that they can allow their chassis with the engine of a marketґs rival that was no problem Matra before returning to the sixties, which officially participated in Fords Matra Formula 1.
Alpine chassis made in both Formula 2 and 3 achieved excellent aerodynamics, the special cover for the engine gearbox unit had the task of making the carґs Slipstream so short, to make it impossible for a rival public to overcome He was out François Cevert, who scored the first victory for the elf 2 and it was a great day for French motorsport, because it happened to their homeground in the city of Pau in the Pyrenees, which was called Petit Monaco.
At that time, Renault had a very promising V6 engine construction, thatґs base was invented for both the road car and racing use This work was done as part of another compatriot company called Gordini first Renault wanted a win in the endurance race 24 Hours of Le Mans to bring more prestige to their brand, as had been done to their countrymen before Matra therefore, they focused on the production of a 2-1L turbocharged version of the V6 for use in Alpine Renault sports cars to reach their highest goal Formula 2 project has been delegated to the team Switzerland Elf They used BMW engines in both 1974 and 1976 and were sponsored by Swiss cheese industry that carries the yellow livery cars They scored three victories, Patrick Tambay won the french Nogaro 1974 Gerard Larrousse in German Hockenheim 1 975 where he was able to beat the king of Hockenheim, Hans-Joachim Stuck and Jean Pierre Jabouille in Salzburg also in 1975.
In 1976, Renault has decided to produce two additional versions of their V6 0 A 2-liter normally aspirated one for use in Formula 2 and 1 to 5 liters of limit switches F2 Grand Prix engines were brought to the network by Renault Elf who were the official factory team, and Martini Renault designer and racecar french manufacturer Tico Martini at the end of the year Jean Pierre Jabuoille won the European Formula 2 Championship in the Elf Renault car Renault the same time began to test their May 1 liter V6 turbo in a monocoque chassis built by theirown Behind the wheel was Jabouille, who was considered a very good engineer and a good test pilot.
After many successful testing of prototype car Grand Prix, it became clear that Renault would enter Formula One in 1977 For this reason, they decided to sell their equipment 1976 works with German enterpreneur Willi Kauhsen race and Michel Leclere drivers France and Klaus Ludwig Germanyґs Renault has provided new team Tico Martini engines work But while the German team failed to succeed in Formula February 1977 season Martiniґs french driver ARNOUX René won the European Championship .
1978 Renault has decided to concentrate on Formula 1 They withdrew from F2 and it did not take much time, when success came their way, despite the development of the supercharged engine 1 5 liters, the first set to large modern fare ride was working much harder than Renault had predicted at the beginning Renault scored their first points championship with Jabouilleґs 4th place in the US Grand Prix was held in Watkins Glen a few months later, mid-1979 and just two years after its inception, the company Renault drivers Jean Pierre Jabouille and René Arnoux gave France a second national day coming 1st and 3rd house in their large home GP at Dijon This was the first triumph of a very long list of great victories and Worldchampionship Price Renault wins to one of the most successful competitors in the history of this company.
Patrick Depailler F, Renault Alpine 1971 1972 F3.
Renault Alpine Cars Elf Formula, Alpine, Renault, formula cars.
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