Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique: yet another triumph in popularity for the Renault 8 Gordini
For the 50th birthday of the famous blue car with white stripes, Team Renault Classic entered five Renault 8 Gordinis in the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique.
The five models set off from Rheims on January 24 and all arrived safely in Monaco on January 28 and 29. Or not quite all, as one of the Renault 8s unfortunately had to withdraw not far from the finish line.
But the biggest story lay in how the six days of regularity racing showed the enormous popularity of the famous French-blue car with white stripes.
As Hugues Portron, head of the Renault Classique department, said: “The Renault 8 Gordini has an immense store of popularity. Once again, the teams were amazed by the welcome they received from spectators throughout the race, even in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night. Our drivers thanked them for their support by doing special skids, which didn’t really help us with our ranking (not really important) but were quite spectacular, especially with an acrobat like Jean Ragnotti at the wheel!”
The Renault 8 Gordini driven by Jean Ragnotti will be on show next week on the Renault Classic stand at the Rétromobile show, along with other versions of the popular sporting icon.
As a reminder the five vehicle teams were as follows:
- No. 8: Jean Ragnotti, back in his first racing car (Vaucluse Rally in 1967). His co-driver was Michel Duvernay, winner of the Renault Cross Elf Coupe de France and the Coupe Renault 5 GT Turbo in 1981,
- No. 12: Alain Serpaggi, the famous Alpine racer/test driver, accompanied by Jean-Pierre Prevost,
- No. 17: Michel Leclère, winner of the “Premier Pas Dunlop Coupe Gordini” in 1969, and journalist Vincent Roussel,
- No. 19: Thierry Chancel and François Forgeoux, familiar with the race and their car, a fairly rare 1,100 cm3 model,
- No. 22: Gilles Zaffini, motorsport enthusiast and Renault dealer in Bron, and Serge Mollar.
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