1978 Renault Alpine A443

Jean Ragnotti & Alain Serpaggi, Renault Alpine A443, Le Mans Classic 2016.

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Alpine, Dieppe, France.  This Group 6 sports racing car was built by Alpine with a 2.1 litre turbo-charged Renault engine.  The chassis was similar to the previous A442 but had an enlarged Renault V6 engine in a slightly lengthened chassis.  At the Le Mans 24 hours in 1978 it was the fastest car in the field driven by Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Patrick Depailler but retired after 18 hours.  It's pace, however, had also broken the Porsches and thus an earlier A442B was able to take the win.  The cars had over 500bhp and could easily exceed 20 mph on the Mulsanne straight.  This was the car's only major race and thereafter Ranault concentrated on F1.