Alpine marks 40th Anniversary of Le Mans triumph at Rétromobile Paris

Alpine marks 40th Anniversary of Le Mans triumph at Rétromobile Paris

Four endurance racing prototypes will be on display at this year’s Rétromobile Show in Paris this week.
Visitors to the Alpine stand will be able to admire not only the 1978 Le Mans-winning N°2 A442 B, but also the N°3 and N°4 A442s and the N°1 A443.

Groupe Renault has announced that Alpine will be present at the 2018 Rétromobile Show which will run at the French capital’s Paris Expo Porte de Versailles complex on February 7-11.

It was almost 40 years ago, on June 10, 1978, that an entry of four Renault-Alpine prototypes lined up for the start of the Le Mans 24 Hours.

The N°1 Renault-Alpine A443 topped the order at the 18-hour mark before being side-lined. However, its place was snapped up by the N°2 Renault-Alpine A442 B of Didier Pironi and Jean-Pierre Jaussaud who successfully defended their lead for the remaining quarter of the race to win the world’s biggest endurance race.

The squad was managed by Gérard Larrousse who fielded three different versions of the car in his bid to win the French classic, namely two A442s, an A442 B and an A443. The former had appeared competitively in previous seasons, but the other two prototypes were developed especially for the 1978 Le Mans 24 Hours.


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