Buy RENE ARNOUX : UNE SI BELLE RAGE DE VAINCRE

Text : Fr

This unofficial biography of René Arnoux, written with "period" memories, is completed by the testimony of friends and family who accompanied his career from the benches of the Winfield school in Magny-Cours to his retirement from F1. How was the little guy from Pontcharra (Isère) able to swap his mechanic's blue for a pilot's suit, and to climb, at the price of an immense will and daily sacrifices, all the rungs of the ladder of fame, in spite of difficulties which would have discouraged more than one? Winner of the ''Volant Shell 72'', distinguished driver for F. Renault, F2 champion, he started in F1 in the Martini ''galley'' before joining Renault, pioneer of the turbo-compressed engine, where he conquered four victories and a beautiful collection of pole positions and front row starts. He won three more times at Ferrari before a very difficult end to his career at Ligier. Simple but endowed with a great intelligence of a man of the earth, a little mocked and jealousized by his peers at the beginning, he knew how to maintain his flame in spite of a team policy favouring his team-mates. His disobedience at the 82 French GP, where he refused to give up victory to Prost, earned him great popularity not only in France but also in the world. With the benefit of hindsight, the four-time world champion shares his feelings on the 'affair' and absolves René. But Arnoux will remain in the annals of world motorsport for the magnificent duel he fought with Gilles Villeneuve during the 79 French GP in Dijon (France).