Sunday, April 6, 2008

Renault Alpine A442

The Renault Alpine A442 is a sports prototype racing car, designed and built by Alpine, but funded and powered by Alpine's owners Renault, specifically to contest the 24 Hours of Le Mans race.

Variants were entered for the event in 1976, 1977 and 1978, and an A442B finally won the race on the third occasion, in the hands of Didier Pironi and Jean-Pierre Jaussaud.

Also entered in 1978 was the updated Renault Alpine A443 model; essentially an A442 chassis, but powered by a new 2138 cc engine. Following this all-French victory in the premier French motorsport event, Renault withdrew from sports car racing to concentrate their efforts in Formula One.