The Société des Automobiles Alpine SAS (Renault) was established in 1955 with the purpose of manufacturing racing and sports cars. Jean Rédélé, the founder of Alpine, had success tuning Renault 4CV models in his Dieppe-based garage during the early post-World War II era, which led to the formation of Alpine. The name of the marque was in recognition of his Coupe des Alpes successes. The company would maintain a close relationship with Renault throughout its existence and was eventually acquired by them in 1973. The Alpine competition department merged with Renault Sport in 1976.

The Alpine-tuned Renault 4CVs earned notoriety for their class victories in numerous events including the Mille Miglia and Coupe des Alpes. Alpine cars, equipped with engines derived from the Renault 16, placed first, second, and fourth in the 1971 Monte Carlo rally. The Alpine A110 1800 finished first, second, third, and fifth in the 1973 event, and would finish the season as World Rally Champions.

European 2-Litre Sports Car Championship for Makes

The international petrol crisis of 1973 resulted in a dramatic reduction of Alpine vehicles being purchased, ultimately leading to a bail-out via a takeover by Renault. 1973 was also the year the team had made the decision to make a serious effort in contesting endurance racing. They had participated in the sport since 1963 but had not achieved any significant success. The competitive European 2-Litre Championship was first held in 1970 and quickly became popular with competitors and enthusiasts alike. Following a troubled 1975 season, it became part of the World Sports Car Championship in 1976, but as interest in sport prototypes faded, the championship lost its 'World Championship' status two years later and became a 'European' championship once again. The series was canceled following its sole 1978 season.

Chevrons equipped with Ford engines won the inaugural Championship for Makes in the opening 1970 season, winning over second place Lola by a single point. Lola won the 1971 and 1973 seasons, and Osella (in partnership with Abarth) had a very successful 1972 season, winning five races and the championship.

Alpine-Renault A441

The Renault-Gordini team created a two-litre V6 engine to contest the European 2-Litre season. The engineering team was headed by François Castaing, assisted by engineer Amédée Gordini, and Alpine F3 mechanic Andre Désaubry. The V6 engine they created had four valves per cylinder and double overhead camshafts. It was installed in a tubular chassis suspended by double wishbones and clothed with a glassfibre body. The team of designers was led by André de Cortanze. Wearing the French 'tri-colore' of red, white and blue, the team's first effort was in 1973 with the Alpine-Renault A440 driven by Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Patrick Depailler.

Their inaugural attempt was disappointing; the 1973 season had been one of exploration and learning for the Alpine-Renault team as they worked through various mechanical and design issues that had plagued their efforts all season long. During the off-season, many of these issues were resolved with the new Alpine A441. Four prototypes were eventually built (including one near the end of the season for the Larrousse-Archambeaud team) and their efforts during the 1974 season were much different than the previous year.

The Alpine-Renault A441 continued to use the steel tubular spaceframe chassis but with a higher wheelbase and strengthened via aluminum sheets riveted to the structure. The 1,997cc 90-degree V6 engine was lightened with alloys and magnesium, mounted mid-ship, and paired with a Hewland FGA400 5-speed manual transmission. The revised double wishbones suspension was tuned to alleviate the understeer that plagued the previous car.

The French team's list of drivers included Alain Cudini, Gérard Larrousse, Jean-Pierre Jabouille, and Alain Serpaggi.

Race Results

The team's first race during 1974 was on April 7th at the Paul Ricard circuit where Alain Cudini places first and Jean-Pierre Jabouille placed 8th. At the Trophée d'Auvergne on June 23rd, Gérard Larrousse placed first while the cars of Alain Serpaggi and Jean-Pierre Jabouille retired early. The third round was held on July 21st at Misano in Italy where two Alpines set the fastest lap, the first was the car driven by Jabouille and the second by Serpaggi. Round 4 was on August 11th in Enna, Italy where Gerard Larrousse won and set the fastest lap followed by Jabouille in second and Serpaggi in third.

Hockenheim hosted Round 5 on August 25 where Serpaggi finished first and Jabouille placed 8th. The car driven by Gérard Larrousse retired early. A month later, on Septer 22nd, the team was at the Mugello Circuit in Italy for Round 6. The race was won by Gérard Larrousse, Alain Serpaggi placed second, and Jean-Pierre Jabouille came in fourth. Jean-Pierre Jabouille captured first place on October 20th at the Jarama circuit in Spain, followed by Gérard Larrousse.

With seven victories, the Alpine team easily took the championship title.

The success of the A441 convinced Renault to increase its budget for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in hopes of contesting overall victory. While the 2 Litre engine was underpowered compared to the competition's 3-litre engines, the team hoped a turbocharger would make up the difference. Prototype racers were limited to a maximum displacement of 3 liters, and rules allowed for forced induction with a multiplier of 1.4 - meaning the maximum displacement for a forced induction engine was 2,142cc. The Renault-Gordini engine was well within this threshold. With the help of the turbocharger, engine output rose to approximately 490 hp at 9,900 RPM.

The Turbocharged A441 (A441T)

The turbocharged A441 made its racing debut in January of 1975 at the Mugello 1000 km race where it was driven by Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Gérard Larrousse to victory. The naturally aspirated A441 driven by Marie-Claude Beaumont and Léa Lombardi placed sixth. Unfortunately, this proved to be the highlight of the season, as engine reliability plagued the team throughout the year, and into 1976 and 1977.

A442

The Renault Alpine A442 was an evolution of the Alpine A440 and the very successful A441 models. At the heart of the A442 was a 2.0-liter Renault-Gordini engine with a large Garrett turbocharger. Initially developing 490 horsepower, this would grow to over 500 bhp. The 2.2-liter turbocharged version powering the A443 would produce approximately 520 bhp.

The A442 continued to use a compact spaceframe chassis wearing a lightweight glassfibre body that was much longer than its predecessors. Its long tail section was designed to improve high-speed aerodynamic efficiency on circuits such as the Mulsanne straight at Circuit de la Sarthe.

The A442B and A443 were introduced in 1978 and both wore an acrylic glass 'bubble' partial roof which allowed for a higher top speed on high-speed circuits such as Le Mans.

Renault at Le Mans

Despite the team's lack of success and stiff competition from the Porsche 936, Renault entered three cars for the 1978 Le Man's 24-Hour race, along with a privately entered A442 entry. Two of the cars were in 'B' specification with a modified windscreen designed to reduce drag. The third factory team car had a slightly larger engine installed in a longer wheelbase chassis and was known as a A443. Powered by a 2,138cc V6 engine with over 500 horsepower, the A443 quickly proved to be among the fastest in the field. When it was forced to retire due to mechanical issues, the A442B of Didier Pironi and Jean-Pierre Jaussaud took over the top spot. When the checked flag fell, the Renaults had held off the 936s to claim overall victory - the team's only Le Man's victory.

After the French team's victory at the premier French motorsport event, Renault withdrew from sports car racing to focus its attention on the highly competitive Formula 1 competition.

by Dan Vaughan