FORMULA FRANCE, F2, F3

Réédition partielle de la collection Alpine Renault - Construisez l’Alpine A110 1600S Berlinette

ALL FOR THE TRACK

Building on its success in rally racing with the Berlinette, the Alpine brand launched its circuit racing activities in the early 1960s. The results lived up to Jean Rédélé's expectations.

The founder of Alpine was indebted to Gérard 'Jabby' Crombac, the editor-in-chief of Sport Auto magazine, for his involvement in motor racing, whether with single-seaters or in endurance events such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Jabby Crombac, with his extensive address book and in-depth knowledge of the racing world, also happened to be someone with a strong sense for racing: he included in his team the eclectic José Rosinski, a driver, journalist and test driver who was runner-up in the French Formula Junior championship.

He undertook this mission both to return a French car brand to a position of prominence in competition and out of a genuine love of the sport. In addition, he was pursuing his personal interest in building up a nationwide audience that would increase in the event of success. In April 1963, Sport Auto announced the arrival of a new French racing car in Dieppe. Alpine's first single-seater, an A270 F2, made its first appearance on the grid at Pau in 1964. Rosinski and Bianchi finished 4th and 5th respectively, but they were two laps behind the winner Jim Clark due to a completely outdated engine.

An Alpine 270 F2 in Pau. Despite further improvements to the Gordini engine, the 1966 season was as disappointing as the previous one. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. Crédits photo © Renault Communication / D.R.

Setting the scene

A number of events allowed Alpine to get out on the track. First, the Régie provided Rédélé with engines that had previously only been available to René Bonnet. Then, thanks to the intervention of Gérard Crombac and the arrival of Rosinski as both driver and sporting director, the Dieppe-based brand was launched into orbit. The twin-shaft 1,000 cm3 engine adapted by Amédée Gordini was tested as early as 1963, and its adaptation to single-seater F2 was planned for the following season. But racing is an expensive business, and the logistic burden of lining up cars on tracks became very heavy. In fact, the M63 at Le Mans had demanded a great deal of attention, and managing rallies was a far cry from managing single-seaters. Jabby therefore allowed Rédélé to acquire a BT10S chassis from Jack Brabham. Its efficiency had been proven and it was therefore possible to eliminate the need to develop a prototype. At the same time, Brabham also supplied accessories such as brakes, steering and hub carriers. With Henri Grandsire joining Rosinski on the track, Alpine won the F3 title in 1964, its first year of participation.

Running late!

Jacques Cheinisse, another man of great influence, also joined Alpine on this occasion, albeit by the back door. The Normandy-born Cheinisse, who was just as tight-lipped as Jean Rédélé, claimed at the time that he wasn't particularly fond of single-seaters. And yet: "it is the ultimate expression of competition; a manufacturer cannot escape it". Later, the team expanded even further, with names that would only become known to the general public much later. Two young drivers, Jean-Pierre Jabouille (1969) and Patrick Depailler (1967), plus two engineers who would leave their mark: André de Cortanze and Bernard Dudot. Talking about these four men today, who recalls that they began their careers at Alpine with Jean Rédélé? For the 1965 season, Alpine continued to enter single-seaters in F2 and F3.

For the latter category, a total of eight cars were built in response to customer orders placed at the Motor Show in October 1964. The advertised specifications were 91 bhp for the 993.5 cc engine derived from the R8, and a curious choice of three gearboxes: a Renault Type 318 from the Dauphine Gordini with four gears, three of which were synchronised, a Type 330 with four synchronised gears and a Hewland with interchangeable gears. The combined engine was rated at 400 kg and 225 km/h. For the F2 (as well as for the prototypes), Rédélé had the exclusive use of the new Type 58 racing engine that Amédée Gordini was designing. However, in March 1965, there was still no engine in operation. And the first French Grand Prix, scheduled to take place in Pau, was due to take place on 25 April! Meanwhile, Honda also launched a new 140 bhp engine for F2, compared with the Gordini's 125 bhp. As a result, the 1965 season was a disaster.

The A366s in Renault Formula were powered by the 1.6-litre Gordini engine. This photo was taken on the Paul Ricard circuit in 1972. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. Crédits photo © Renault Communication / D.R.

Speculation

Rédélé, unlike Enzo Ferrari or Colin Chapman (Lotus), has never fully committed himself to racing. He did attend some races, but single-seaters were not in his blood. As a result, he delegated his responsibilities and remained purely a supervisor. Perhaps this explains why the Alpine F2, F3 or Formule France have not remained in the annals of racing. Although drivers such as Patrick Depailler and François Cevert refined their skills at the wheel of an Alpine A270 or A280 (Cevert wrote in his memoirs that in 1967 he used a fragile and outdated 1965 Alpine F3!), it was really the sports cars that Dieppe preferred. Therefore, for 1968, everything was concentrated on the new A220 with its 3-litre V8 engine. At the time, Depailler was travelling with just two mechanics to run his A330 in the F3 class. Creating all the links between the first single-seater of 1962 (A270) and the last ones of 1973 (A364 in F3 and A366 in Formula Renault) required some speculation, as the information was contradictory. It is true that the chassis were often used alternately in F2 and F3, with or without a change of number!

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The V6 single-turbo at Le Mans

Competition was the driving force behind the creation of Alpine, and gradually it became clear that the company had to aim for the top. Alpine-Renault was the first in Europe to use a technique that would be successfully employed at Le Mans and in Formula 1: the turbocharger. It is difficult to pinpoint exactly when Alpine decided to investigate the possibility of turbocharging in competition. In 1972, Bernard Dudot (see box) fitted a 1,600cc turbocharged engine in an A110 Berlinette, which produced 200bhp and enabled Jean-Luc Thérier to win the Cevennes Rally. It was the very first success for an Alpine equipped with a turbo-charger. By this time, Alpine had expanded enormously, Renault was in the process of acquiring a 55% share and the oil company Elf, through its competition director François Guitter, was pushing the two companies towards the top of motor racing.

Bernard Dudot saw Jean-Pierre Jabouille (pictured here on the Paul Ricard circuit in 1974) as a valuable contributor to the development of the turbo engine. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. Crédits photo © Renault Communication / D.R.

Developer

The turbocharger was mounted on an engine designed by technical engineer François Castaing, who worked alongside Amédée Gordini. The engine was a 2.0-litre V6, used in the European Sports Prototype Championship. Open at 90°, this hyper-square engine (bore x stroke of 86 mm x 57.3 mm), with double overhead camshafts and fuel injection, produced 285 bhp at 9,800 rpm. With this engine, the new Alpine A441 with tubular chassis dominated the 1974 European 2.0-litre championship. By 1975, whispers were circulating backstage at Renault about the possibility of entering F1. André de Cortanze, Marcel Hubert and André Renut were commissioned to work on this project in order to finalise the A500. Bernard Dudot fitted a Garrett turbocharger to the A441's V6 engine at the end of 1974, calling it the A441 T, in order to launch the first racing tests. With a gearbox multiplier of 1.4, it reached the relative figure of 2,796 cm3, thus entering the 3.0-litre category. It developed 490 bhp. The new A442 was to take over, but its effectiveness was hindered by repeated engine failures.

Jean-Pierre Jabouille, at the wheel here, was teamed up with Patrick Tambay for the 1976 Le Mans 24 Hours (but was forced to withdraw). © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. Crédits photo © Renault Communication / D.R.

A time-consuming process

At the time, Bernard Dudot pointed out that the work could not be based on telemetry.

However, his team realised that the efficiency of a turbo-charger is correlated with the speed and temperature of the exhaust gases, both of which are a function of carburation and ignition advance. But even without telemetry, Jean-Pierre Jabouille was an outstanding driver and tuner. Its 500 bhp for 715 kg, its Hewland gearbox with 5-speed gearbox and a top speed of around 350 km/h, the A442 had the potential to become the crown of racing if it could be made reliable. No one doubted it, least of all Gérard Larrousse, he decided to get involved at Le Mans to open the doors to F1, just as CEO Bernard Hanon intended to do in 1975. According to the report that Dudot submitted on his return from his visit to the USA in 1973, the possibility of victory in the premier class was very real with the turbo engine, which nobody had used until then. But theory is one thing, implementation is another. It would take many months of competition to determine how to make it reliable.

The Alpine A442, driven by Jabouille and Bell, retired as it had the previous year at Le Mans in 1977. But victory was close at hand! © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. Crédits photo © Renault Communication / D.R.

Change from Alpine-Renault to Renault-Alpine

With the A442 now in the public eye, Alpine competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 1976, Gordini and Alpine were merged into a single entity. Gérard Larrousse was to lead this new structure, which was known as Renault Sport. The focus, however, was on Le Mans, which was at present the priority event. The Renault-Alpine A442, with its yellow and black livery and turbocharged engine, was the only car entered, driven by Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Patrick Tambay. Pole position, race lap record... but withdrawal at the 11th hour due to piston trouble. Another setback at Le Mans in 1977 left project manager André de Cortanze, aerodynamicist Marcel Hubert and engine engineer Bernard Dudot under pressure. Renault Sport was obliged to win the 24 Hours, which it did, splendidly, in 1978. After that, it was off to Formula 1, thanks to the turbo!

Finishing just off the podium were Ragnotti and Fréquelin, but Pironi and Jaussaud brought victory to Renault-Alpine at Le Mans in 1978. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. Crédits photo © Renault Communication / D.R.

F2 OR F3 ?

It's particularly difficult for novices to tell the difference between the single-seaters raced in F2 and F3. While the aesthetic difference is minimal, the substance is somewhat different, prompting Jean-Luc Lagardère, Matra's CEO at the time, to say: "Formula 3 is for learning, Formula 2 is for training and Formula 1 is for winning". The F3s were the lowest performance cars, limited to 1 litre displacement. They need to use a large number of mass-produced parts, with limited resources to improve some of them (which it would take too long to develop here). As the antechamber to F1, F2 (later replaced by Formula 3000) was more lenient. It also involved production cars, but with a minimum production run of 500, opening the door to race-typical models. Displacement was limited to 1,000 cm3 from 1964 to 1966, then from 1,300 to 1,600 cm3 from 1967 to 1971.

DATA - USED FRAMES

• 1964 : A270, or P64-2 et P64-3 (F2, 1 l Gordini et F3, 1 l Mignotet)

• 1965 : A270

• 1966 : A270 (F3)

• 1967 : A280 (F3, Moteur Moderne 1 l)

• 1968 : A330 (F3) and A340 (Formule France, 1,255 l Gordini)

• 1969 : A330 (F3)

• 1970 : A361 (Formule France)

• 1971 : A360 (F3, 1,6 l Renault) et A361 (Formule France becomes Formule Renault)

• 1972 : A364 (F3) and A366 (FR, 1,6 l Gordini)

• 1973 : as the current year (source : forums.autosport.com)

Note that the Formula France cars were powered by the Renault 8 Gordini 1,300cc 105bhp engine. But, once again, unravelling the tangled web of Alpine single-seater history is complex. Even the books published on the subject are not entirely consistent.