As soon as the DSC crew heard that it would be Jean Ragnotti at the wheel of the pioneering 1979 Renault RS01 F1, campaigned in period by Rene Arnoux, it led to a frenzy of YouTube searching for the rallying legend’s exploits at the wheel of the Renault R5 Turbo and later Clio Maxi.
There’s plenty of this sort of thing too, the Frenchman demonstrating his sublime car control!
That renowned car control was certainly needed on Saturday afternoon as the RS01 and the later RE40, driven by Michel Leclère, ex F1, F2 and Le Mans pilot, he appeared several times at Le Man in the 1970s with Ligier, took to the track in simply awful conditions.
Indeed the standing water caught out Leclere (below) , spinning out in the ex Alain Prost RE40, thankfully harmlessly. Ragnotti though continued, albeit at much reduced speed to complete several laps of the sopping wet Estoril track.
“These are the worse possible conditions to drive this car,” said Ragnotti. “The track was nearly flooded and the tyres I had were cold. Of course, I not only could not be fast but I had to be prudent, even at slow speed.”
Ragnotti shared a few memories of the 24 Hours of Le Mans too:
“I was seven times in that race between 1975 and 1982: once with Alpine in 1978 (pictured above en route to 4th) and Philippe Mettetal in 19, all the other editions with Rondeau. I really loved everything about the 24 Hours of Le Mans, that is the race itself but also what used to occur before and after the race.”
Ragnotti’s best result was fourth overall in 1977 and 1978, with two class wins into the mix, in GTP with the Inaltera in 1977 and in S+2.0 in 1979 in a Rondeau (below).
“I was also leading at night with Pescarolo when our engine blew up in 1980. I clocked pole position in 1981 with Lafosse and had the fastest race lap in 1982. “
A lot of good memories but also some tragedies :
“In 1981, my teammate Jean-Louis Lafosse died in the Hunaudieres. We knew the race was dangerous but we had to avoid thinking about it. If you did, you ended up not be fast enough”.
When asked who he used to love sharing his Le Mans cars with, the Frenchman mentioned two names: Jean Rondeau and Henri Pescarolo.
“Rondeau, well he called me up out of the blue in 1977 and I gladly became one of his drivers. As for Henri, he was a good friend of mine outside the car. We used to share good meals together before sharing the wheel.”
Ragnotti (on the right here with the RS01) retired from professional competition in 1996. He keeps on racing in Historic rally events and at Le Mans Classic.
