1979 French Grand Prix – René Arnoux vs Gilles Villenuve

Published: 622 days ago

Category: Gilles Villenuve, Renault, René Arnoux

Description:

2 Great French Drivers Battling at the French Grand Prix

And it was Only for 2nd Place!

This has to be one of the best battles for position in the history for Grand Prix racing. Make sure you watch right to the end as it just keeps getting better.

Gilles Villeneuve in the Ferrari versus René Arnoux in the Renault. It takes place over the last few laps of the 1979 French Grand Prix.

And as its 2 French drivers (well ok villeneuve is Canadian) in front a French crowd it makes the spectacle all the greater and you can hear the crowd going crazy in the video.

Villeneuve won out in the Ferrari in the end, but of course it was for second place not the win.

I think this puts into perspective the the rule that was almost introduced this year. That is the driver with the most wins will be champion. The idea behind the rule was to increase overtaking of course. But this battle shows that drivers will give everything even for 2nd place.

The thing that could almost get overlooked in this race is that it was the first win for a turbo charged car. And also that the race was won by a French driver (Jean-Pierre Jabouille), driving a French car (Renault), on French tyres (Michelin), powered by a French engine (Renault) burning French fuel (Elf) at a French circuit (Dijon).