The 27-year-old driver will take part in the Renault Alpine sports prototype parade ahead of the 2 Tours d’Horloge. His father, Jean-Pierre, who passed away in 2023, was one of the key figures in the turbocharged endurance racing adventure.
A443... What does that code mean to you?
Victor Jabouille: It is the name of the Renault Alpine my father drove at the 1978 24 Hours of Le Mans. He and Patrick Depailler were leading the race at dawn, two laps ahead. The team then decided to reduce the turbo boost pressure to save the engine. It proved to be a bad idea. The V6 failed half an hour later, and it was an A442B that went on to win.
Have you ever driven it?
I have only sat in it, back in May, to adjust my driving position ahead of the 2 Tours d’Horloge demonstration. The seat, which was moulded to my father in 1978, fits me perfectly. I am 1.83 m tall, just like him, and we have exactly the same build. The driving position is unusual, however, with the pedal box positioned relatively centrally in the cockpit while the steering wheel sits to the right. As for the rest, Renault’s engineers explained the warm-up procedure to me in detail. It is quite complex because you have to keep working the throttle continuously, without engaging the turbo, in order to stabilise the air-oil mixture and water pressure.
Do you know the 2 Tours d’Horloge?
The director of Circuit Paul Ricard, Nicolas Deschaux, has spoken very highly of it. I am always pleased to come to this circuit because my father helped design it in 1969, alongside several of the great drivers of that era. It was also at Le Castellet that he contested his first Formula 1 Grand Prix in 1975 with Tyrrell. Driving there 50 years later is still an emotional experience.
Photos: Cyril Tondut, Renault
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