Paul Ricard HTTT
The Paul Ricard HTTT round of the World Series by Renault was an important meeting for the French car maker as it took place on home turf. Several personalities, not all directly linked to Renault, went to the Le Castellet circuit to soak up the ambiance of this unique event.
Carlos Tavares, the Renault General Manager since May 2011 and Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn’s right-hand man, was there for the second last round of the season. The former boss of Nissan North America put on his driving suit and got behind the wheel of the RS01, developed by Renault for the 1977 F1 World Championship. Taveres was also able to see for himself how popular the World Series by Renault is in France as over 60 000 spectators attended the meeting.
Alain Prost, a former Renault F1 team member and Dacia driver in the Andros Trophy, also drove an historic F1 at Paul Ricard. The Professor was at the wheel of the Renault RE40 in which he won the 1983 French Grand Prix on the very same circuit. He was not the only Prost on the track as his son Nicolas, a Gravity Academy member, drove the Lotus-Renault R30 in the traditional spectacular F1 Show. The two Prosts did a few laps together to the delight of the big crowd.
Rugby also played a major role in the meeting on the Ricard circuit. Renault has been a long-time partner of the French Rugby Team, and given the fact this is World Cup year, there was a rugby workshop and a giant screen to allow the worlds of rugby and motor sport to meet. Max Guazzini, the former President of Stade Français who has given a major boost to the image of rugby in France, went to Le Castellet with this in mind. Pierre Rabadan also turned up. He has played for the national team in the third row, won the French Rugby Championship four times with Stade Français and is married to the former James Bond girl, Caterina Murino (Casino Royale). He also posed for the famous naughty calendar ‘the Gods of the Stadium!’
Also present was racing driver Margot Laffite, who hosts a programme on Eurosport (Dimanche F1), Marion Jollès, TF1 presenter (Auto Moto and F1 à la Une) as well as Romain Grosjean who came to do a few laps in the Lotus-Renault R30. Philippe Corsaletti, Total Competitions Manager and Bernard Cambier, French Sales Manager for Renault were all on hand to enjoy the weekend’s events.
Official Renault Sport Press Release.