Competition car Unregistered

Chassis no. RE 60-05 Engine no.

- Indisputable history, owned by Renault from new

- Part of one of the most fascinating periods in the history of F1

- Worthwhile project

-  No reserve

After narrowly missing out on the title in 1983, Renault got back into the running the following year with its new RE 50 car and EF4 engine, which had been adapted to comply with the new regulations stipulating a limit of 220 litres of fuel per Grand Prix. Driven by Patrick Tambay and Derek Warwick, the car struggled, however, to make its mark, even though the Renault engine put in a creditable performance, as was shown by the good results posted by Lotus, who also used the French V6 turbo. Lotus remained faithful to it in 1985, as did Ligier and – for the first time – Tyrrell, the last team to give up naturally-aspirated engines.

 

For the 1985 season, Renault reshuffled the cards and the team had a new face, as Gérard Larrousse, Renault Sport’s director since the start of the V6 turbo, made way for Gérard Toth, who declared in L'Automobile Magazine that his job “to begin with, was to get things back on an even keel and win a certain number of Grands Prix.” The drivers were the same as in 1984, Tambay and Warwick.

The technical team set to work and created the RE 60, a particularly well resolved single-seater with an attractive streamlined shape derived from its predecessor, but with its radiators differently positioned in the side pods. The regulations for 1985 were even more restrictive, as the quantity of fuel was now limited to 195 litres for each Grand Prix. Bernard Dudot’s team therefore developed a new version of the V6 turbo, known as the EF15, which, in qualifying trim, was capable of producing up to 1000bhp.

 

Despite this, these efforts were not enough to reach the intended level. The RE 60 displayed real qualities, but the team perhaps lacked the motivation of the early turbo years, when they had to prove to the entire world the legitimacy of the technology that would become ubiquitous in Formula 1. The first Grand Prix of the year, in Brazil, ended with a fifth place for Tambay and tenth for Warwick, but although their hopes were renewed in Portugal with Tambay’s third-place finish, he only achieved a similar result one more time, at Imola. Warwick fared no better and his best results were two fifth-place finishes, at Monaco and Silverstone.

Once again, the engine was not really to blame, as it performed very well with Lotus: Ayrton Senna claimed eight pole positions and two victories, in Portugal and Belgium, while his team-mate Elio De Angelis also won one race, at San Marino. At the end of the season, Renault was seventh in the World Championship, Lotus finishing fourth and Ligier-Renault sixth. But Georges Besse, Renault’s chairman, did not wait for this result, and at the end of August, he announced the French company’s withdrawal from Formula 1. As is well known, Renault continued as an engine supplier, before taking over a racing team in the 2000s and finally winning the long-awaited world title.

 

The RE-60-05 presented here is one of the eight RE 60s built by Renault Sport, all of which remained with the manufacturer, except for two bodyshells supplied to Henri Julien, the founder of AGS, who used them to produce two F1 single-seaters. It made its first appearance in the middle of the 1985 season and was part of Renault Sport’s epic story, driven by Patrick Tambay and Derek Warwick.

During 1986, once its racing career was over, it was delivered to Renault's Public Relations department, to join the company’s Heritage collection. It is the only RE 60, along with the RE 60-01B also offered at this auction, on the market, the other examples remaining with Renault’s Heritage department.

 

Partly dismantled at some point to be restored, it is presented in its yellow, white and black paintwork, but without any other markings. Its bodywork and mechanical components appear to be virtually complete, and it represents a sound basis for an overall restoration which would enable it to take part in the top demonstrations and historic races. Even though it did not come out on top in period when faced with other high-level teams, the RE 60 remains a sophisticated racing car and was among the serious contenders in the 1985 season. This example is a rare witness to the turbo era in Formula 1, one of the most exciting chapters in its history.