Complete Description
- Driven during the 1982 season by René Arnoux and Alain Prost
- Driven by René Arnoux in the 1982 British Grand Prix
- Sold directly by the manufacturer, with its period logbook!
- Heart-stirring original condition
Ten pole positions and four victories! A superb set of results for the 1982 season, the best Renault had achieved since the start of its foray into turbocharging. The company owed this success to the RE30 B, an evolution of the RE30, which had appeared the previous year and had demonstrated its superior performance, in particular in comparison to naturally-aspirated engines, in the hands of René Arnoux and a new arrival at the company, Alain Prost. The turbo was definitely the right choice, as the rest of the story would confirm.
RE30-B9 presented here is an interim version of this outstanding machine, before the RE 40 in 1983. Based on the RE 33 from 1981 and introduced in June 1982, it was used for numerous tests, driven by both Arnoux and Prost, before competing in its first Grand Prix, the British GP in September.
Exceptionally, the car comes with its racing binder, a logbook in the true sense of the term recording each time the car was taken out on track, the distance covered, the set-up used and the drivers’ comments. It provides an extremely valuable common thread, which is rarely (if ever) available and offers a precise account of the car’s career in testing and in racing, supplementing the information in the excellent book Renault F1, Les années turbo (1991, Jean-Louis Moncet, Bernard Dudot, Jean Sage). At the end of the British Grand Prix, the logbook records a total of 2887km.
RE30-B9 first took to the track on 24 June 1982 at the Brands Hatch circuit in England, for private testing. Arnoux covered 43 laps for all kinds of set-up work. The tests continued the following day, focusing on the set-up of the spoilers and suspension.
Next came a change of scene, when the car went to the Paul Ricard track for further private testing from 28–30 June. This time, Prost was at the wheel, but on the first day he suffered from various engine problems which led him to conclude that “it runs, but picks up poorly after braking.” The following day was given over to calibrating the suspension and testing tyres, and the car was timed at 316kph on the Mistral straight. On the third day of this session, Prost carried out endurance tests, covering a total of 77 laps.
After Paul Ricard, it was off to Hockenheim, where RE30-B9 was once again driven by Prost, from 5–7 July. The car was fitted with carbon brake discs and pads, causing Prost to remark: “The brakes are OK, but surprising.” After testing the suspension and spoilers, he concentrated on the brakes and then tried out various tyres. On the second day, he continued the tyre tests, before embarking on numerous adjustments to the suspension and shock absorbers, racking up an impressive total of 83 laps.
Finally, the last circuit at which the RE30-B9 appeared was Brands Hatch, where this time Arnoux took the wheel for the British Grand Prix. Some improvements had been made to the car, but Arnoux spent part of the first day of testing, on 17 July 1982, trying to overcome its excessive understeer. The next day, he finally had a car with “a bit less understeer” and his best time put him in sixth place on the grid, ahead of his team-mate Prost, who was eighth. Unfortunately, the race was not kind to him and he suffered a collision at the start with Riccardo Patrese and Teo Fabi, seriously damaging the car.
RE30-B9 entered the collection at the end of the 1982 season and was restored to go on static display; it is presented as it raced in the British Grand Prix, driven by Arnoux, with the racing number 16 and its blue nose-cone. With its riveted aluminium bodyshell, (incomplete) 1.5-litre twin-turbo V6 no. 99T, Hewland gearbox, fibreglass bodywork and various mechanical components, its authenticity is undeniable. The dashboard makes do with a handful of switches next to a rev counter reading up to 12,000rpm and a turbo boost gauge, behind a steering wheel which shows signs of being used in competition.
Thanks to the numerous tests it was involved in with the team’s two drivers, RE30-B9 contributed to the success of the RE 30 B and to the rise of the Renault team during the 1982 season. It represents a rare chance to acquire a single-seater from the glory years of the turbos, a car which is remarkably authentic, sold directly by the manufacturer, which has looked after it meticulously since the end of its racing career.
Crédit photos © Peter Singhof
