Guy Fréquelin

Guy Fréquelin (born 2 April 1945 at Langres) is a former French rally and sports car driver.

Guy Fréquelin
Guy Fréquelin in 2007
Personal information
Nationality French
Born (1945-04-02) 2 April 1945
Langres
World Rally Championship record
Active years19731985, 1987
Co-driver Jean Todt
TeamsTalbot, Opel
Rallies35
Championships0
Rally wins1
Podiums7
Stage wins35
Total points150
First rally1973 Tour de Corse
First win1981 Rally Argentina
Last rally1987 San Remo Rally

Biography

Perhaps Fréquelin's finest hour as a driver came when he finished runner-up only to Ari Vatanen, alongside then-navigator Jean Todt, at the wheel of a briefly competitive Sunbeam Lotus Talbot in the driver's classification of the 1981 World Rally Championship.[1][2] It was during that year that he collected his only individual rally victory in the series, in Rally Argentina.[2]

Fréquelin's Opel Manta 400 at the Race Retro 2008.

Fréquelin was also part of a four-car Renault assault on the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1977 with their highly successful Alpine Renault A442B. As part of a team which included the French racing drivers, Jean-Pierre Jabouille, Jacques Laffite, Patrick Depailler, Patrick Tambay, Jean-Pierre Jaussaud, René Arnoux and Didier Pironi, as well as the English long distance expert Derek Bell, Fréquelin was named as the third driver for both the #7 Tambay/Jaussaud and the #16 Arnoux/Pironi machines. Neither cars were to finish the race. Tambay and Jaussaud eventually retired after just 158 laps with engine troubles to blame, while the sister #16 Arnoux/Pironi car was immediately out, with no laps registered to its name, after a turbo oil seal caused a fire. Fréquelin, though, was to return to the Sarthe circuit for the 1981 race, paired with countryman Roger Dorchy in the #5 WM P79/80 Peugeot. Again, though, he scored only a DNF after an engine fire forced the pair's exit after 46 laps.

In more recent years, Fréquelin has held a position as Team Principal at the Citroën Total World Rally Team. He retired at the end of 2007.[2] In this position he oversaw the four consecutive world championship titles of Sébastien Loeb and an impressive number of victories in the Paris Dakar and in WRC, with cars such as the ZX, the Xsara and the C4.

In rallying circles he is nicknamed the Grizzly.

WRC victories

 #  Event Season Co-driver Car
1 3º Rally Codasur 1981 Jean Todt Talbot Sunbeam Lotus
Source:[3]

Racing record

Complete WRC results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 WDC Pts
1973 Audi - NSU France Audi 80 MON SWE POR KEN MOR GRE POL FIN AUT ITA USA GBR FRA
Ret
N/A
1974 Guy Fréquelin Alfa Romeo Alfetta MON
C
SWE
C
POR KEN GRE
C
FIN ITA CAN USA GBR FRA
10
N/A
1975 Guy Fréquelin Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV MON
8
SWE KEN GRE MOR POR FIN ITA FRA GBR N/A
1976 Guy Fréquelin Porsche 911 Carrera MON
7
SWE POR KEN GRE MOR FIN ITA N/A
Opel Kadett GT/E FRA
Ret
GBR
1977 Guy Fréquelin Alpine A310 1800 MON
Ret
SWE POR KEN NZL GRE FIN CAN NC 0
Renault 5 Alpine ITA
Ret
FRA GBR
1978 Guy Fréquelin Renault 5 Alpine MON
3
SWE KEN POR GRE FIN CAN ITA NC 0
Renault Elf Gitanes CIV
5
FRA GBR
1979 Guy Fréquelin Renault 5 Alpine MON
8
SWE POR KEN GRE NZL FIN CAN ITA FRA GBR CIV 54th 3
1980 Talbot Sport Talbot Sunbeam Lotus MON
Ret
SWE 8th 34
Talbot Cars GB POR
3
KEN GRE ARG FIN NZL ITA
4
GBR
3
CIV
Talbot Cars GB FRA
Ret
1981 Talbot Sport Talbot Sunbeam Lotus MON
2
SWE POR
6
FRA
2
GRE
4
ARG
1
BRA
2
FIN ITA
Ret
GBR
Ret
2nd 89
Marshalls (EA) Ltd. Peugeot 504 Coupé V6 KEN
Ret
SARI Peugeot CIV
5
1982 Esso Porsche 911 SC MON
4
SWE POR KEN 12th 16
Alméras / Esso FRA
6
GRE NZL BRA FIN ITA CIV
Peugeot Talbot Sport Talbot Sunbeam Lotus GBR
11
1983 Rothmans Opel Rally Team Opel Ascona 400 MON
Ret
SWE POR KEN NC 0
Opel Manta 400 FRA
Ret
GRE NZL ARG FIN ITA CIV GBR
1984 Opel Euro Team Opel Manta 400 MON SWE POR KEN
Ret
FRA
9
GRE NZL ARG FIN ITA CIV GBR 53rd 2
1985 Opel Euro Team Opel Manta 400 MON SWE POR KEN FRA
Ret
GRE NZL ARG FIN ITA CIV GBR NC 0
1987 GM Euro Sport Opel Kadett GSI 16V MON SWE POR KEN FRA
Ret
GRE USA NZL ARG FIN CIV ITA
6
GBR 36th 6

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1977 J. Haran de Chaunac Didier Pironi
René Arnoux
Renault Alpine A442 S
+2.0
0 DNF DNF
1978 Equipe Renault Elf Sport Calberson Jean Ragnotti
José Dolhem
Jean-Pierre Jabouille
Renault Alpine A442A S
+2.0
358 4th 4th
1980 WM Esso Roger Dorchy WM P79/80-Peugeot GTP 316 4th 2nd
1981 WM A.E.R.E.M. Roger Dorchy
Xavier Mathiot
WM P79/80-Peugeot GTP
+3.0
46 DNF DNF
1982 WM Esso Roger Dorchy
Alain Couderc
WM P82-Peugeot C 112 DNF DNF
Source:[4]

References

  1. Edstrom, Christian (2008-03-18). "Todt Bucked!". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
  2. Schilke, Nancy Knapp (2007-11-08). "Citroen boss Guy Frequelin steps down". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
  3. "3. Rally Codasur 1981". ewrc-results. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
  4. "All Results of Guy Fréquelin". RacingSportCars. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.