Jean Ragnotti celebrates his 79th birthday: "My pleasure was driving. I didn't care about titles"

Hello Jean Ragnotti! We are in Dijon-Prenois, for the 50th anniversary of the circuit, and we tried to find a car that symbolized your career, and we discovered this Renault, a little special…

Yes, it’s “my” car in a way! It's an R5 TS Monte-Carlo limited series from 1978. Renault launched it to celebrate my second place in the Monte-Carl' with the R5 Alpine Group 2. Its four-cylinder only developed 137 horsepower and yet we gave Jean-Pierre Nicolas a cold sweat on his Porsche 911! As a result, Renault took over the colors of sponsor Calberson for this special series. Ah but I recognize this copy, I signed it with a permanent marker! (He will then sign the hood of a Renault Kangoo which passed near him. Editor’s note)

You are also known for your jokes. Some are known, but I would like you to shed some light on the outcome of the 1970 French Rally Championship, because I find it hard to believe it...

However, this is the reality. I was an amateur driver on an Opel Kadett, with only one support vehicle and one mechanic. I was leading the championship ahead of Jean-Claude Andruet, official driver Alpine. We were on the Tour de Corse, a race where the straights can be counted on the fingers of one hand. I saw one, about 200 meters long, at the end of which stood a group of journalist friends. The road made a left turn that closed, followed by a tight "right"