Death of René Metge – Three cars that made his legend

1 Range Rover

Think of a reference 4×4, and it’s probably a Range Rover that will pop into your mind. The British vehicle, renowned for its robustness, was led to victory by René Metge and his navigator Bernard Giroux during the Paris-Algiers-Dakar Rally 1981. Nothing could be more normal than the driver in the cowboy hat setting his sights on a “Range”: he ran a dealership dedicated to manufacturers from across the Channel in the near Paris suburbs at that time.

However, René Metge came close to losing the event. During the eighth stage, a broken steering bar and a faulty gearbox caused him to lose several tens of minutes! On his Lada Niva, Jean-CLaude Briavoine is closing in on just two minutes behind the leader. Ultimately, the Range Rover will be the most resistant on fesh-fesh and dried-out shrub tracks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0TeG1IHEBo

2. Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 4×4 Paris-Dakar

It's not his car, nor his project, but René Metge brought the legendary German manufacturer its only two successes at the Paris-Dakar. If the Frenchman, now sailed by Dominique Lemoyne, found himself at the wheel of this Porsche 911 profoundly modified for use in the desert (raised ground clearance, widened tracks, all-wheel drive inherited from the Audi Quattro, etc.), this is thanks to the express request of… Jacky Ickx.

" Sir Le Mans » simply chose from the list of drivers the one who seemed most suitable to be part of the official Porsche team. The bet is a winner. While Ickx breaks his mechanics as soon as he enters Africa, René Metge keeps a steady tempo without asking too much of his machine. The lightness of the coupe as well as its rear overhang engine are two big differences compared to the 4x4s that roam the bivouac. Metge and Lemoyne won in 1984.

3 Porsche 959

A Group B car before its time, the Porsche 959 is more efficient than the 911 in all respects. Engineers reinforced the suspension with double shock absorbers on the front axle. If the terrain surface does not require all-wheel drive, the electro-hydraulically controlled center differential distributes power variably between the front and rear axle. The Porsche can thus reach a speed of 210 km/h with a turbocharged engine exceeding 400 horsepower.

Defeated in 1985 (with an old 911 engine), Porsche returned with 959s duly completed the following year. Still flanked by Dominique Lemoyne, René Metge found himself with his feet in the mud near the finish of the 16th stage in Saint-Louis (Senegal). A remarkable but benign sequence in the general classification as the French driver's lead was substantial, to be relive below in the voice of Jacky Ickx:

Besides the desert, René Metge drove a Porsche derived from the 959 on a much smoother surface: the asphalt of the 24 Hours of Le Mans circuit. Credited with six starts in Sarthe between 1977 and 1987, the Ile-de-France native drove the Porsche 961 with Claude Ballot-Léna in 1986 (7th) then Kees Nierop and Claude Haldi a year later (abandonment, fire).

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