RSS Share 17/11/2005
Renault – Winning Championships over the decades

Renault F1 has been basking in the spotlight recently after winning the highest accolade in motorsport - the FIA Formula One Constructors' and Drivers' World Championships.

But as far back as 1906 Renault was winning races at the highest level - most notably with Hungarian Ferenc Szisz who won the first ever recognised Grand Prix in 1906 driving the Renault AK 90CV.

The race started on Tuesday 26th June 1906 at Le Mans and competitors were released every 45 seconds in their monster one-tonne-plus cars.

All repairs had to be carried out by the driver and his riding mechanic - including tyre changes, which is where Renault had an advantage, thanks to Michelin. The intense heat and sharp stones rapidly destroyed the rubber of the tyres and the established process of replacing them was a time-consuming chore. Most drivers had to cut off the tyres with knives, tear away pieces of rubber melted into the rims, lever on new tyres and tubes, pump them up and then restart - taking approximately 15 minutes.

Renault, Fiat and Italia had Michelin detachable rims, which allowed a tyre change to be made in two minutes without much effort. The spare rims were already fitted with fully inflated tyres and they are simply placed on the wheels and secured with eight nuts.

The race was run in daylight only over two successive days and was open to all manufacturers with a limit of three cars per firm. On the start of the second day only 17 of the original 32 competitors remained and Szicz had a 26 minutes lead. He easily maintained it with an average speed of 62.8mph over 770.5 miles.

This famous win will be celebrated next year by Renault UK and details will be released first on www.renaultsport.co.uk.