Arc de Triomphe: Revenge of the Yellow Teapot
Renault began its Formula One adventure back in 1976, but only this year the French carmaker has enjoyed the success of finally clinching a World Championship title as a constructor. Thomas O'Keefe pays tribute to the French manufacturer
And so the 2005 Formula One season ends the way the entire sport of Grand Prix Racing began over 99 years ago when the Automobile Club de L'Ouest held the French Grand Prix near Le Mans on June 26, 1906, and a Renault won the race riding on Michelin tyres.
As in 2005 Formula One racing, in 1906 it was all about quicker pitstops, with the 4-cylinder, 105 horsepower Renault AK 90V benefiting from a Michelin innovation - detachable spare rims already fitted with fully inflated Michelin tyres - which gave Renault a decisive advantage over its competitors, who were still replacing tyres the old-fashioned way by cutting off the worn and hot tyres with knives, muscling on some new rubber and pumping them up with air. Meanwhile, the Michelin-shod Renault was long gone.
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