Guy Fréquelin

Guy Fréquelin
Personal information
Nationality France French
Born (1945-04-02) 2 April 1945
Langres
World Rally Championship record
Active years 1973–1987
Co-driver France Jean Todt
Teams Talbot, Opel
Rallies 35
Championships 0
Rally wins 1
Podiums 7
Stage wins 35
Total points 150
First rally 1973 Tour de Corse
First win 1981 Rally Argentina
Last rally 1987 San Remo Rally

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

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, Frequelin 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.

References

  1. Edstrom, Christian (2008-03-18). "Todt Bucked!". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
  2. 1 2 3 Schilke, Nancy Knapp (2007-11-08). "Citroen boss Guy Frequelin steps down". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
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