1976-1983: Pescarolo and Rondeau, a new French challenge – After taking three straight wins with Matra (1972-74), followed by a short stint with Ligier (1975), Henri Pescarolo made French history for the second time with Rondeau. He drove the Le Mans-based manufacturer’s prototype seven times between 1976 and 1983. In ‘76, Pescarolo was paired with Jean-Pierre Beltoise and finished eighth overall, also claiming the class win. They then came tenth in 1979. Pescarolo only saw the chequered flag at the wheel of a Rondeau on those two occasions, but the inspiring French driver and constructor left a lasting impression on “the man in the green helmet”: “We had a very close, very deep relationship. Jean has a very endearing personality. He was extremely passionate. His appetite for victory was just as strong as Jean-Luc Lagardère’s at Matra, but his motivation was different, pretty unique in fact: he’d decided to build his cars himself because he couldn’t find one that suited him.”

PHOTO (LOUIS MONNIER/ACO): PARIS EXPO (PARIS, FRANCE), RETROMOBILE, 5-9 FEBRUARY 2020 – At the 1981 24 Hours of Le Mans, Pescarolo shared driving duties with Patrick Tambay at the wheel of the Rondeau seen here on the ACO stand as part of an exhibition entitled “Henri Pescarolo, the Le Mans man”.

1980: Rondeau, two victories for the legend – Forty years ago, Jean Rondeau rose to the challenge that had so appealed to Pescarolo and finally won the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the wheel of his own car. That year, there were three Rondeau prototypes on the grid. Pesarolo and Jean Ragnotti drove the #15 car, Rondeau shared the wheel with Jean-Pierre Jaussaud in #16, while Belgian brothers Jean-Michel and Philippe Martin teamed up with Brit Gordon Spice in #14 . The #15 started from pole and stayed out front in the battle for victory and at 11pm, Pescarolo/Ragnotti and Jaussaud/Rondeau held the first two places. However, when #15 was forced to retire with engine issues an hour and a half later, the #16 went into a head-to-head with the Porsche driven by Jacky Ickx and Reinhold Joest. The Rondeau ultimately took the lead when the Belgian and the German fell foul to gearbox problems just before 10am on Sunday morning. Having started from 19th on the grid, the #17 car moved into the top 5 in the tenth hour and settled into third place nine hours later after a long fight against the De Cadenet #8 prototype and the #70 Porsche 935. The race ended in triumph for the Le Mans based driver/constructor who, after Pescarolo/Ragnotti’s pole position, took the win and put a second class winner on the third step of the podium.

PHOTOS ABOVE AND BELOW (PETER SINGHOF FOR ARTCURIAL MOTORCARS) - Third overall at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1980 and victorious in its class (GTP), the Rondeau driven by the Martin brothers and Gordon Spice went under the hammer at the Artcurial Motorcars auction. Like the Rondeau/Jaussaud that won in 1980 and the car on show on the ACO stand, it had a 3-litre Ford-Cosworth V8 engine, developed for Formula One.