Le Mans & Racing Forever

I raced at Le Man, 13 times, and each time it was a good one. It was especially good when I did it with Matra because that was the beginning of my career. I finished 3rd in the Matra 670 with Jean- Pierre Jabouille in 1973. Then after that I was very lucky to meet Vern Schuppan who introduced me to John Wyer, so I drove with Vern in the Gulf-Cosworth GR8 in 1975 and again I was 3rd, and the other car won the race at Le Mans that year, with Derek Bell and Jacky Ickx. In 1976 I was in 21st, in the Inaltera-Cosworth with Jean Rondeau and Christine Beckers.

In my 13 races at Le Mans, I have finished only five times, and two times I was 3rd and two times I was 1st. With the Renault-Alpine in 1978 it was absolutely fantastic. It was a nice race with a nice team. I was with Didier Pironi in that race and we worked very well together. That car was very much like a Grand Prix car. The speed on the straight was 350 kph…very fast. In that race we did more than 5000 kilometers. Of course, at that time, there were no chicanes. I think that was my best race , but I also enjoyed many of the others. In 1979 I was with Vern again in the Ford M10, the car of Harley Cluxton, and we had a lot of problems but it was a good race. No, maybe the best was in 1980, in that very small Rondeau team, with very little money, driving with Jean Rondeau.