#0268 René Arnoux and Gilles Villeneuve

#16 Renault RS10
Rene Arnoux
3rd place

#12 Ferrari 312T4
Gilles Villeneuve
2nd place

It was the perfect race for René Arnoux at Dijon in 1979. It started disastrously after he lost his second grid position in the French Grand Prix to arch-rivals Ferrari and Williams, only to find himself in ninth place at the first corner. But Arnoux fought back and took advantage of his Renault Turbo engine. With three laps to go he was tyre-to-tyre with Gilles Villeneuve, who had been in the lead for a long time. The position changed several times until Villeneuve finished just seconds ahead of Arnoux. In terms of intensity and mutual respect, however, it was perhaps one of the best racing duels of all time in Formula 1. Jabouille won, Villeneuve was second, but Arnoux captured the hearts of his fans by storm.