Rondeau M482
The Rondeau M482 was a sports car prototype that was developed by Automobiles Jean Rondeau in 1982 and was used in sports car races until 1987.
Development history and technology
In 1982, a team of engineers led by Jean Rondeau developed the first real Group C Rondeau, the M482. The predecessor model, the M382 , was largely based on the most successful rondeau type, the M379 . While Don Foster was designing a new chassis, the French racing car designer and aerodynamicist Max Sardou constructed a very round, almost voluminous body. A special feature of the racing car was the rear. A so-called Venturi channel that should use the Venturi effect to provide more contact pressure on the rear axle. As innovative as the car looked at first glance, it was also badly designed. In order to make the large tunnel possible, the exhaust pipe was led past the radiators on the left and right of the car. Due to this design, the function of the cooler was largely restricted, which led to constant overheating of the engines. A heat shield placed between the exhaust pipes and the radiator could alleviate the problems, but never completely eliminate them.
The 3.9-liter DFL V8 engine from Cosworth was used as the power unit. Even during the test drives, there was considerable wear and tear on the robust units; a fact that was no less in racing.
Racing history
The M482 was first used in racing in 1982. Jean Rondeau and François Migault drove chassis 001 in the 6-hour race at Silverstone . The duo already experienced a fiasco in training. The fastest in training, Jacky Ickx in the works - Porsche 956 , who achieved a pole position time of 1.16.910, was 16 seconds short. The factory M382 with Henri Pescarolo at the wheel was 12 seconds faster and even Christian Bussi's private M382 was more than a second missing. In the race, the early end came after 60 laps due to suspension damage. It stayed with this one race report in 1982.
At the end of the 1982 sports car season , Jean Rondeau had withdrawn from sports car racing at the factory. In addition to disputes with the FIA , a lack of financial resources was a second motivation to end motorsport in this form.
Ford France acquired the three existing chassis in early 1983 in order to be able to put the vehicles to the start of the Le Mans 24 Hours of that year . The engagement turned into a disaster. Even during training, the M482 were far too slow on the long straights due to the high ground effect on the rear axle. All three cars retired early in the race. The car of Jean-Pierre Jaussaud and Philippe Streiff had an irreparable oil leak after 12 rounds. The vehicle of Jean Rondeau and the Ferté brothers Alain and Michel stopped after 90 laps an engine failure and Henri Pescarolo and Thierry Boutsen finished the race after driving 174 laps; Reason: also an engine failure.
Ford sold the three chassis to private teams at the end of the year. Until 1987 at least one M482 was at Le Mans every year. The last appearance also ensures the best placement in the overall ranking. In 1987 , Jean-Philippe Grand , Gaston Rahier and Jacques Terrien finished twelfth in chassis 001 registered by Graff Racing, but 95 laps behind the victorious Porsche 962C of Hans-Joachim Stuck , Derek Bell and Al Holbert .
literature
- Thomas Nehlert, Group C: The sports car races 1982-1992 , Verlag Petrolpics, Bonn 2011, ISBN 3-940306-14-2 .
