The World Rally Championship is an international rallying series owned and governed by the FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the second oldest of the FIA's world championships after Formula One. Each season, which lasts one calendar year, separate championship titles are awarded to drivers, co-drivers and manufacturers. There are also two support championships, WRC2 and WRC3, which are contested on the same events and stages as the WRC, but with progressively lower maximum performance and running costs of the cars permitted. Junior WRC is also contested on five events of the World Rally Championship calendar.
Talbot is a dormant automobile marque introduced in 1902 by British-French company Clément-Talbot. The founders, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury and Adolphe Clément-Bayard, reduced their financial interests in their Clément-Talbot business during the First World War.
Patrick André Eugène Joseph Depailler was a racing driver from France. He participated in 95 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 2 July 1972. He also participated in several non-championship Formula One races.
Henri Jacques William Pescarolo is a former racing driver from France. He competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans a record 33 times, winning on four occasions, and won a number of other major sports car events including the 24 Hours of Daytona. He also participated in 64 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, achieving one podium and 12 championship points. Pescarolo also drove in the Dakar Rally in the 1990s, before retiring from racing at the age of 57. In 2000 he set up his eponymous racing team, Pescarolo Sport, which competed in Le Mans until 2013. He wore a distinctive green helmet, and wears a full-face beard that partially covers burns suffered in a crash.
Michèle Hélène Raymonde Mouton is a French former rally driver. Competing in the World Rally Championship for the Audi factory team, she took four victories and finished runner-up in the drivers' world championship in 1982.
Renault Sport or Renaultsport, was the motorsport, performance and special vehicles division for Renault-badged cars and is now a sub-badge of Renault cars managed by Alpine. Renault Sport was officially established in 1976 as a merger between the Alpine and Gordini competition departments. It was reorganised in 2002 and 2016. In December 2021, all Renault Sport operations were merged into an Alpine-led business unit. The Renault Sport car range under Alpine is set to be almost completely phased out by the end of 2023.
Markku Allan Alén is a Finnish former rally and race car driver. He drove for Fiat, Lancia, Subaru and Toyota in the World Rally Championship, and held the record for most stage wins (801) in the series, until Sébastien Loeb overtook it at the 2011 Rally Catalunya. Alén's phrase "now maximum attack" became well-known.
Adriano Panatta is an Italian former professional tennis player. He is a major champion, winning the French Open in 1976, and is the first Italian man in the Open Era to win a major singles title. Panatta was also the only player ever to defeat Björn Borg at Roland Garros, doing so twice.
The Alpine A110 is a sports car produced by French automobile manufacturer Alpine from 1963 to 1977. The car was styled as a "berlinette", which in the post-WWII era refers to a small enclosed two-door berline, better-known as a coupé. The Alpine A110 succeeded the earlier A108. The car was powered by a succession of Renault engines. A car also named Alpine A110 was introduced in 2017.
The Tour de Corse is a rally first held in 1956 on the island of Corsica. It was the French round of the World Rally Championship from the inaugural 1973 season until 2008, was part of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge from 2011 to 2012, and finally returned to WRC in 2015. The name "Tour de Corse" refers to the fact that in the early days it was run around the island; nowadays it only features roads around Ajaccio. The rally is held on asphalt roads, and is known as the "Ten Thousand Turns Rally" because of the twisty mountain roads.
William Bernard Unett was a British racing driver and development engineer, three times winner of the British Saloon Car Championship in 1974, 1976 and 1977.
Sport in France plays an important role in French society, which is reflected in its popularity among the French people and the nation's strong sporting history. Various types of sports are played and followed in France, notably cycling, football, and handball, which has earned France eight victories in world championships and five Olympic medals. France is also the four-time European champion of handball.
Motorsport is a popular sport in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom is a key player in the world of motorsport, hosting rounds of the Formula One World Championship and Grand Prix motorcycle racing, amongst others. It is also the home of many of the current teams in Formula One, such as McLaren, Williams and Aston Martin, while teams such as Red Bull Racing, Mercedes, Alpine and Haas are also based in England. There are also a range of popular national series held such as the British Touring Car Championship and the British GT Championship amongst others. The Motor Sports Association is the official governing body of motorsport in the United Kingdom.
Sports are widely practiced in Austria, both in professional and amateur competitions. The most popular sports are association football, alpine skiing and ice hockey.
The Alpine Rally, also known by its official name Coupe des Alpes, was a rally competition based in Marseille and held from 1932 to 1971. In the 1950s and the 1960s, it was among the most prestigious rallies in the world and featured an international route, consisting of famous mountain passes in Europe.
Jean Vinatier is a French former rally and racing driver. He won the Tour de Corse with a Renault 8 Gordini in 1964 and the Alpine Rally with an Alpine-Renault A110 in 1968 and 1969. In the last Alpine Rally in 1971, he finished second to Bernard Darniche and recorded his third consecutive penalty-free run, becoming the third driver after Ian Appleyard and Stirling Moss to achieve the much-coveted Coupe d'Or.
Louis Meznarie was a French engine expert and a team owner entrant to 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The Scuderia Lancia, which later became the Squadra Corse HF Lancia, is the racing workshop of the Lancia car company, created in 1952 by Gianni Lancia, son of the brand's founder. The Scuderia Lancia officially began competing in motor sports, particularly in rallying, where it distinguished itself in the Carrera Panamericana, the Targa Florio and the Mille Miglia. The team also entered Formula 1 in 1954-1955, without particularly shining. The Squadra Corse bounced back in the World Endurance Championship with three world titles between 1979 and 1981, and in rallying, winning eleven constructors' titles and four drivers' titles between 1974 and 1992. Since the end of 1991, Lancia has ceased all official involvement in motor racing.
French 
