Reliable Renaults too good

Press, 4 March 1980, Page 30

Reliable Renaults too good

NZPA-Reuter . Kyalami The Renaults are reliable at last, and after Rene . Arnoux’s comprehensive victory in the South African Grand Prix on Saturday the rest of the Formula • One - teams are wondering how they can catch the runaway Frenchmen, Amoux made it tvyb in a row by adding the Kyar. lami race to his victory in Brazil last month, and he now leads the chase for the driver’s championship after three of the season’s 16 events.

> The small,, smiling, 31-year-old’s triumphs were marred by bitter disappointment for his senior teammate, Jean-Pierre Jabouille, who broke down in Brazil and had a puncture at Kyalami, both times when iii the lead and cruising towards certain! victory. In spite of that, the turbo-charged Renaults have stamped their supremacy on the grand prix circuits this season, after countless breakdowns last year. Amoux was followed

hom at Kyalami by the Ligiers of fellow Frenchmen Jacques Laffite in second place and Didier Pironi in third. Nelson Piquet of Brazil was fourth in a Brabham and the Argentinian, Carlos Reutemann, fifth in a Williams. w , However, Laffite was never closer than about .three seconds behind the ' bright yellow machines of Arnoux and Jabouille, and in practice the Renaults were almost two seconds quicker than the next-fast-est qualifier. What makes the French

cars so speedy is their tu r b o-chargers, which force-feed air into the carburettor. Even though their engine capacity is only-1.5 litres — half that of the 3-litre standard cars — the turbos help them develop up to 100 horsepower more than the conventional machines. At Kyalami the 2000 m altitude was an added advantage to the Renaults. By boosting the turbo units they were able to overcome the handicap of thin air which slowed the regular cars.