Les Sept magnifiques

Jean-Claude Andruet

Born in Montreuil, 1942. Ebullient and eccentric. Joined in ’67. Won ’68 Index of Performance at Le Mans. European Rally Champion, ’70. Won Monte in ’73. Spent 10 years with Italian cars from ’74.

Bernard Darniche

Born in Cenon, 1942. Externally pessimistic, internally motivated. Joined in ’70. Won Corsica. French Champion of ’72. Won Morocco and Austrian Alpine, ’73. Spent eight years with Italian makes. Retired ’84.

Gerard Larrausse

Born in Lyons, 1940. Precise. Preference for Tarmac. Joined in ’67. Broken conrod denied Coupe des Alpes win. Won ’68 French title by one point. Moved over to Porsche, ’69. Racing main thrust thereafter.

Jean-Pierre Nicolas

Born in Marseilles, 1945. Son of ex-works Renault driver. Joined in ’68. Stepped up when Larrousse and Piot left. Champion of France, ’71. Won ’73 Corsica. Left after ’75. Today guides Peugeot’s WRC effort.

Jean-Francois Piot

Born in Paris, 1938. Thoughtful. Superb in fog. Joined in ’67. Won San Remo and Munich-ViennaBudapest. Car cost him Monte, Coupe des Alpes and San Remo wins, ’68. Fatal crash on Atlas Rally.

Jean-Luc Therier

Born in Neufchatel-en-Bray, 1945. Amazing on ice. Joined in ’69. Won Acropolis, ’70, and Portugal, Acropolis and San Remo, ’73. Not competed since ’85 Paris-Dakar crash.

Jean Vinatier

Born in Paris, 1933. Good tactician. Joined in ’64. Won Coupe des Alpes in ’68, ’69 and ’71. Ran Ford France’s Motorsport programme. Now FFSA technical advisor.