When the name Winfield is mentioned, René Arnoux’s face lights up. The man has retained a deep affection for the school and an admiration for its founders.
His gaze, his voice, everything is filled with emotion when René Arnoux talks about his experience at Winfield, back in 1972. “I had done a lot of karting and had been selected by the French national team many times, but that didn’t mean much, except that you were fairly good,” he recalls. “Beyond that, you couldn’t hope for financial support from the karting federation, and even less to help to move up to single-seaters. That’s why with my father, we looked into racing schools. We were pointed to several—Le Mans, Magny-Cours, Paul Ricard. It was Gérard Crombac, a journalist we met on some occasion, who advised us about the schools because we had no money. According to him, the best was Winfield, at Magny-Cours, because it was the most difficult. We chose it immediately, thinking: if we win, we continue; if we lose, we stop everything!”
For the young man from Grenoble (France), there was nothing more beautiful than a single-seater. It was all his dreams were about. “With my father, we left Grenoble in the Ami 8 at 4:00 a.m. on Saturday morning. I had my karting suit and my cork helmet covered in vinyl. I was doing my sessions on Saturday and Sunday. We were sleeping in the car to save money. On Sunday, we had to head back immediately after. There were a limited number of laps, which was great because it leveled the playing field between those who could afford more laps and the rest of us. In fact, we were so careful with my father that I didn’t even do the maximum number of laps. I made it to the final without driving as much as I could have, but since I was outperforming everyone every time, I figured there was no need.”
Liked by his instructors Tico Martini, Mike, and Richard Knight, René felt at ease in this school where, above all, he had fun. “As soon as I could go into the cockpit, I had a big smile on my face,” he says with a nostalgic smile. “Coming from karting, I would always do things that weren’t exactly by the book. My lap times were great, but my drifting into corners wasn’t the best example for other pupils. I still tried to correct myself to make it to the final. The atmosphere was extraordinary, and we were all on equal footing. Also, you couldn’t separate the Winfield school from Tico Martini, who built those beautiful cars.”
Tico Martini would play an important role in the career of the 1973 Volant Shell winner! “Shell completely abandoned me after my victory in Formula Renault Europe. At the end of 1973, I was supposed to go directly to F2, but Shell didn’t keep their promise. Tico then helped me so I could compete in Super Formula Renault. Without him, my career would have ended there.”
René Arnoux 1977 European F2 Champion, driving a MK22
From that lean period, the future Grand Prix winner now only remembers the positives. “A small truck, a top-notch mechanic for the chassis, and me taking care of the engines and gearboxes… It was tough because we lived only on prize money. When I returned to Saint-Parize-le-Châtel (France) after a race weekend, the shopkeepers would say to me: So, René, are we putting it on your tab or paying today? Since I had won, I paid for the rice and chipolatas (laughs). That’s how it was. I enjoyed the good times in F1, but it’s thanks to those years that I had this career. Thanks to Winfield!” Winfield, which is being reinvented under the leadership of Frédéric Garcia, hasn’t given up on the idea of a Volant. To René Arnoux’s great delight, he would love “to be able to write ‘thank you Winfield’ in giant letters across the sky!”.
René Arnoux during his first season in F1 with Martini, driving a MK23
Photo credits: ©DR / Classic Days / Autodiva
