Born: October 23, 1941
Deceased: January 3 2024
Biography René Metge
René Metge’s career began at the wheel of a Bugatti in the backyard of one of his father’s friends at the age of 7. Little did they know that that would cars would mean so much in the future of the young kid. From motorcycle circuits to racetracks, from asphalt to dunes, from mechanics to stars, co-founder of the legendary Paris-Dakar Rally, and 3X winner, Le Mans 24H. It didn’t matter in what car, or what race, René Metge wanted to race, and win.
René Metge was born in Montrouge, where he spent his youth. He met other fanatic car and race fans, and the passion for motorcycles of one of his friends, Michel Colucci aka Coluche, whose sister he later married.
Metge made a brilliant race debut in 1972, winning the then-popular R12 Gordini Cup. With the title in his pocket, he moved on to single-seater racing in Formula France Europe, the antechamber to single-seater racing – F3, F2, and Formula 1: a race discipline where that raised many champions that even made it to the highest level in motorsport: Jean Pierre Jabouille, René Arnoux, Jacques Lafitte, Didier Pironi, Patrick Tambay and Alain Prost, among others.
Rally and Paris-Dakar
From 1975 onwards, René took part in the Supertourisme championship at the wheel of a Triumph Dolomite, winning the French championship in 1976 and 1978. In January 1979, he took part in the very first Paris-Alger-Dakar rally created by Thierry Sabine, driving a Range Rover with Patrick Barbier. But he didn’t get on with the northerner and got off the Range… in the heart of the Sahara!
As a result, Sabine picked him up with his Toyota and entrusted him with the driving of one of the Peugeot 504s, from the doctors who followed the race! This marked the beginning of a love affair with Africa, which was rewarded with three victories. His first win in the Paris-Dakar rally was in 1981, sharing the wheel of a Range Rover with Bernard Giroux.
Metge and Porsche
In 1984 Rene Metge and Dominique Lemoine shared the wheel of a Rothmans Porsche 953. That car was a 911 Carrerra 3.2, fitted with all-wheel driven and many of the rally’s characteristic reinforcements under the official name of Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 4×4 Paris-Dakar. Internally, the car was simply called 953.
In addition to Metge and Lemoine, 2 more Porsches started in the Paris-Dakar Rally. One was shared by Jacky Ickx and Claude Brasseur. The other had Porsche project manager Roland Kussmaul and Erich Lerner at the wheel. Jacky Ickx and René Metge would race for victory. The Kussmaul/Lerner duo would take to the track in a fast assistance car.
In the end, Metge and Demoine took the overall victory. Jacky Ickx climbed from 139th to sixth place, while Roland Kussmaul finished a respectable 26th. The combine results gave Porsche first place in the team standings.
2 years later, in 1986 Metge repeated the success with Lemoine and Porsche. His status as an official Porsche driver and his talents as a set-up engineer enabled him to take part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
In 1987, René Metge added another string to his bow. After the tragic death of the Boss (Thierry Sabine), who died on January 14, 1986, in the helicopter crash that also claimed the life of Daniel Balavoine, René became the director of the Dakar Rally. Between 1990 and 1992, he organized the Harricana snowmobile raid in Canada’s far north. Finally, in 1992, with the financial support of the Japanese MAPS, he organized the Paris-Moscow-Peking Rally.
Pictures courtesy unknown and Porsche AG
