René Jean Metge (23 October 1941 – 3 January 2024) was a French professional rally driver. He won the Dakar Rally three times, in 1981, 1984 and 1986.
Career
Metge began his career in international motor racing in 1973, starting in the Formula Renault 2.0 West European Cup. He scored 28 points in the general classification there. In later years, Metge also appeared in the French Supertouring Championship, FIA World Endurance Championship, World Sportscar Championship, World Touring Car Championship, Porsche 944 Turbo Cup France, 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Spa, and European Touring Car Championship.
Metge also competed in the Dakar Rally, which he won three times: in 1981, 1984 and 1986.
Personal life and death
René Metge was born in Montrouge, German-occupied France on 23 October 1941. René Metge was Coluche's brother-in-law: they were friends as a teenager and he married Daniele, the older sister of him, with whom he started his family.[1]. In 2003 René Metge competed in the Dakar Rally with their daughter Élodie Metge. He died on 3 January 2024 in Longjumeau, at the age of 82.[2] He was buried in the communal cemetery in Saint-Urcize.[3] · [4].
Racing record
Paris-Dakar results
| Year | Category | Crew | Vehicle | Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Car |  Claude Barbier | Range Rover V8 | Ret. |
| 1980 | Truck | Thierry de Saulieu - Georges Landais | Leyland Marathon | 7th |
| 1981 | Car | Bernard Giroux | Range Rover V8 | 1st |
| 1982 | Ret. | |||
| 1983 | Alain Gillot | Ret. | ||
| 1984 | Dominique Lemoyne | Porsche 953 | 1st | |
| 1985 | Porsche 959 | Ret. | ||
| 1986 | 1st | |||
| 1994 | Truck | Pascal Serre -  Livio Diamante | Perlini | 6th |
| 1996 | Car | co-driver of Patrick Tambay | Mitsubishi Pajero | 13th |
| 2002 | co-driver of Johnny Hallyday | Nissan | 49th | |
| 2003 | Élodie Metge[5] | Mercedes ML 430 | 23rd | |
| 2006 | Bernard Chevalier | Nissan | 31st | |
| 2007 | co-driver of Yvan Muller | Buggy Dessoude | 22nd |
24 Hours of Le Mans results
| Year | Team | Car | Co-Drivers | Pos. | Reason | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977[6] | Anne-Charlotte Verney BP |
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR | Anne-Charlotte Verney Dany Snobeck Hubert Striebig |
18th 2nd in Group 5 |
|||
| 1979 | Anne-Charlotte Verney |
Porsche 934 | Anne-Charlotte Verney Patrick Bardinon |
19th | |||
| 1982 |  Cooke Racing - BP |
Porsche 935 K3 | François Sérvanin Dany Snobeck |
5th | |||
| 1984 |  GTi Engineering |
Porsche 956 | Richard Lloyd Nick Mason |
DSQ | unauthorized outside help | ||
| 1986 |  Porsche AG |
Porsche 961 | Claude Ballot-Léna |
7th Class Winner in IMSA GTX |
|||
| 1987 | Porsche AG |
Porsche 961 |  Claude Haldi  Kees Nierop |
DNF | Accident | ||
| Source[7] | |||||||
World Sportscar Championship results
| Season | Team | Racecar | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Anne-Charlotte Verney Elvia |
Porsche 934 Triumph Dolomite |
 United States |
United States |
Italy |
United States |
France |
United States |
 United Kingdom |
Germany |
France |
Italy |
United States |
United States |
 Belgium |
United Kingdom |
United States |
Italy |
 El Salvador |
| 19 | DNF | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1981 | J.M.S.R.T. | BMW 530 | United States |
United States |
Italy |
Italy |
United States |
United Kingdom |
Germany |
France |
Italy |
United States |
United States |
Belgium |
Canada |
United States |
United Kingdom |
||
| DNF | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1982 | Cooke Racing | Porsche 935 | Italy |
United Kingdom |
Germany |
France |
Belgium |
Italy |
 Japan |
United Kingdom |
|||||||||
| 5 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1984 | GTi Engineering | Porsche 956 | Italy |
United Kingdom |
France |
Germany |
United Kingdom |
Canada |
Belgium |
Italy |
Japan |
 South Africa |
 Australia |
||||||
| DNF | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1986 | Porsche | Porsche 961 | Italy |
United Kingdom |
France |
Germany |
United Kingdom |
 Spain |
Germany |
Belgium |
Japan |
||||||||
| 7 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1987 | Porsche | Porsche 961 | Spain |
Spain |
Italy |
United Kingdom |
France |
Germany |
United Kingdom |
Germany |
Belgium |
Japan |
|||||||
| DNF |
Bibliography
- Gilles David & René Metge (28 February 2022). René Metge: Pilote de 7 à 77 ans (in French). Le Voyageur Éditions. ISBN 978-2-36214-048-8.
References
- Paul Rouget (3 January 2024). "Triple vainqueur du Dakar, René Metge s'en est allé" (in French).
- "Le pilote automobile René Metge, triple vainqueur du Dakar, est mort" (in French). France Info. 3 January 2024. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
- Jean Louis Bernardelli (11 January 2024). "René Metge. Les obsèques". Motoservices (in French).
- Gilles Gaignault (19 January 2024). "A STE URCIZE, L'ULTIME DÉPART POUR RENÉ METGE CE 19 JANVIER 2024". auto moto newsinfo (in French)..
- Daughter of René Metge
- Thierry Chargé. "24h du Mans 1977 Hubert Striebig 2ème du Groupe 5". les24heures.fr.
- "René Metge". 24h-en-piste.com.
External links
- René Metge career summary at DriverDB.com