René Metge
French rally driver (1941–2024)
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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 | Range Rover V8 | Ret. | |
| 1980 | Truck | Leyland Marathon | 7th | |
| 1981 | Car | Range Rover V8 | 1st | |
| 1982 | Ret. | |||
| 1983 | Ret. | |||
| 1984 | Porsche 953 | 1st | ||
| 1985 | Porsche 959 | Ret. | ||
| 1986 | 1st | |||
| 1994 | Truck | Perlini | 6th | |
| 1996 | Car | co-driver of | Mitsubishi Pajero | 13th |
| 2002 | co-driver of | Nissan | 49th | |
| 2003 | Mercedes ML 430 | 23rd | ||
| 2006 | Nissan | 31st | ||
| 2007 | co-driver of | Buggy Dessoude | 22nd |
24 Hours of Le Mans results
| Year | Team | Car | Co-Drivers | Pos. | Reason | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977[6] | Porsche 911 Carrera RSR | 18th 2nd in Group 5 |
|||||
| 1979 | Porsche 934 | 19th | |||||
| 1982 | Porsche 935 K3 | 5th | |||||
| 1984 | Porsche 956 | DSQ | unauthorized outside help | ||||
| 1986 | Porsche 961 | 7th Class Winner in IMSA GTX |
|||||
| 1987 | Porsche 961 | 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 |
|||||||||||||||||
| 19 | DNF | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1981 | J.M.S.R.T. | BMW 530 | |||||||||||||||||
| DNF | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1982 | Cooke Racing | Porsche 935 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1984 | GTi Engineering | Porsche 956 | |||||||||||||||||
| DNF | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1986 | Porsche | Porsche 961 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1987 | Porsche | Porsche 961 | |||||||||||||||||
| 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.