1976 Championnat de France Groupe 1

1976 index


From 1976 on, the championship was for Group 1B cars, like Britain and the Benelux. It had only two classes (under and over 2000 cc), points for division wins and overall positions - so the champion would be a regular race winner. The field was big and competitive, some races had heats and finals. The under-2000 class was filled with Escorts and a few Dolomites, the over-2000 class had a few Capris but a bunch of BMW CSi's which did most of the winning. As usual in this type of racing, there were a few scandals and disqualifications, of which some were reversed in the end. Despite missing the first few races, it was Beltoise who won the championship with three overall wins; second was Metge with two overall wins (I guess) and winner of the 2000 cc sub-division. A great championship with a bright future.

The races:

The cars

Final classification

French Touring Car Championship

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