Enstone can't wait for French GP

Enstone is a little village nestling in the middle of Oxfordshire where over 15 different nationalities work alongside each other every day in the ING Renault F1 Team’s factory. It goes without saying that at Renault, the French contingent is a strong, vibrant part of that mix. For them, this weekend’s grand prix will be followed with extra special attention…

Frantz Jourda, a member of the chassis research and development department confirms this. “My role is to work on performance improvements in the medium term; in other words on projects that could be adopted on the car between now and the end of the season, or in 2008. The overall atmosphere between the French and the British is good. The proof is the fact that we all enjoy winding each other up about our cultural differences. Jokes fly thick and fast in the canteen: in there, the French table is a bit like Asterix’s little village!”

Sébastien Parvery, a support consultant on the CATIA programme shares this point of view. “I’ve been working at Enstone since 2003 and I wouldn’t have come to live in England had it not been for the Renault F1 programme,” he says. “My role? Help the aero team with their use of Version 5 of the CATIA programme. Before I came here, my passion for F1 had dimmed a little bit; but since I started working here, I haven’t missed a single grand prix. There’s a great sense of unity in the team.”

This coming weekend the French contingent in Enstone will experience the Magny-Cours race in a rather different fashion from a normal grand prix; it’s their home event. “We all get on very well together, and we’ll certainly watch the grand prix at somebody’s house,” Sebastian continues. “We’re always out to do our best and we’ll clearly be rooting for Renault in the French race. A good performance on home turf is very important for the team, even if the points have the same value in the overall context of the championship.”

Mathieu Le Nail is a chassis engineer with the test team. “I’ve been in this job for two years now,” he says. “Before that I worked in the design office on composites parts.” If working directly at the track fufils the longing he sometimes felt when he couldn’t see the cars running, the French Grand Prix is not a special event in itself. “I’m really excited to see how the car will perform this weekend,” he laughs. “But that’s got nothing to do with the fact that it’s Magny-Cours. We had an encouraging test session at Silverstone last week, and I can’t wait to find out where we stand in relation to our rivals.”

The difficult start to the season hasn’t weakened the French people’s support for their team. Quite the opposite in fact! “Our British colleagues wound us up a little every time the Marseillaise rang out in 2005 and 2006,” grins Sébastien. “Today, like us, they’d be only too happy to hear it again!”