Three-time Dakar Rally champion and Porsche Motorsports icon René Metge died on Wednesday at the age of 82, Dailysportscar reports. The racer participated in all sorts of racing over his long career but was best known for his work behind the wheel of the Porsche 911 and 959 rally racers.
Metge’s motorsports career began in earnest in 1973 when the Frenchman began racing in Formula Renault. Other on-road highlights include the 1982 French Touring Car Championship, which he ultimately won behind the wheel of a Rover 3500. Metge also raced in the World Touring Championship, the World Sportscar Championship, the French 944 Turbo Cup, the Eastern European Touring Car Championship, and at Le Mans on more than one occasion.
Metge’s greatest successes came away from the circuits of the Old Continent, however. His first Paris-Dakar victory came in 1981 during the third running of the event. Metge piloted his V-8-powered Range Rover alongside Bernard Giroux, besting two other French teams in the process. By 1984, Metge had joined the Porsche factory team and was set to compete in a wildly modified Porsche 911. The Carrera 3.2 was upgraded with a custom 4x4 system, upgraded suspension, and a slick Rothmans livery. After 19 days and over 6200 miles of racing, Metge would once again take the Dakar crown.
The final Dakar victory for Metge came in 1986, once again behind the wheel of a Porsche. It wouldn’t be a 911 this time, but rather the world-beating Porsche 959 #186. Immensely complex and twice as powerful as the 1984 car, the 959 promised to be a real weapon in the hands of the established Frenchman, as well as teammates Jacky Ickx and Roland Kussmaul. A horrible helicopter crash that claimed the lives of race founder Thierry Sabine and four others dominated the experience of the 1986 event, but the Porsche team would take home yet another victory on the back of Metge.
As we head into yet another running of the Dakar Rally, take some time to remember one of the race’s most iconic victors. The 2024 event will run from January 5 through January 19.
Born and raised in Metro Detroit, associate editor Lucas Bell has spent his entire life surrounded by the automotive industry. He may daily drive an aging Mustang, but his Porsche 944 and NB Miata both take up most of his free time.
