Michele Mouton in 1975
In 1975, Mouton decided to upgrade her 1600cc engine to a 1800cc engine because the trio Mouton- Conconi-Alpine was ready to attack a few rallies for both the French and the European rally championship. However, their great partnership would raise some suspicion in the solid macho world of rally all year long.
The rally Stuttgart/Lyon-Charbonnières started in March. This rally starts in Stuttgart and the drivers had to drive non-stop to Lyon! Michèle got noticed ! Fighting against some strong opponents, including the Fiat 124 Abarth of Maurizio Verini and Bernard Darniche and big names such as Jean Claude Andruet and Jean-Luc Therier, she managed to win five special stages in a row on a road in foggy conditions. She finishes eleventh, 22 minutes behind winner Verini. She left the reigning German GT champion Altenheimer in a Porsche Carrera behind. Unfortunately, Jean-Pierre Rouget finished just ahead of her, also with Porsche Carrera. He would become her direct opponent for the championship during the whole year.
The Ronde de la Giraglia followed two weeks later; they finished sixth and again first in class 3.
A month later, the ladies- team was at work in Belgium during the Lucien Bianchi criterium named after the in 1969 deceased Belgian rally and sportscar ace. Throughout the rally, JP Rouget dominated and finally won the rally and class 3. He was 6 seconds ahead of Belgian hero Gilbert Staepelaere in a Ford Escort. Second place in class 3 was for Bernard Mordacq. Both had the more powerful Porsche Carrera with the 3 litres engine. In the overall ranking, the Mouton-Conconi team was tenth.
The first setback followed in the Rallye International du Mont-Blanc. They had to give up with a technical issue.
Then Mouton-Conconi entered the Criterium Alpin near Grasse, her home base. Once again this was a strong rally and they finished on the highest podium in the GT class 3. In June the Ronde Cévenole (photo 6) was next. This is a bit of a strange undertaking, a circuit of 40 kilometres long, including the mountain passes of the col de la Lusette and the col des Mourèzes. You have to race this circuit-loop ten times in total without a co-pilot. Michèle finished seventh and ahead of the Porsches in the standings.
Then she did something unexpected! Michèle ventured into the 1975 24 Hours of Le Mans, at the wheel of a Moynet LM75, with two fellow drivers, Christine Dacremont and Mariane Hoepfner. Without any preparation ! "It was Esso who came up with the project. It was hard to refuse it. It was not just a dream for them. They put about 1 million francs into it.", Mouton recalls.
The assembling of the Moynet, under supervision of Robert Pellegrino, an ex-naval worker, had begun in march. The car was issued from the one that raced at Le Mans in 1968. It had a Simca-JRD engine of 200 bhp and weighted only 675 kg. Mouton: “We had some testing at Magny-Cours, but nothing in terms of aerodynamics. I had agreed to this new experience as I must have been a little crazy at the time! I started the race, I remember, and it started to rain. I had a lot of fun out there. My pit crew told me to pull over, but I kept going and even passed some of the big cars! The conditions suited me perfectly. It was even like rallying at Le Mans! I just relied on my rally skills and experience. The night didn't bother me either as I even did some long stints. The race was a completely new environment for me and extremely interesting. I enjoyed sharing the wheel with my teammates. It brings back good memories. I also loved seeing the crowd invading the track and the track marshal's honour guard at the end. In the end it was a unique experience. I was asked to do more track races after that, especially Formula 3, but it wasn't my thing. I loved racing alone, against the clock. My character was not made to race on a track”.
The women's trio finished in 21st place and was first in the S-2000 class, 67 laps behind winners Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell in the Gulf Mirage GR8. Much time was lost because they had to wait for 45 minutes in the pits with engine problems.
A week after the 24 hours, she was at the start of the ‘Rallye d'Antibes’. Again a sixth place and a victory in class 3. After that it was time for a necessary summer break. In September, Mouton and Conconi took part in the Tour de France automobiles with the Alpine, with starting number 144 (photo 3). The starting point was in Nice. The ladies performed well and quickly took the lead in the GT category. But unfortunately, the Alpine's engine died and the rally was over. It turned out to a serious engine problem, requiring an expensive repair. Because Esso's sponsor money had already run out and father Mouton had also invested a lot of money, Michèle was seriously thinking about stopping rallying for a moment.
Just in time an offer arrived that turned the whole situation upside down again. Jacques Cheinisse, head of the Alpine Renault sports team, had seen Mouton's talent. He offered her a new engine and full Alpine team service for the Corsica Rally. Of course, such an offer cannot be refused. So with a lot of new energy, the Tour De Corse, now a world championship rally, was run early November. This rally is also called the rally of 10,000 bends because of its extremely winding course. The nimble little Alpine Renault won here four times from 1968 to 1973, before Jean-Claude Andruet's Lancia Stratos ended that dominance in 1974. This year, in addition to four team Alpines, another twenty private Alpines were at the start. The 77 participants would leave the port of Ajaccio at the beginning of the afternoon on Saturday 8 November, under a grey sky, towards Palneca from where the start of the first special stage would be given. That first timed section was dominated by Sandro Munari and the Lancia Stratos. Two of the official Alpine cars retired already; both pilots went off the road and the damage was too much to continue. But good news for Michèle. Jean-Pierre Rouget and Jean-François Mas, two contenders for Group 3 victory in their Porsches, were victims of transmission failures and retired. The classification did not change in the second section. But Munari lost the control of the Lancia in the rain during a connecting stage and struggled to get back on the road. At the start of the third chrono section, Andruet's Alfetta had to stop. The road was deliberately blocked by a tree trunks due to local actions. The race had to be stopped. The organizers then took the decision, also prompted by the extreme rainfall, to cancel the rest of the special stages and everyone was ordered to return to Ajaccio. In the overall standings, Bernard Darniche and his Lancia were in first place and Michèle Mouton seventh. After an hour's rest, all remaining cars had to set off for the second leg at five o'clock in the morning, still in the rain. At the front there was a battle between Darniche, Jean Pierre Nicolas and Andruet. The Lancia won. Michèle was very consistent and strong. She finished seventh, 35 minutes behind the winner, but more than 20 minutes ahead of Jean-Marie Soriano's Alpine. And again she was the number one in group 3. An annoying minor point! Her male colleagues thought the Alpine's engine must have been tampered with. As a woman she went too fast! Michèle said in an interview: “…Normally men have to have an excuse, so they say I must have more horsepower than them! There were certainly those who thought so, but after the 1975 Tour de Corse my car was stripped and checked at the post-rally scrutineering and found to be in perfect order. From that point on people started to accept that I was just fast. I have never heard such accusations again.”
One last rally to close the season : Criterium des Cévennes (photo 4,5). Things are not going very smoothly there and therefore only a tenth place.
