Guy Fréquelin is a former French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 rally

Rallying

Rallying, also known as rally racing, is a form of auto racing that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars...

 and sports car driver.

Perhaps Fréquelin's finest hour as a driver came when he finished runner-up only to Ari Vatanen

Ari Vatanen

Ari Pieti Uolevi Vatanen is a Finnish rally driver turned politician and Member of the European Parliament 1999–2009. Vatanen won the World Rally Championship drivers' title in 1981 and the Paris Dakar Rally four times....

, alongside then-navigator Jean Todt

Jean Todt

Jean Todt was born on February 25, 1946, in Pierrefort, Cantal, France. After a successful career as a rally co-driver he made his reputation in motor sport management, first with Peugeot Talbot Sport, then with Scuderia Ferrari, before being appointed Chief Executive Officer of Ferrari from 2004...

, at the wheel of a briefly competitive Sunbeam Lotus Talbot in the driver's classification of the 1981 World Rally Championship

World Rally Championship

The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13...

. It was during that year that he collected his only individual rally victory in the series, in Rally Argentina

Rally Argentina

The Rally Argentina is an Argentine rally competition that has been both a round of the World Rally Championship and also the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. The rally is also a round of the South American Rally Championship and the Argentine Rally Championship...

.

Fréquelin was also part of a four-car Renault assault on the 24 Hours of Le Mans

24 Hours of Le Mans

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...

 in 1977 with their highly successful Alpine Renault A442B. As part of a team which included the French racing drivers, Jean-Pierre Jabouille

Jean-Pierre Jabouille

Jean-Pierre Alain Jabouille is a former racing driver from France.-Biography:A native of Paris, Jabouille was one of the last of a breed of Formula One drivers who were also engineers....

, Jacques Laffite

Jacques Laffite

Jacques-Henri Laffite is a French former racing driver who competed in Formula One from to . He achieved six grand prix wins, all while driving for the Ligier team. He is now a TV commentator on French television TF1....

, Patrick Depailler

Patrick Depailler

Patrick André Eugène Joseph Depailler was a racing driver from France. He participated in 95 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 2 July 1972. He also participated in several non-Championship Formula One races.Depailler was born in Clermont-Ferrand, Puy-de-Dôme. As a child, he...

, Patrick Tambay

Patrick Tambay

Patrick Daniel Tambay is a French former racing driver. He competed in 123 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, winning twice, securing 5 pole positions and scoring a total of 103 Championship points...

, Jean-Pierre Jaussaud

Jean-Pierre Jaussaud

Jean-Pierre Jaussaud is a French former racing driver, more famous for winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1978 and 1980....

, René Arnoux

René Arnoux

René Alexandre Arnoux is a retired French racing driver who is a veteran of 12 Formula One seasons...

 and Didier Pironi

Didier Pironi

Didier Joseph Louis Pironi was a racing driver from France. During his career he competed in 72 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, driving for Tyrrell , Ligier and Ferrari...

, as well as the English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 long distance expert Derek Bell

Derek Bell (auto racer)

Derek Reginald Bell MBE is a former racing driver from England who was extremely successful in sportscar racing, winning five times at Le Mans. He also raced in Formula One for the Ferrari, McLaren, Surtees and Tecno teams...

, Frequelin was named as the third driver for both the #7 Tambay/Jaussaud and the #16 Arnoux/Pironi machines. Neither cars were to finish the race. Tambay and Jaussaud eventually retired after just 158 laps with engine troubles to blame, while the sister #16 Arnoux/Pironi car was immediately out, with no laps registered to its name, after a turbo oil seal caused a fire. Fréquelin, though, was to return to the Sarthe circuit

Circuit de la Sarthe

The Circuit des 24 Heures, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe, located near Le Mans, France, is a semi-permanent race course most famous as the venue for the 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race. The track uses local roads that remain open to the public most of the year...

 for the 1981 race, paired with countryman Roger Dorchy in the #5 WM P79/80 Peugeot

Peugeot

Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...

. Again, though, he scored only a DNF after an engine fire forced the pair's exit after 46 laps.

In more recent years, Fréquelin has held a position as Team Principal at the Citroën Total World Rally Team

Citroën Total World Rally Team

The Citroën Total World Rally Team is the Citroën factory backed entry into the World Rally Championship, run by Citroën Racing.-Management:* Olivier Quesnel – team director* Xavier Mestelan-Pinon – technical director-1990-1998 Seasons:...

. He retired at the end of 2007. In this position he oversaw the four consecutive world championship titles of Sébastien Loeb

Sébastien Loeb

Sébastien Loeb is a French rally driver currently driving for the Citroën World Rally Team in the World Rally Championship...

and an impressive number of victories in the Paris Dakar and in WRC, with cars such as the ZX, the Xsara and the C4.

In rallying circles he is nicknamed the Grizzly.