Renault to play central role at Goodwood Festival.

Renault will take centre stage at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed, with cars past, present and future playing an important role in the motorsport extravaganza.

From the history books comes the regie's first ever Formula One car - the RS01 - which will be reunited with its original driver, Jean-Pierre Jabouille, as Renault celebrates the 25th anniversary of its first ever F1 victory, achieved with Jabouille during the 1979 French Grand Prix at Dijon.

The reunion of driver and machine, for the first time since the partnership made Renault's entry into the world championship at Silverstone in 1977, is expected to be an exciting occasion, and even Jabouille, speaking ahead of the event, admitted that he might have a tear in his eye.

"It'll be very exciting to see RS01, but to drive the car again will be very emotional," the 61-year old confessed, "It was a very special time for me and Renault.

"During the Dijon Grand Prix, I was very nervous for the last five laps of the race, even though I had a good lead. A mechanical problem can happen at any time during a race, and I was hearing noises, looking at temperatures and just worrying whether I'd make it to the finish!"

This year's Goodwood Festival, which takes place over the weekend of 25-27 June, will also see Renault celebrate another highly important piece of history - the epic battle between Rene Arnoux and Ferrari's Gilles Villeneuve during the very same race.

Jabouille's landmark maiden GP win for Renault has often been overlooked due to the richly entertaining, wheel-to-wheel battle for second place between Arnoux and Villeneuve - arguably the most memorable piece of racing in the long and colourful history of the F1 world championship.

In a first for the Festival, both Jabouille and Arnoux - the latter driving the Renault RE30B - will demonstrate on Goodwood Hill at the same time. The exciting reunion will complement the wealth of other amazing stars and cars from Renault's competition history, covering everything from Formula One to world rallying and the marque's famous 1978 Le Mans 24 Hours victory, which will be represented by Jean-Pierre Jaussaud's race-winning Alpine A442B.

At the far end of the history spectrum, the Renault brothers' famed 1902 Paris-Vienna race-winning Type K will make a welcome return to the event in the capable hands of its custodian Jean-Louis Le Tohic, while rallying legend Jean Ragnotti - nicknamed 'Monsieur Renault' due to his many years of service to the manufacturer as a driver - will return to Goodwood at the wheel of two of Renault's most famous rally cars - the 1985 Tour de Corse winning Renault 5 Maxi Turbo and the 1973 title-winning Alpine Renault A110.

The current day - give or take a year - will be represented by last season's race-winning R23 F1 car, which will be piloted at Goodwood by reserve driver Franck Montagny.

"I'm delighted I'll be a part of the Festival of Speed again, and can't wait to give the crowds a close look at the capabilities of the fantastic Renault F1 car," the Frenchman said.

In addition, Renault UK's managing director Philippe Talou-Derible and the F1 team's head of electronics, Richard Marshall, will drive the awesome Clio Renaultsport V6 255 road car up the hill.

Renault's static road-car display is also destined to turn heads and this year will have two distinct themes, as the 20th anniversary of the Renault Espace will be featured in an outdoor display and a collection of Renaultsport-branded cars will be housed on an indoor stand. The Renaultsport display will include the brand new Clio Renaultsport 182 - featuring the 'Cup' pack - the Clio Renaultsport V6 255, Megane Renaultsport 225 and an R24 F1 car.

Looking to the future, the striking 'Reinastella' concept will feature prominently as the centrepiece of a space-scape built to stage the 'Future Cars' display of space-age designs from the 1950s to the year 2000. The vehicle will also form an integral part of the Cartier Style et Luxe display.

Created back in 1992 by the imaginative Renault design team based in Paris, Reinastella was first unveiled to the public on the Champs-Elysees in April that year, but had its original launch date, on the first of the month, put back in case the Parisians judged the concept to be an Avril Poisson - the French term for April Fool!

Reinastella was designed with the intention of showing how personnel transport might appear in the year 2038, and was physically created following Renault's decision to become involved with the world-famous Euro Disney theme park. The concept formed an important part of the attraction's Visonarium 360 degree cinema trip through the centuries and, at Goodwood, the twelve-year-old concept will undoubtedly turn heads once more.