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29-491: Mecachrome was founded in 1937 in Colombes , France. As a precision engineering company, Mecachrome focus their business on aerospace, automotive, motor racing, defence and energy sectors designing and manufacturing high value-added parts, systems and structural assemblies. Mecachrome are known most famously for the manufacture of Formula One engines, designed by Renault for Formula One teams including Williams and Benetton during

58-676: A constructor and from engine supply for the 1987 season. In 1989, Renault returned to F1 as an engine supplier to WilliamsF1 (and Ligier from 1992) with Mecachrome again responsible for preparing the engines for the team. Renault engines powered Williams and Benetton to six consecutive Constructors' World Championships between 1992 and 1997 and five Drivers' titles with Nigel Mansell (1992), Alain Prost (1993), Michael Schumacher (1995), Damon Hill (1996) and Jacques Villeneuve (1997). In 1995, Benetton acquired Ligier's stock of Renault V10 engines (same specifications as Williams). In 1996, Renault

87-940: A distribution agreement with Mecachrome to begin in the 1999 season. The engines were purchased and rebadged as Supertec . Supertecs powered Williams in 1999, BAR in 1999 and Arrows in 2000. Supertec also continued to power Benetton under the Playlife brand. In 2001, Renault returned to Formula One by purchasing the Benetton team with the Renault-designed engines carrying again the Renault name. The relationship remained unchanged with Renault responsible for research and design, assembly, preparation, maintenance, trackside support and also tune-up; this relationship helped Renault win constructors' and driver's F1 championships in 2005 and 2006 with Fernando Alonso . Mecachrome-assembled Renault engines powered

116-580: The 2024 Summer Olympics . Playlife Playlife (stylised in reverse mirrored words) was a fashion company based in Treviso, Italy. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Benetton Group . In July 1997, Benetton Group acquired a 57% stake in Benetton Sportsystem from Edizione Holdings for 318bn lire. At this time, it was rebranded to Playlife to represent sports equipment, goods and fashion for

145-591: The Boeing 737 and Eurocopter Tiger . Furthermore, they are also involved in the manufacturing of parts for the Dassault Rafael , and its Snecma M88 engine. Mecachrome has acquired several specialist manufacturers and suppliers, most notably WeAre group in 2022, expanding its manufacturing capability. Through these acquisitions, Mecachrome has access to 20 manufacturing sites across 5 continents. Since 1977 until present, Mecachrome has been involved with Renault Sport ,

174-657: The FIA Formula 2 Championship for 2018 beyond. Dutch turbocharger company Van Der Lee Turbo Systems supplies the turbochargers for all FIA Formula 2 Championship engines. In 2015 alongside the Dallara GP3/16 car launch, Mecachrome was selected as the official engine partner and supplier of GP3 Series since 2016 season onwards. The Mecachrome V634 GP3/F3 engines are also jointly developed by Mecachrome and TEOS Engineering for design, tune-up, R&D, engine maintenance, arrangement, shared-production and trackside support. Despite

203-732: The Red Bull Racing Formula One team to the Constructors' Championship and Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel to the World Drivers' Championship in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. During the start of enhanced hybrid turbocharged power unit regulations, once again Mecachrome helped Renault Energy F1 hybrid power unit build, development, assembly and tune-up for 2014 season onwards. In 2005, the GP2 Series (now FIA Formula 2 Championship )

232-639: The centre of Paris . In 2019, Colombes was the 53rd largest city in France . The name Colombes comes from Latin columna ( Old French colombe ), meaning "column". This is interpreted as referring either to a megalithic column used in ancient times by a druidic cult which stood in Colombes until its destruction during the French Revolution , or to the columns of an atrium in a ruined Gallo-Roman villa that also stood in Colombes. On 13 March 1896, 17% of

261-426: The #35 entry stopped at Arnage after five hours with smoke blowing out of the car, whilst the #36 ended their race in the pits during hour 6. ( key ) (results in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Colombes Colombes ( French pronunciation: [kɔlɔ̃b] ) is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris , France , 10.6 km (6.6 mi) from

290-406: The 1990s. In 2003, Mecachrome moved its head office from France to Canada . In 2008, the company went public just prior to the global economic crisis. Their share price plunged from a high of $ 13.55 per share to 15 cents. By July 2008, Mecachrome made job cuts in both Canada and France with production moving to Canada due to excess capacity caused by delays to the Boeing 787 , for which Mecachrome

319-675: The GP2 Series in its second generation (2008–2010) whilst also supplying the new-for-2008 GP2 Asia Series with slightly detuned versions of the power unit which has been at the core of the GP2 Series since 2005. Since the 2011 season , Renault Sport no longer badge their Mecachrome engines due to Renault Sport focusing on their Formula One programme. The Mecachrome V8 GP2/F2 engines were jointly developed by Mecachrome and TEOS Engineering for design, tune-up, R&D, engine maintenance, arrangement and trackside support. The GP2 Series / FIA Formula 2 Championship V8 engine formula specification

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348-432: The company changed its corporate address from Amboise to Blagnac . As of 2024, aerospace accounts for 56% of Mechachrome's international sales. They are primarily concerned with the manufacture of structural parts, such as wing spars , fuselage sections and sheet metal parts. Mechachrome's primary business partners include Airbus , Boeing , Dassault and Embraer , working on both civilian and military aircraft such as

377-565: The company with brands such as Prince, Rollerblade and Kästle. In mid 1998, Benetton predicted around 40 Playlife specific stores would open in Europe. By 1999, the entire former Benetton Sportsystem brand was consolidated into the group under Playlife. Playlife produced the tracksuits and casual shoes used by the Italian Olympic Team at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. The team also opened

406-519: The engine utilised at Le Mans was a first specification engine, the engine was underpowered and did not meet the contractually agreed performance targets. From the 2024 WEC season onward, Mecachrome provided the engines for the two Alpine-entered A424s , supplying a heavily modified version of the V634 engine used in FIA Formula 2. At the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans , both Alpines retired with engine issues:

435-672: The first dedicated Playlife store in Milan . Store expansion continued and by 2011, Giovanni Peracin was announced as the new Playlife Business Director. At the same time, Benetton opened a new Playlife concept store in the headquarters city of Treviso, Italy. However by late 2013, Playlife was axed by the Benetton Group during a restructuring. Between 1998 and 2000, the Benetton Formula One team utilised first Mecachrome and then Supertec engines that were rebranded to Playlife, and

464-556: The given years. Colombes has an oceanic climate ( Köppen climate classification Cfb ). The average annual temperature in Colombes is 12.5 °C (54.5 °F). The average annual rainfall is 623.0 mm (24.53 in) with May as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around 20.6 °C (69.1 °F), and lowest in January, at around 5.0 °C (41.0 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Colombes

493-613: The manufacturer of nose landing gear bays for their new Beluga aircraft. Mecachrome already worked with Airbus on its A320, A330, A380 and A400M aircraft. In 2017, Mecachrome declared interest in providing a standardised "budget" engine for Formula One. This would have been in addition to their GP2 & GP3 engine supply deals. In April 2019, Christian Cornille took over as CEO of Mecachrome and targeted €1bn turnover. The company operates across 14 sites in Europe, North Africa and North America. In 2020, reported revenues were €220million. Mecachrome employ over 2,500 worldwide. In 2021,

522-423: The motorsport division of Renault (though today Renault Sport's F1 operations are conducted through Renault Sport F1 , a separate group company). From 1983 , Renault began to supply other teams with engines; Mecachrome being given the responsibility of preparing and assembling the engines for these customer teams such as Lotus-Renault in 1983 and Ligier-Renault in 1984. In 1985, Renault withdrew from Formula One as

551-609: The new Dallara F3 2019 car unveil, the current Mecachrome V634 which will be used by all FIA Formula 3 competitors will extend its service until at least the 2024 season. In 2017, Mecachrome partnered with Ginetta as an engine supplier for the G60-LT-P1 LMP1 Prototype, supplying the V634P1, a variant of the V634 F2 engine , which would also be turbocharged by Van Der Lee Turbo Systems. The Ginetta G60-LT-P1-AER, run by CEFC TRSM ,

580-518: The stadium's capacity was down to 7,000; later renovations have brought the current capacity to 14,000. Through November 2017, it had been home to the Racing 92 rugby club, currently playing in France's Top 14 , but Racing has since moved to the new U Arena in Nanterre . The RCF Paris football club, which plays in the fourth division, remains at Yves-du-Manoir. The stadium will be the field hockey venue at

609-445: The territory of Colombes was detached and became the commune of Bois-Colombes ( lit.   ' Colombes Woods ' ). On 2 May 1910, 19% of the (reduced) territory of Colombes was detached and became the commune of La Garenne-Colombes . Thus, the commune of Colombes is now only two-thirds the size of its territory before 1896. The population data in the table and graph below refer to the commune of Colombes proper, in its geography at

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638-515: The turbo V6 engine, and the lack of response to calls for a development programme from Mecachrome Motorsport, with the stated aim being to unlock the true performance of the chassis. Mecachrome Motorsport responded to Ginetta's announcement soon afterwards, also revealing that it intended to continue its LMP1 engine programme, although it has yet to find any customers to run the engine in any chassis since. Ginetta technical director Ewan Baldry later responded to Mecachrome's claims, acknowledging that while

667-506: Was 40.9 °C (105.6 °F) on 6 August 2003; the coldest temperature ever recorded was −15.0 °C (5.0 °F) on 17 January 1985. The city is divided into two cantons: Colombes is served by four stations on the Transilien Paris – Saint-Lazare suburban rail line at Colombes , Le Stade , La Garenne-Colombes and Les Vallées . The commune has 21 preschools and 19 elementary schools. Secondary schools: The stadium

696-461: Was a supplier. In November, the majority shareholding Casella family who were descendants of the original Mecachrome founders, stepped aside. Christian Jacqmin was appointed CEO. At the end of 2008, Mecachrome completed their financial restructuring. In April 2014, Mecachrome signed a deal to supply to Safran in the manufacture of the new LEAP engine to be used in a variety of Airbus, Boeing and COMAC aircraft. In 2015, Airbus announced Mecachrome as

725-577: Was built in 1907. Officially named the Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir , the Olympic Stadium of Colombes was the site of the opening ceremony and several events of the 1924 Summer Olympics . The arena's capacity was increased to 60,000 for the 1938 World Cup . The stadium lost its importance after the restoration in 1972 of Paris' 49,000-seat Parc des Princes . In the 1990s, three of the four grandstands were torn down due to decay and

754-567: Was in use from 2005 and was retired following the 2017 season. New engine regulations with 620 hp 3,400 cc V6 single-turbocharged direct-injected engines , known as the Mecachrome V634 Turbo , which is a development of the naturally aspirated Mecachrome V634 used in the GP3 Series , were introduced for 2018 along with a new Dallara F2 2018 chassis while TEOS Engineering renewed its subcontract relationship with Mecachrome on track in

783-602: Was launched as the official feeder category to Formula One . As the brainchild of Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore , the new series was to be powered by Renault engines (badging only), and Mecachrome was tasked with their production. The engines were manufactured at the same base as the Renault F1 units in Aubigny, France with direction from Heini Mader in Switzerland. The company continued to provide engines and gearboxes for

812-474: Was privatised and announced its withdrawal from Formula One after the 1997 season. In order to avoid protests by shareholders regarding the costs of engine development, Mecachrome agreed to pay Renault for the development work in order to continue the relationship. The 1998 engines supplied to Williams carried the Mecachrome name while Benetton's engines were badged as Playlife . In 1998, Flavio Briatore 's company, Super Performance Competition Engineering, signed

841-535: Was to compete in the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans and the full 2018–19 FIA World Endurance Championship . However, after withdrawing from the opening WEC round at Spa-Francorchamps and achieving a fifth in class result at Le Mans, which was in reality a 41st position result in the overall standings, Ginetta dropped the Mecachrome V634P1 in favour of the AER P60B engines. This was done due to a performance deficit from

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