Andros Trophy 2011: This is How France's Winter Version of NASCAR Looks Like

Four-time Formula 1 champion Alain Prost and his Dacia Duster took first place at the Andros Trophy season finale held in Paris on the Stade de France this past weekend. Although the competition did not count for the championship, it attracted more than 50,000 spectators at France's largest stadium that was transformed into an ice-covered oval track. What they witnessed was a superb ice-skating contest for cars and bikes. Follow the break for the videos.

The former F1 ace drove the race-spec Dacia Duster Ice to victory after eliminating all of his opponents, including Olivier Panis (Skoda Fabia) and Jean Philippe Dayraut (BMW 1-Series), the latter being none other than the Andros Trophy champion and the man who will drive the Duster hill climb car at Pikes Peak in June.

“I would like to dedicate my win to Dacia and to the public who gave me such a warm welcome," said Alain Prost. "We really wanted to perform well today, and we did," he added.

All cars that participate in the Andros Trophy must look like their production counterparts on the outside while complying with certain regulations including four-wheel drive system, four-wheel steering, a three-liter six-cylinder engine with 340HP, a six-speed gearbox and special studded ice tires.

By Dan Mihalascu

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Dacia Produces its 4,000,000th Vehicle after 45 Years

Renault's Dacia brand produced its 4,000,000th car at the Mioveni plant in Romania, 45 years after the company’s foundation in 1966. The car with which Dacia achieved the milestone is a 4WD Duster Laureate in a brown finish powered by an 110HP 1.5-liter diesel engine.

Since Renault took over the factory from the Romanian state in 1999, the company has produced close to 2 million cars. Dacia built its 1,000,000th car in 1985, the second million in 1998 and the third million in 2007. Only three and a half years later another million was added, thanks to increased production fuelled by demand and sustained by the €1.2 billion ($1.7 billion) investment Renault made since taking over the Romanian brand.

The Duster is currently Dacia’s best selling model of the brand, with half of the 65 cars produced every hour in Mioveni belonging to the Duster range. Since its launch in 2010, the low-cost SUV received over 100,000 international orders, with Dacia selling nearly 4,900 Dusters in its home market last year.

To celebrate the production milestone, the company released a “how it's made” footage of its 4,000,000th car that you can watch below.

By Dan Mihalascu

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