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| Jaguars finish the session |
On
Saturday May 3rd I went to the 7th Classic Days at Magny Cours with Gareth Rees, a big
time motor racing enthusiast. It was our first
time at Magny-Cours and although it doesn’t have the atmosphere of some of the
classic tracks it does offer some superb viewing, particularly from around the
Adelaide hairpin. For 10 Euros each we
got at Classic Days access everywhere and had over a 1,000 interesting cars to
see in the car parks, paddock pits and track.
Below are my photos of a few dozen of them that caught my eye.
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| It is possible to have a very good view point at Magny-Cours |
Equally,
the final slow chicane on the start finish straight offers some good photo
opportunities even for those of us without expensive cameras.
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| A variety of cars all trying to get around the last corner all at once |
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| More variety at the final chicane |
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| Variety in the paddock including an Alfa Romeo Montreal and an unusual take on a 2CV |
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| Jean-Pierre Beltoise |
The
celebrity at this year’s Classic Days was sixties and seventies French Formula
One driver Jean-Pierre Beltoise. I saw
him race a number of times in the early seventies both for Matra and BRM. He was a successful driver becoming European
F2 Champion in 1968 as well as coming second in the Dutch GP in his first full F1
season and is perhaps best remembered for winning the very wet 1972 Monaco GP
for BRM. He also had some success in endurance racing and won the French Touring Car championship twice later in his career. One must not also forget that like Tazio Nuvolari, John Surtees and Damon Hill he had a successful motorcycle racing career before turning to cars.
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| Jean-Pierre and Jacqueline Beltoise |
A number
of cars typical of those that Jean-Pierre Beltoise drove were at the circuit
and were certainly the stars of the pitlane.
There were two F1 cars, a F2 car and a F3 car, all of them Matras. I particularly loved the late 1960s F1 car. It was also good to see the ex Jacky Ickx
1967 Championship winning F2 car and a Jean-Pierre Jaussaud F3 car. Always great to see one of the sixties F3 1
litre screamers that provided such competitive racing.
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| Three late sixties Matras with Gareth taking a particular interest in the F2 car |
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| Ex-J-P Beltoise F1 Matra MS10 V12 in the pits at Magny-Cours |
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| F1 Matra MS10 V12 getting ready for the session on the track |
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| The Matra V12 engine sounded as good as it looked! |
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| 1968 F1 Matra V12 chased by a Group C Porsche! |
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| Cobra locking up under braking |
Apart
from the Matras my favourite cars were the Cobras and Cheetah. There was the usual selection of common and
garden Cobras but also a Shelby Daytona Cobra.
But perhaps, even better was a rare sighting of a Bill Thomas Cheetah that
was designed in 1963 to be a Chevrolet engined contender to the Ford engine
Cobra. Don’t know the history of this car but I think it is a replica but is painted like one from the sixties.
2014 is
the 30th anniversary to the French Venturi Marque and there were
many examples in the car parks and also some on the track. Not one of my favourite marques but an
important car in the revival of GT racing in the 1980s.
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| A car park full of Venturis! |
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| A Venturi 400 braking for the Adelaide hairpin |
Perhaps,
an even more important anniversary this year is the 50th birthday of
the Ford Mustang. Amazing how many
French registered example there were around the circuit!
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| Sixties Ford Mustang queueing to go out onto the track |
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| Another later different model Mustang |
The
single seaters are always an attraction and there was a good variety but my
favourites were the DB Panhards.
It was also great to see the ex-Jan Lammers Shadow F1 car.
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| An assortment of single seaters exit the final corner onto the pit straight |
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| Nostalgic to see the ex-Jan Lammers 1979 Shadow-Ford DN9 F1 car |
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| Driving hard in a DB Panhard monomil |
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| Now you can see why these DB Panhards cars look so unique |
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| Porsche Formula Vee cars |
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| The unusual 1990 W12 engine of the Life F1 car |
The
Sports Cars with everything from the 1950s to more modern times also produced
some good viewing. A shame that the P4
was only a replica.
GTs and
road going sports cars were there in abundance.
It would seem that French classic car fans have a particular affinity
for Triumph with numerous examples in attendance.
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| This Maserati A6GCS is still looking good although 60 years old (just like me!) |
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| Marcos speeding by the pits |
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| Morgan, Audi and Jaguar make a pretty site in the car park |
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| A rather rarer Auto Union 1000 SP early sixties sports car in the paddock |
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| Jaguar E Type starts another lap |
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| I always wanted one of these as a teenager - a Triumph GT6 |
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| One of the many French Triumphs, this one a TR5 |
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| Early TriumphTR3 being worked on in the paddock |
Touring
cars, particularly the usual abundance of Alfa Romeos, were also to be seen
everywhere with some lovely old French classic cars in the car parks.
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| Alfa Romeo lifts a wheel at the Adelaide hairpin |
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| Salmson S4 in the car park |
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| Radiator grill of an old Peugeot 402 |
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| Ford Anglia about to take to the track |
Pre-war
cars got their own time on the track with representatives of MGs, Maseratis,
Bugattis and Morgan.
The
Classic Tour made a stop at Magny Cours and there was a great variety of
vehicles including this truck.
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| Citroen U23 truck on the classic tour arrives at Magny-Cours |
No actual
racing but some fast driving was seen on the track and we witnessed a few spins
but no major damage. The drivers and
their passengers were certainly having fun.
The average age of the drivers must have been over 60! Seeing one guy getting out exhausted after a
few laps in a F1 car was a photo opportunity I missed. Maybe next year.
The photographer, John Etherton, asserts his copyright to the photographs in this blog post. I am happy to send full size copies of these digital photos to the owners or drivers of these cars. Contact me at rouenlesafx@gmail.com.
