2016 Course de Côte de Sancerre

Rodolphe Simonnet in his Alpine Renault A110 attacks the Course de Cote de Sancerre.

This was the 43^rd Course de Côte Régionale de Sancerre which is part of the Coupe de France de Montagne.  It was my fourth year in succession that I was in Sancerre for the hillclimb.  As I have said before, this course has a beautiful open setting amongst the famous Sancerre vineyards.  The course is 1,760 metres long (a little over 1 mile) and with some long straights and an average gradient of 2.8% favours the more powerful cars, such as the Norma sports cars, rather than the nimble F3 single seaters.  For the cars challenging for the win, the target is to get below 50 seconds for the climb whilst for others the challenge is to get below 1 minute.  Organisation of this hillclimb was as usual extremely well performed by Ecurie Jacques Coeur.

The weather was overcast for the Saturday practice and Sunday morning runs when I was there.   Rain threatened but didn’t really come to anything.  Later on Sunday afternoon it brightened up a little but by this time I was on my long drive home through strike torn and flooded France.

For the last three years (2013, 2014 and 2015) Serge Thomas has won this Course de côte in his Norma.   Was he to do this again?  He was obviously determined to do so, as this season he has replaced his old Norma with a newer one.  Last year he was the only one to break the 50 second barrier and this year it was the same story, so Serge Thomas took his fourth victory in a row.

Although, I love the Sancerre hillclimb, it is a bit like Groundhog Day with the same winner and many of the same cars every year but that is what grass roots motor sport is often like.  The great thing is the proximity to the cars ad no safety fencing, something you don’t get at circuits nowadays.  Then of course there is the sound of a racing engine at full chat that still turns me on after all these years.

The story was not just about Serge Thomas, there were over 100 other cars determined to enjoy the challenge of this scenic hillclimb.  For details of the interesting cars competing, class and group battles and speedy runs up the hill, continue reading below:

1^st   Serge Thomas, Norma M20FC, 20. 49.68 secs.  Winner for the fourth time in a row, but this year with a new Norma.  Was fastest on the first two runs but didn’t beat his 2013 hill record of 49.286.  Still going very well for a 60 year old, but then most of his competitors aren’t young either!

Serge negotiating the final corner in his Norma during Saturday's practice session.

2^nd  Jérôme Martin, Norma M20F, 22. 50.13 secs.  Was in third place after the second run and had to pull out all the stops to come second.  He also got tantalizingly close to breaking that 50 second barrier on his final run..  Jérôme was the last person to beat Serge Thomas’s Norma as he did win with a F3 car back in 2012 when Serge was in second place.  2016 was the first year Jérôme has competed here in a Norma.

Jérôme setting his first time on Sunday in his new Norma.

3^rd  Jean-Pierre Bouchard, Ligier JS47, 7.  51.04 secs. This pretty F3 Ligier was the fastest single-seater, a good second faster than the rest.  Being built before 2009 it competes against the older F3 cars in the Formula Ford class.  Jean-Pierre has been a winner here previously in a F3 Martini Mk79, claiming the laurels in 2007, 2008 and 2010.  He is also the only person other than Serge Thomas to have broken the 50 second barrier, doing this in a F3 car back in 2010.

Top single seater was this F3 Ligier

4th Gaël Boisson, Dallara F399, 5.  52.05 secs. Gaël is always amongst the top runners at Sancerre, has been runner up three times and is rarely out of the top four. He finished there again this time.

Gaël's Dallara

5th Frédéric Chatelain, Martin-Susuki Mk76, 16.  52.29 secs. Frédéric was a winner here back in 2006 in a Martini Mk79 and is a regular in the top ten with his Susuki powered single seater. Didn’t complete his final run but still had fifth fastest time of the day and won the class for up to 1,300cc single seaters.

Susuki engined single seater

6^th  Sébastien Godot, Dallara 399, 14.  52.35 secs.

Sébastien in his Dallara

7^th  Bruno Berton, Ligier JS49, 27. 52.62 secs.  This beautiful Ligier came third in the class dominated by the Normas.

The Ligier JS49 on its run up the hill.

8^th Olivier Gregoire, Martini Mk71, 18. 54.16 secs.  Came runner-up in the under 1,300cc single seater class.

Olivier's Martini approaches the finish line.

9^th  Maxime Baud, Norma M20B, 26. 54.22 secs.

The Norma of Maxime Baud enters the last corner.

10^th Vincent Bertheuil, Trackin BC01, 40. 54.44 secs.  Won the class for motor-cycle engined sports cars.

Vincent's nice lookin' Trackin.

11^th Eric Lecerf, Tatuus FR2000, 1. 55.15 secs.  Won the class for Formula Renault cars.

Top Formula Renault car.

12^th Florian Serralta, BRC Evo 5, 36. 55.37 secs.  Came second in the motor-cycle engined sports car class.

Motor Cycle engined BRC.

13^th Jean-Pierre Picault, Barquette JPSFC, 21. 55.59 secs

Barquette JPSFC

14^th Laurent Lafosse, BRC B49, 37. 55.62 secs.

BRC exits turn 5.

15^th Franck Gregoire, Speed Car GTR, 38. 55.63 secs.

Speed Car GTR in the fast turn 8.

16^th David Chatelain, Martini-Susuki Mk 76, 216. 55.76 secs.

Martini-Susuki in the final bend.

17^th Thomas Bonatre, ADR 3 Honda, 24. 55.86 secs.

ADR 3 Honda climbs the hill at Sancerre.

18^th Arthur Saint-Germain, Norma M20, 32. 56.020 secs.

Norma rounds the final corner.

19^th Stéphanie Tordeux, Tatuus FR, 3. 56.33 secs.  I think she was the only lady competing. 

Stéphanie heads up the hill towards Sancerre.

20^th Reynald Aime, Dallara 301, 6. 56.33 secs.

Reynald's Dallara approaching the final corner.

21^st Daniel Nature, Merlin MP23, 25. 56.35 secs.

The Merlin just past the finish line.

22^nd Cédric Sonzogni, BRC 05 Evo, 33. 56.46 secs.

The BRC entering the final corner.

23^rd Eddy Perez, PHC Dinatmo, 230. 56.57 secs. Only completed one run but won the class for pre-2004 1,600cc sports cars.

The Dinatmo descending the hill.

24^th Mickael France, Gloria RS, 17. 56.57 secs.

The Gloria in the final turn.

25^th Julien Bourlet, Speed Car GTR, 39. 57.09 secs.

Speed Car towards the end of its run.

26^th David Jaumier, Silver Car 52F, 234. 57.37 secs.

A red Silver Car!

27^th Claude Laurent, BRC CM05, 35. 58.11 secs.

The BRC speeds by.

28^th Bernard Jaumier, Silver Car 52F, 34. 58.49 secs.

That same red Silver Car in a blur of speed.

29^th Anthony Dubois, Scora Maxi, 79. 58.54 secs.  Won the class for Pre-1992 over 2,000cc production Cars.  In practice this car was belching flames out of its exhaust which was rather spectacular.

Class winning Scora Maxi on its first timed run..

The Scora Maxi belching flames during Saturday's practice runs.

30^th Patrick Ruiz, Alpine A310, 84. 59.49 secs.  Won the class for Pre-1992 2-litre production cars by beating the even older A110s.

Alpine A310 passing the large rock just before the end of the course.

1er Groupe, Eric Duchenne, Seat Leon, 48. 60.39 secs.  Tantalizingly close to the 1 minute barrier for a touring car.  Won the class for over 2 litre group A cars.

Fast Seat Leon with the hill town of Sancerre and the vineyards in the background.

1er Classe, Pascal Simonot, CG Simca, 85. 60.49 secs.  Won the class for Pre-1992 1,600cc production cars by beating some Simca Rallye 2s.

CG Simca entering the third corner.

1er Classe, Didier Thorin, Marcadier Barzoi, 91. 61.49 secs. Didier won his class (Pre-1992 1,300cc production cars) by beating the Simca Rallyes. It was worth coming to Sancerre just to see this beautiful car.  More about it if you click here.

Marcadia Barzoi.

1er Groupe, Jean-Claude Godot, BMW 318, 107. 61.51 secs.  Won the class for under 2 litre over 5 years old Group N or A cars.

1^er Groupe, Jean-Claude Brazey, BMW M3, 60. 61.71 secs.  Won the class for over 2 lire Group N cars.

1^er Groupe, Eric Pope, BMW 320ST, 42. 62.33 secs. Won the under 3 litre GTTS category which is for GT cars from one make cups, silhouettes, WRCs or S2000s.

Brightly coloured BMW.

1er Classe, Guy Fiard, Citroen Saxo, 111. 62.33 secs.  Won the class for under 1,600cc over 5 years old Group N or A cars.

Citroen Saxo in the Paddock.

1er Classe, Thierry Caillot, Renault Clio Cup, 258. 62.81 secs.  Won the class for under 2 litre Group A cars.

Renault Clio Cup races through the vineyards.

1er Classe, Bernard Sautereau, Honda Civic, 71. 62.54 secs. Won the class for 1,600cc Group N cars.

Honda Civic

1er Classe, Arthur Fiard, Citroen AX, 75. 67.12 secs.  Won the class for 1,400cc Group N cars.

Citroen AX

1er Classe, Julien Boxberger, Peugeot 106 Rallye, 120. 67.21 secs. Won the class for under 1,400cc over 5 years old Group N or A cars.

Peugeot No.120 undergoing light work in he paddock.

1^er Groupe, Léonard Lusardi, Lotus Elise 111R, 44. 68.19 secs.  The only car competing in the series GT Group.

Lotus Elise.

Full results available on the Ecurie Jacques Coeur web site.

Some of the others had a less rewarding weekend.  For instance, Fabrice Degortes lost his Seat Leon Supercopa under breaking for the final corner, hit the barrier and damaged his car too badly to take any further part in the weekend.

The aftermath of Fabrice's crash. 

Alain Laigneau had an off on the last corner of the first run and didn’t compete after that. 

Lots of other cars didn’t get under 1 minute and didn’t win their class but were worth seeing anyway and I am sure they enjoyed their day’s sport. 

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John Etherton affirme son droit d'auteur à l'ensemble des photos sur ce billet de blog. Cependant, vous pouvez poster des photos ailleurs sur le web aussi longtemps que vous créditez le photographe, John Etherton, et ce blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com et fournissez un lien vers cette page.