Rouen-les-AFX: June 2017

Thursday 29 June 2017

2017 Le Mans 24 Hours - LM GTE Pro class

A Ford GT exits the Esses and heads down to Tertre Rouge just after dusk.

The LMGTE Pro class was undoubtedly the best battle of the 2017 Le Mans and was undecided until just before the end. The lead changed many times between the various Ferrari, Ford, Aston Martin, Porsche and Chevrolet GT cars. Both Aston Martins led for a considerable distance but the other cars were never that far away. Chevrolet were also in the lead for a long time on Sunday afternoon but eventually Aston Martin came back to take the win on the last lap. Second place also wasn’t decided until the final lap with Ford also overtaking the Corvette. The Balance Of Performance may be controversial at times but it certainly provides good racing.

GT Ferrari rounds the first corner as other GT cars exit the pits.

GT cars heading down from the Dunlop Bridge towards the Esses.

These LMGTE Pro cars are fast, clocking 300kph on the Mulsanne straight and averaging over 200kph for the lap. Here are all the 13 cars that fought over the class:

1st in class, 17th overall – Aston Martin Racing – Aston Martin Vantage – Darren Turner, Jonathan Adam, Daniel Serra. No.97. 340 laps.

The LMGTE Pro winning car at dawn on Sunday at Tertre Rouge whilst in third place in class.

Winning Aston Martin

Aston Martin on Saturday afternoon at Tertre Rouge.

2^rd in class, 18^th overall – Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK – Ford GT – Andy Priaulx, Harry Tinknell, Luis Felipe Derani. No.67. 340 laps.

The lead Ford GT heading a LMP2 car through the Esses around dusk on Saturday evening.

3^rd in class, 19^th overall – Corvette Racing GM – Chevrolet Corvette C7.R – Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor. No.63. 340 laps.

The Corvette team were leading at the start of the last lap. Here the lead Corvette is seen exiting the Esses.

Corvette at dawn rounding Tertre Rouge.

Corvette leading a Ferrari through the Esses on Saturday evening.

4^th in class, 20th overall – Porsche GT Team – Porsche 911 RSR – Richard Lietz, Frédéric Makowiecki, Patrick Pilet. No.91. 339 laps.

Porsche at dusk leading LMP2 cars through the Esses.

Porsche 911 RSR in Tertre Rouge on Saturday afternoon.

The Porsche at dawn whilst in second place.

5^th in class, 21st overall – AF Corse – Ferrari 488 GTE – Davide Rigon, Sam Bird, Miguel Molina. No.71. 339 laps.

The No.71 Ferrari passes the hospitality suite before the Dunlop chicane late on Saturday afternoon.

AF Corse Ferrari exiting the Esses on Saturday afternoon.

Two Ferraris heading a LMGTE Pro pack through the Esses after dusk.

6^th in class, 22nd overall – Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA – Ford GT – Joey Hand, Dirk Muller, Tony Kanaan. No.68. 339 laps.

The No.68 Ford leads a group of LMGTE Pro cars through the Esses.

The Tony Kanaan Ford rounding Tertre Rouge at dawn.

7^th in class, 23rd overall – Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA – Ford GT – Ryan Briscoe, Richard Westbrook, Scott Dixon. No.69. 337 laps.

The third of the Ford GTs in Tertre Rouge on Saturday afternoon.

8^th in class, 24th overall – Corvette Racing GM – Chevrolet Corvette C7.R – Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, Marcel Fassler. No.64. 335 laps.

The Oliver Gavin Corvette entering the Dunlop chicane early on Saturday evening.

The second Corvette leading an LMP2 car through the Esses later on the Saturday evening.

Chevrolet Corvette rounds Tertre Rouge at dawn on Sunday.

9^th in class, 25th overall – Aston Martin Racing – Aston Martin Vantage – Nicki Thim, Marco Sorensen, Richie Stanaway. No.95. 334 laps.

The No.95 Aston Martin at the Ford Chicane on early Saturday evening.

The No.95 Aston Martin rounds Tertre Rouge just before dawn when in third place in class.

Aston Martin Vantage seen leading the class. Here seen exiting the Esses.

10^th in class, 27^th overall – Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK – Ford GT – Stefan Mucke, Olivier Pla, Billy Johnson. No.66. 332 laps.

The fourth of the Chip Ganassi Fords heads a couple of cars through the Esses on Saturday evening.

11^th in class, 46^th overall – AF Corse – Ferrari 488 GTE – James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi, Michele Rugolo. No.51. 312 laps.

The James Calado Ferrari at Tertre Rouge on Saturday afternoon.

The No.51 Ferrari chased by a LMP1 Toyota and a LMP2 car through the Esses just before dusk.

DNF – Porsche GT Team – Porsche 911 RSR – Michael Christensen, Kevin Estre, Dirk Werner. No.92. 179 laps.

This Porsche was one of only two cars not to finish in the class.Here it is exiting the Esses.

DNF – Risi Competizione – Ferrari 488 GTE – Toni Vilander, Giancarlo Fisichella, Pierre Kaffer. No.82. 72 laps.

One of the first cars to retire was this Ferrari which included ex-F1 driver Giancarlo Fisichella in its team. Here it is at Tertre Rouge.

For action shots of the all of the LMP1 cars including the winning Porsche, clck here.

For dusk, dawn, night and day shots of the LMGTE Am cars, click here.

Action from the LMP2 class at Le Mans 2017 if you click here.

John Etherton asserts his copyright to all of the photos on this blogpost. However, you may post the photos elsewhere on the web as long as you credit the photographer, John Etherton, and this blog post, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com and provide a link to this page.

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.

GT battle seen through the heat haze on the start finish straight.

Sunday 18 June 2017

24 Heures du Mans 2017 - LMP1

A Toyota leads a group in safety car formation just after dawn on Sunday morning.

The LMP1 car class is the fastest class at the Le Mans Grand Prix of Endurance and they are expected to dominate the podium. In 2017, however, only 2 of the LMP1 cars finished and only one was in the top six. The Toyotas were fast but two of them retired during the night. We will have to wait at least another year before Toyota's first win. One of the Porsches also retired but the other survived after falling to the back of the field and then climbing back up to first position to beat the two LMP2 cars also on the podium. There are only 2 major manufacturers in LMP1 following the withdrawal of Audi and thus they are vulnerable in such a long race and none of the LMP1 cars had a trouble free race. I am sure lots of fans were hoping the LMP2 cars would win but not this year.. These are the six LMP1 cars that started.

1st Overall and in class - Porsche LMP Team - Porsche 919 Hybrid - Earl Bamber, Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley. No.2. 367 laps.

The winning LMP2 Porsche overtaking a GT Porsche as it comes up through the field.

The winning Porsche speeds out of the esses early on Sunday morning whilst in second place in class.

The winning Porsche in Tertre Rouge on Saturday afternoon.

2nd in class / 9th overall - Toyota Gazoo Racing - Toyota TS050 Hybrid - Sébastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson, Kazuki Nakajima. No.8. 358 laps.

After nightfall the second placed Toyota heads down from the Esses towards Tertre Rouge.

The early part of the race saw a good battle between the two fastest Toyotas for the lead.

The No.8 Toyota leads an LMP2 car out of the esses.

The usual Le Mans Ferris wheel.

DNF - Porsche LMP Team - Porsche 919 Hybrid - Neel Jani, André Lotterer, Nick Tandy. No.1. 318 laps.

The No.1 Porsche at Tertre Rouge on Sunday mrning. It retired shortly before the end.

DNF - Toyota Gazoo Racing - Toyota TS050 Hybrid - Yuji Kunimoto, Nicolas Lapierre, José Maria Lopez. No.9. 160 laps.

The No.9 Toyota leads the No.7 Toyota out of the Esses.

The No.9 Toyota exiting the Esses. It retired during the night.

DNF - Toyota Gazoo Racing - Toyota TS050 Hybrid - Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Stéphane Sarrazin. No.7. 154 laps. Pole position.

The No.7 car at the start of the night in which it was destined to etire.

Mike Conway leads the field in the No.7 Toyota on the first lap.

Brake lights into Tertre Rouge on Sunday morning at dawn.

DNF - ByKolles Racing Team - Enso CLM P1/01-Nissan V6 Twin turbo - Dominik Kraihamer, Marco Bonanomi, Oliver Webb. No.4. 7 laps.

The ByKolles car exits the Tertre Rouge Esses during the warm up. It qualified ahead of all of the LMP2 cars in sixth place but only lasted 7 laps before retiring.

For action shots at dawn and dusk of the amazing LMGTE Pro battle, click here.

For dusk, dawn, night and day shots of the LMGTE Am class, click here.

Action from the LMP2, class at Le Mans 2017 if you click here.

Flypast immediately before the start.

Thursday 15 June 2017

17ème Rencontre Auto Moto Lès Essarts 2017

Jean-Baptiste Marc, Martini Mk18, Formula France. Virage Samson, Rouen-Les-Essarts, 11 June 2017

Rouen-les-Essarts was a major French racing circuit made up of public roads from 1950 to 1993. The circuit held the French GP for cars five times and three times for motorcycles. Eventually it became too dangerous and was closed. Nowadays, it is difficult to tell that these roads were once a famous racing circuit as almost all evidence has disappeared. However, almost every year there is an event held on a part of the old circuit to keep the memory alive. This was the seventeenth holding of this meeting but my first attendance. I felt my attendance was obligatory at some point given the name of my blog.

What surprised me was the huge number of people attending this event. Maybe it is because of the history, maybe it is because of the good publicity, maybe it is because it is free, maybe it is because it attracts both car and bike fans, probably a combination of all four, but spectators were numerous at the 2017 event. The event consists of demo runs up the old course from the Nouveau Monde hairpin to just before the Chemin de l’Etoile. This was not a timed event and to make it safe about a half dozen temporary chicanes were inserted along the Montée Historique. Nevertheless, some cars and bikes were going impressively fast. Well done to the organisers and marshalls for keeping us all under control and safe – never easy at these events.

It was a lovely day and I enjoyed trying to take some photographs that evoked the old Rouen-les-Essarts circuit. Luckily there were numerous participants with their single seaters, GT cars, touring cars, motor bikes and sidecars to provide interest. Below are some of my favourite shots from the day.

Arnaud Périer, BMW 2002.

Yves Mascotto, MG TA, Virage Samson, Rouen-les-Essarts.

Loads of motorbikes including on the far left Ludovic Lesueur on his Peugeot 176 TC4.

The motor cycle sidecar combinations were impressive. Here is Pierre Sacchettini's Douniaux BMW 750.

Hervé Delaunay in a Dulon Formula Ford leading a group of single seaters down the hill. Hervé raced at Rouen when it was still a motor racing circuit.